MS IX Yale (cataloged as Poems 1833 ). Date of manuscript’s composition 1833- 34. Provenance Sotheby’s 1930. On the first leaf following the front flyleaf of MS IX, Joan Severn inscribed Joan R. Severn / from Di Pa, this manuscript being one of the those associated with touring that Ruskin set aside for her (see Introduction, Provenance of the Major Manuscripts, Sotheby’s 1930). Opposite this inscription is inscribed in pencil Mr Ruskin in John James’s(?) hand, followed by a line I cannot decipher. Description Ruled notebook; brown marbled boards and endpapers, three-quarter-bound in bluish-green leather; 20.5 × 16.5 cm. Someone--probably Wedderburn--has numbered leaves on their rectos, starting, oddly, with the second leaf following the two front flyleaves; i.e., the inside first flyleaf has the inscription by John James mentioned above, the second flyleaf has the inscription by Joan Severn mentioned above, and then there is another unnumbered leaf before the numbering begins on the following leaf. Despite this irregularity, I employ this numbering for the Content below. In the front of the notebook, eleven leaves (i.e., the first unnumbered leaf following the inscribed flyleaves, plus numbered leaves 1-10) have had their right edges cut away--to about one cm. deep--but leaving a small tab on the edge of each leaf. On these marginal tabs, someone has printed an alphabet, prepatory for an alphabetical directory of some kind. These leaves were never used, however, and it is impossible to say whether the alphabetizing was done by Ruskin or by someone who had prepared the notebook before him. Possibly, Ruskin meant to provide an alphbetized table of contents at the start of his poem. (He did compile an index at the back of MS VI, although that index was probably for his personal use, since MS VI was a rough copy notebook.) As it turned out, Ruskin failed to prepare even a title page for MS IX, and the illustrated poem and prose sequence is untitled. It is also possible that, since Margaret Ruskin’s writing is the first to appear in the manuscript ( Content, d), she made the alphabetical tabs for some use of her own. The paper is watermarked HAGAR & CO / 1822, so the notebook might have lain unused in the household for a long time. What seems least likely is that someone would have subjected the manuscript to this treatment after Ruskin used the notebook for his poetry--or, for Ruskin’s part, that he would have started his project several leaves into the notebook, leaving all those blank leaves to be exploited later. Tipped in at the front, attached to the marbled fly leaf, Wedderburn added a sheet describing MS IX. Like his sheets tipped into the front of many Red Books and other major manuscripts, he pasted onto it a clipping from PJR describing the MS IX, and commented on any additions or rebinding since Collingwood’s 1891 edition. In this case, where Collingwood summarized that pp. 1-21 are prepared for alphabetical index, while pp. 22-23 contain quotations in Mrs. J. J. Ruskin’s handwriting, and pp. 25-111, about a third of the book, were filled with prose and verse . . . with inserted drawings -- i.e., the so-called Account of a Tour on the Continent--Wedderburn added the note, most of the blank pages have since been removed & the book replaced in its old cover. This ranks among the more damaging decisions about the treatment of the early manuscripts. With blank leaves removed, we are prevented from seeing clearly where Ruskin might have left gaps in his fair- copying, intending to insert a passage or a drawing later--a practice that remains obvious in the extant arrangement. One wonders, too, whether the leaves were entirely blank; even a roughly penciled notation might have provided clues about Ruskin’s plan. Reconstruction of the original manuscript is rendered uncertain, since one cannot be absolutely certain how many leaves were removed. Collingwood’s page counts in PJR accurately describe MS IX in its present condition. This means that Collingwood skipped over blank leaves when numbering the manuscript--a practice consistent with his treatment of blank leaves in MS IVD--and these unnumbered leaves would have been the pages removed by Wedderburn. Stubs do remain visible, but one cannot be confident that stubs would show for all the removed leaves, especially if the manuscript was removed and then rebound in its cover. In Content below, I have noted where a stub remains visible, which one may interpret as a leaf (i.e., two pages) that Ruskin presumably intended to fill with writing or drawing. One must bear in mind, however, that not all stubs may be visible. The remaining stubs of the removed leaves should not be confused with stubs of a different paper--paper that is not ruled, as the original paper is, and protruding slightly beyond the original marbled edges. These stubs appear to have been inserted as part of the rebinding process, to which Wedderburn alludes in his tipped-in sheet. As irrelevant to the notebook Ruskin used, these rebinding stubs are not listed in Content below. Only the stubs are mentioned of paper that clearly belonged to the original notebook. Content a) John James’s inscription (inside front flyleaf). b) Joan Severn’s inscription (second front flyleaf). c) Tabbed and alphabetized pages (unnumbered leaf plus folios 1-10r). d) Margaret’s copy of the Advice of the mother of the Chevalier Bayard on his leaving home to commence the profession of arms, extracted from ??? (10-11r). This is followed by a quotation from I Chronicles 28:9 (11r). The advice to the chevalier is as follows: Peter, my friend, you are going into the service of a noble Prince; as much as a mother can command her child, do I command you three things, which, if you do, rest assured they will enable you to pass through this present life with honour. The first is, that above all things you love and serve God, without offending Him in any way, if it be possible to you. For it is He who gave us life, it is He who will save us, and without Him and His grace we should not have the power to perform a single good work in this world. Recommend yourself to Him every morning and evening and He will give you aid. The second is, that you be mild and courteous to all Gentlemen, casting away pride. Be humble and obliging to everybody. Be not a slanderer or a liar. Keep yourself temperate in regard to eating & drinking. Avoid envy it is a mean vice. Be neither a flatterer nor a tale-bearer, for people of this description do not usually attain to any high degree of excellence. Be loyal in word and deed. Keep your promises. Succour poor widows and orphans, and God will reward you. The third is, that you be bountiful of the goods that God shall give you to the poor and needy, for to give for His honours sake never made any man poor; and believe me, my child, the alms that you shall dispense will greatly profit both your body and soul. (See no. 35 for Ruskin’s treatment of the Chevalier Bayard, who is depicted at the bottom of a page mainly devoted to Denis of France. The chevalier lies beneath a tree and supports upright the cruciform hilt of his sword.) The verse from Chronicles, in Margaret’s copy, reads as follows: And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever. 28 1st Chronicles 9thv e) Blank page (11v), followed by stub for one removed leaf. This might have been a leaf destined for Ruskin’s title page, if he planned one. Another possible place would have been the two front flyleaves. (f) Fair copy with accompanying illustrations (in imitation of engravings) of Account of a Tour on the Continent, no. 180. Text written in copperplate hand, and illustrations drawn on separate squares of paper and pasted into place. Not all the Tour, as drafted in MS VIII and elsewhere, was fair-copied. The Library Edition follows the poem, so far as it was fair- copied and reconstructs the remainder (see Works 2:340 n.). Here are the contents of the Account listed in sequence, with citations from the Library Edition matched with the manuscript page numbers: Drawing (Works, 2:341 n. 1) (12r), Calais (poem, Works, 2:341) (12r- 12v), drawing (Works, 2:341 n. 3) (12v). Drawing (Works, 2:341 n. 4) (13r), untitled prose section on Calais (Works, 2:341-42) (13r-14r), drawing (Works, 2:342 n. 2) (14r). Drawing (Works, 2:342 n. 3) (14v), Cassel (poem, Works, 2:342-43) (14v-15v), drawing (Works, 2:343 n. 1) (15v). Drawing (Works, 2:343 n. 2) (16r), untitled prose section on Cassel (Works, 2:343-44) (16r-17r), drawing (Works, 2:344 n. 1) (17r). Drawing (Works, 2:344 n. 2) (17v); Lille (Works, poem, 2:344-45) (17v- 18v); no drawing at end of poem, but small space available (18v). Drawing (Works, 2:345 n. 2; note that the Library Edition gives the impression that this drawing closes the poem, when in fact it heads the prose section) (19r); untitled prose section on Lille (Works, 2:345) (19r-19v); no drawing at end of prose section, but small space available (19v). No drawing at head of poem, but space definitely left for that purpose (20r); Brussels (poem, Works, 2:346-47) (20r-21v); drawing (Works, 2:347 n. 2, first sketch listed) (21v). Stub (between 21v and 22r). Drawing (Works, 2:347 n. 2, second drawing listed) (22r), untitled prose section on Brussels (Works, 2:347-48) (22r-24r), no drawing at end of prose section, but ample space available (24r). No drawing at head of poem, but space definitely left for that purpose (24v); The Meuse (Works, poem, 2:348-49) (24v-25v); drawing (Works, 2:349 n. 1), positioned between last two lines of The Meuse (poem) and beginning of prose section (25v); untitled prose section on the Meuse (Works, 2:349-50) (25v-26r); drawing, not at end of prose passage on 26v, where a small space is available, but pasted broadside and taking up whole of 27r (Works, 2:350 n. 2, first drawing listed). Blank page (27v); drawing (Works, 2:350 n. 2, second drawing listed) (28r); Aix la Chapelle (Works, prose, 2:350-51) (28r-30r). Nearly full-page blank space definitely left for drawing, following last few words of Aix la Chapelle (prose) and preceding the two opening lines of Cologne (30r); Cologne (poem, Works, 2:351) (30r-31r, with the deliberately erased gap described in Works, 2:351 n. 2). Drawing, between last line only of Cologne (poem) and beginning of prose section (Works, 2:351 n. 3) (31r); untitled prose section on Cologne (Works, 2:351-53) (31r-33v); no drawing following prose section, but a small space available (33v). One of these leaves (31r-v) has at some point been cut away from its stub; then, the loose leaf cut horizontally between the drawing and the prose at the bottom; and, finally, the two pieces have been taped back into place again, reattached to the stub. The piece with the drawing has B written at the side. See 37r-v, below. Stub (between 33v and 34r). No drawing, although large space definitely allowed (34r); Andernacht (poem, Works, 2:354 n., i.e., not 2:353-54) (34r-34v); drawing, at top of page following poem and preceding prose, which is described in Works as somewhat detached from the poem, but which certainly depicts Andernach tower (Works, 2:354 n. 2) (35r); untitled prose section on Andernach (Works, 2:354-55) (35r- 36v); no drawing at end of prose section, but ample space available (36v). Drawing (Works, 2:355 n. 1, and page reproduced 356 opp.) (37r); Ehrenbreitstein (Works, poem, 2:355-58) (37r-39v); drawing (2:358 n. 1) (39v). One leaf (37r-v) has been removed from its stub and then reattached with tape. Since the tape is the same as that used to reattach 31r-v, and since this entire leaf is reproduced in Works, one suspects that the leaf was detached so it could be photographed for the Library Edition. It is equally possible, however, that the editors took advantage of an existing separation. No drawing, although nearly full-page space definitely allowed (40r); untitled prose section on Ehrenbreitstein (Works, 2:358) (40r-41r); no drawing at end of prose passage, and insufficient space available for one (41r). No drawing, although space definitely allowed (41v); untitled poem on St. Goar (Works, 2:359 n. 1, i.e., not 2:359-60) (41v-42r); no drawing at end of poem, but small space available (42r). No drawing, although space definitely allowed (42r); untitled prose passage on St. Goar (Works, 2:360-61)(42v-43r); no drawing at end of prose passage, and only a very small space available (43r). Drawing (Works, 2:360 n. 1, cited erroneously as following poem on St. Goar) (43v); untitled poem on Heidelberg (Works, 2:361-64) (43v-46v); no drawing, but space allowed on two-page spread (45v-46r, on each page of which the poetry extends only halfway down, lines 65-76 on 45v, and lines 77-86 on 46r); no drawing, and no space available, at end of poem (46v). Blank leaf (47r-47v); no drawing, although space definitely allowed (48r); beginning of untitled prose section on Heidelberg (Works, 2:364 [ Most beautiful . . . granite, sometimes ]). Blank page (48v). Stub (between 48v and 49r). Drawing, pasted in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 1]) (49r). Blank page (49v). Drawing, pasted in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 2]) (50r). Blank page (50v). Drawing, pasted broadside in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 3]) (51r). Blank page (51v). Drawing, pasted in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 4]) (52r). Blank page (52v). Two drawings (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [nos. 5a-b]), no space available for text. Blank page (53v). Stub (between 53v and 54r). Drawing, pasted in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 6]) (54r). Blank page (54v). Drawing, pasted in middle of page (Works, 2:364 n. 1 [no. 7]) (55r). Blank pages (55v-74r).