"Turner's _Harbors of England_," as it is generally called, is a book
which, for various reasons, has never received from readers of Mr.
Ruskin's writings the attention it deserves. True, it has always been
sought after by connoisseurs, and collectors never fail with their
eleven or twelve guineas whenever a set of Artist's Proofs of the First
Edition of 1856 comes into the market. But to the General Reader the
book with its twelve exquisitely delicate mezzotints--four of which Mr.
Ruskin has declared to be among the very finest executed by Turner from
his marine subjects--is practically unknown.
The primary reason for this neglect is not far to seek. Since 1877 no
new edition of the work has been published, and thus it has gradually
passed from public knowledge, though still regarded with lively interest
by those to whom Mr. Ruskin's words--particularly words written in
further unfolding of the subtleties of Turner's art--at all times appeal
so strongly.
In his own preface Mr. Ruskin has told us all that in 1856 it was
necessary to know of the genesis of the _Harbors_. That account may now
be supplemented with the following additional facts. In 1826 Turner (in
conjunction with Lupton, the engraver) projected and commenced a serial
publication entitled _The Ports of England_. But both artist and
engraver lacked the opportunity required to carry the undertaking to a
successful conclusion, and three numbers only were completed. Each of
these contained two engravings. Part I., introducing _Scarborough_ and
_Whitby_, duly appeared in 1826; Part II., with _Dover_ and _Ramsgate_,
in 1827; and in 1828 Part III., containing _Sheerness_ and
_Portsmouth_, closed the series.[A] Twenty-eight years afterwards (that
is, in 1856, five years after Turner's death) these six plates, together
with six new ones, were published by Messrs. E. Gambart & Co., at whose
invitation Mr. Ruskin consented to write the essay on Turner's marine
painting which accompanied them. The book, a handsome folio, appears to
have been immediately successful, for in the following year a second
edition was called for. This was a precise reprint of the 1856 edition;
but, unhappily, the delicate plates already began to exhibit signs of
wear. The copyright (which had not been retained by Mr. Ruskin, but
remained the property of Messrs. E. Gambart & Co.) then passed to
Messrs. Day & Son, who, after producing the third edition of 1859, in
turn disposed of it to Mr. T. J. Allman. Allman issued a fourth edition
in 1872, and then parted with his rights to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co.,
who in 1877 brought out the fifth, and, until now, last edition. Since
that date the work has been out of print, and has remained practically
inaccessible to the ordinary reader.
[A] To ornament the covers of these parts, Turner designed a
vignette, which was printed upon the center of the front wrapper of
each. As _The Ports of England_ is an exceptionally scarce book, and
as the vignette can be obtained in no other form, a facsimile of it
is here given. The original drawing was presented by Mr. Ruskin to
the Fitz-William Museum, at Cambridge, where it may now be seen.
It is matter for congratulation that at length means have been found to
bring _The Harbors of England_ once more into currency, and to issue the
book through Mr. George Allen at a price which will place it within the
reach of the reading public at large.
The last edition of 1877, with its worn and "retouched" plates,[B] was
published at twenty-five shillings; less than a third of that sum will
suffice to procure a copy of this new issue in which the prints (save
for their reduced size) more nearly approach the clearness and beauty of
the originals of 1856 than any of the three editions which have
immediately preceded it.
[B] By this time (1877) the plates had become considerably worn, and
were accordingly "retouched" by Mr. Chas. A. Tomkins. But such
retouching proved worse than useless. The delicacy of the finer work
had entirely vanished, and the plates remained but a ghost of their
former selves, such as no one would recognize as doing justice to
Turner. The fifth is unquestionably the least satisfactory of the
five original editions containing Lupton's engravings.
I have before me the following interesting letter addressed by Mr.
Ruskin's father to Mr. W. Smith Williams, for many years literary
adviser to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co.:--
"CHAMOUNI, _August 4th, 1856._
"MY DEAR SIR,--I hear that in _The Athenæum_ of 26th July there is
a good article on my son's _Harbors of England_, and I should be
greatly obliged by Mr. Gordon Smith sending me that number....
"The history of this book, I believe, I told you. Gambart, the
French publisher and picture dealer, said some 18 months ago that
he was going to put out 12 Turner plates, never published, of
English Harbors, and he would give my son two good Turner drawings
for a few pages of text to illustrate them.[C] John agreed, and
wrote the text, when poorly in the spring of 1855, at Tunbridge
Wells; and it seems the work has just come out. It was in my
opinion an extremely well done thing, and more likely, as far as it
went, if not to be extremely popular, at least to be received
without cavil than anything he had written. If there is a very
favorable review in _The Athenæum_ ... it may tend to disarm the
critics, and partly influence opinion of his larger works....--With
our united kind regards,
"Yours very truly,
"JOHN JAMES RUSKIN."
[C] Mr. E. Gambart (who is still living) states that, to the best of
his recollection, he paid Mr. Ruskin 150 guineas for his work.
Probably this was the price originally agreed upon, the two Turner
drawings being ultimately accepted as a more welcome and appropriate
form of remuneration.
In all save one particular the Text here given follows precisely that of
the previous issues. It has been the good fortune of the present Editor
to be able to restore a characteristic passage suppressed from motives
of prudence when the work was originally planned.[D] The proof-sheets of
the first edition, worked upon by Mr. Ruskin, were given by him to his
old nurse Anne.[E] She, fortunately, carefully preserved them, and in
turn gave them to Mr. Allen, some ten years before he became Mr.
Ruskin's publisher. These proofs had been submitted as they came from
the press to Mr. W. H. Harrison (well known to readers of _On the Old
Road_, etc., as "My First Editor"), who marked them freely with notes
and suggestions. To one passage he appears to have taken so decided an
objection that its author was prevailed upon to delete it. But, whilst
deferring thus to the judgment of others, and consenting to remove a
sentence which he doubtless regarded with particular satisfaction as
expressing a decided opinion upon a favorite picture, Mr. Ruskin
indulged in one of those pleasantries which now and again we observe in
his informal letters, though seldom, if ever, in his serious writings.
In the margin, below the canceled passage, he wrote boldly: "_Sacrificed
to the Muse of Prudence. J. R._"[F]
[D] See _post_, p. 19.
[E] See _Præterita_. She died March 30th, 1871.
[F] The accompanying illustration is a facsimile of the portion of
the proof-sheet described above--slightly reduced to fit the smaller
page.
That Mr. Harrison was justified in raising objection to this "moderate
estimate" of Turner's picture will, I think, be readily allowed. In
those days Mr. Ruskin's influence was, comparatively speaking, small;
and the expression of an opinion which heaped praise upon the single
painting of a partially understood painter at the expense of a great and
popular institution would only have served to arouse opposition, and
possibly to attract ridicule. It is different to-day. We know the keen
enthusiasm of the author of _The Seven Lamps_, and have seen again and
again how he expresses himself in terms of somewhat exaggerated
admiration when writing of a painter whom he appreciates, or a picture
that he loves. To us this enthusiasm is an attractive characteristic. It
has never been permitted to distort the vision or cloud the critical
faculty; and we follow the teaching of the Master all the more closely
because we feel his fervor, and know how completely he becomes possessed
with a subject which appeals to his imagination or his heart. I have
therefore not scrupled to revive the words which he consented to
immolate at the shrine of Prudence.
It is not my province here to enter into any criticism of the pages
which follow; but, for the benefit of those who are not versed in the
minutiæ of Shelleyan topics, a word may be said regarding Mr. Ruskin's
reference[G] to the poet who met his death in the Bay of Spezzia. The
_Don Juan_ was no "traitorous" craft. Fuller and more authentic
information is to hand now than the meager facts at the disposal of a
writer in 1856; and we know that the greed of man, and not the lack of
sea-worthiness in his tiny vessel, caused Percy Shelley to
"... Suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange."
[G] See _post_, p. 3.
There is, unhappily, no longer any room for doubt that the _Don Juan_
was willfully run down by a felucca whose crew coveted the considerable
sum of money they believed Byron to have placed on board, and cared
nothing for the sacrifice of human life in their eagerness to seize the
gold.
The twelve engravings, to which reference has already been made, have
been reproduced by the photogravure process from a selected set of early
examples; and, in addition, the plates so prepared have been carefully
worked upon by Mr. Allen himself. It will thus be apparent that
everything possible has been done to produce a worthy edition of a
worthy book, and to place in the hands of the public what to the present
generation of readers is tantamount to a new work from a pen
which--alas!--has now for so long a time been still.