Miscellaneous Papers relating to Business Affairs

Scope and Content

Miscellaneous papers and accounts, chiefly relating to Ruskin's business affairs, as follows:

  • (a) numbers 1-14, agreement (1887), reports (1893, 1897, 1902) and accounts (1891-1901) relating to the publication of Ruskin's works by George Allen;
  • (b) number 15, account (1861-1869) of Smith, Elder and Co., for the publication of Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne;
  • (c) numbers 16-22, papers and accounts (1866-1878) of properties owned by Ruskin (including the houses in Marylebone administered by Octavia Hill);
  • (d) number 23, St George's Museum, Sheffield, statement of half-yearly accounts, 31 December 1884;
  • (e) numbers 24-25, insurance policy for Ruskin's property in his rooms at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1872) and an extract from a policy relating to fire insurance at 28 Herne Hill (n.d.);
  • (f) numbers 26-64, miscellaneous accounts, bills and receipts (1861-87) including accounts of J.C. Rutter and Son., Messrs Tarrant and Mackrell, and F.H. Butler, mineralogist;
  • (g) number 65, pocket diary (1876), 8 pages contain notes, the rest blank;
  • (h) numbers 66-69, photographs of Ruskin and (?) Rose La Touche (number 69);
  • (i) numbers 70-71, silhouettes, possibly of John James and Margaret Ruskin;
  • (j) number 72 is a cheque for ten guineas signed by Ruskin (March 1887).

Acquisition Information

Purchased by the John Rylands Library at auction at Christie's on 22 April 1959 (Lot 186).