The Stones of Venice

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John Ruskin

Little, Brown, Boston, MA, 2010; originally published in three volumes from 1851-53, English

Nonfiction, Architecture

ISBN: 9780316761901

On 2 book lists

Stanley Abercrombie

On Stanley Abercrombie’s Book List

Written by Ruskin as a polemic favoring Venetian Gothic style over the “pestilent” design of the Renaissance, this passionate book can now be read as a marvel of close observation and imaginative description of buildings and their interiors. Many modern readers, however, may prefer the 1960 one-volume abridged edition to the original three-volume version of 1851–53.

Barry Bergdoll

On Barry Bergdoll’s Book List

There is scarcely a book at once more stimulating and maddening on architecture. One can dip into it in places—the chapters on the Venice Lagoon, and of course the chapter “The Nature of Gothic,” which launched William Morris on his career, can be read as freestanding works.

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