S eBooks
eBooks di Titolo S di John Ruskin di Formato Mobipocket
Sesame and lilies. E-book. Formato Mobipocket John Ruskin - Simone Vannini, 2015 -
My first duty this evening is to ask your pardon for the ambiguity of title under which the subject of lecture has been announced: for indeed I am not going to talk of kings, known as regnant, nor of treasuries, understood to contain wealth; but of quite another order of royalty, and another material of riches, than those usually acknowledged. I had even intended to ask your attention for a little while on trust, and (as sometimes one contrives, in taking a friend to see a favourite piece of scenery) to hide what I wanted most to show, with such imperfect cunning as I might, until we unexpectedly reached the best point of view by winding paths. But— and as also I have heard it said, by men practised in public address, that hearers are never so much fatigued as by the endeavour to follow a speaker who gives them no clue to his purpose,—I will take the slight mask off at once, and tell you plainly that I want to speak to you about the treasures hidden in books; and about the way we find them, and the way we lose them. A grave subject, you will say; and a wide one! Yes; so wide that I shall make no effort to touch the compass of it. I will try only to bring before you a few simple thoughts about reading, which press themselves upon me every day more deeply, as I watch the course of the public mind with respect to our daily enlarging means of education; and the answeringly wider spreading on the levels, of the irrigation of literature.
Sesame and Lilies. E-book. Formato Mobipocket John Ruskin - Ionlineshopping.Com, 2019 -
John Ruskin (1819-1900) was a prolific English art critic and historian, poet, and writer. His theories were taken up by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and his acquaintances included Dante Rossetti, William Hunt, Lewis Carroll, and Thomas Carlyle. Many homeschool Moms would simply recognize him as the author of the children's fantasy, King of the Golden River. The small book, Sesame and Lilies is only one of his 250 works and is a written transcript of 3 lectures that Mr. Ruskin delivered to the Royal College of Science, Dublin 1868. Book lovers will appreciate the first lecture, in which Ruskin urges his audience to read the best books. He makes a distinction between "books of the hour" and books for all time. In his own words: "life is short....have you measured and mapped out this short life and its possibilities? Do you know, if you read this, that you cannot read that; that what you lose today you cannot gain tomorrow? Will you go and gossip with your housemaid or your stable-boy, when you may talk with queens and kings?" Ruskin speaks also of developing the habit of "looking intensely at words" and advocates learning the "true descent and ancient blood" of the words we handle. Keep a good dictionary handy and patiently track the evolution and meanings of words you are not absolutely clear on. Illustrating with an excerpt from Milton's Lycidas, which he classifies a "true book", Ruskin is at his best. He does a masterful job dissecting the reading. At the close of the lecture, the well-to-do audience is challenged to use their influence to promote the buying of books and the building of libraries rather than investing in weapons of war. Ruskin's passion is unmistakable; he seems to be pleading for the soul of the nation. The "Lilies" portion of the book deals with the education of young ladies. His approach is aimed at nailing the pride of those born into luxury and privilege. He urges practical domestic skills to be taught and used so that the poor are fed, clothed, and sheltered.