Editing John Ruskin (section)

===Public lecturer===
In addition to leading more formal teaching classes, from the 1850s Ruskin became an increasingly popular public lecturer. His first public lectures were given in Edinburgh, in November 1853, on architecture and painting. His lectures at the [[Art Treasures Exhibition]], Manchester in 1857, were collected as ''The Political Economy of Art'' and later under [[Keats]]'s phrase, ''A Joy For Ever''.{{sfn|Cook and Wedderburn|loc=16.9-174}} In these lectures, Ruskin spoke about how to acquire art, and how to use it, arguing that England had forgotten that true wealth is virtue, and that art is an index of a nation's well-being. Individuals have a responsibility to consume wisely, stimulating beneficent demand. The increasingly critical tone and political nature of Ruskin's interventions outraged his father and the [[Manchester School of economics|"Manchester School" of economists]], as represented by a hostile review in the ''[[Manchester Examiner and Times]]''.<ref>J. L. Bradley (ed.), ''Ruskin: The Critical Heritage'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984), pp. 202–205.</ref> As the Ruskin scholar Helen Gill Viljoen noted, Ruskin was increasingly critical of his father, especially in letters written by Ruskin directly to him, many of them still unpublished.<ref>Most of Viljoen's work remains unpublished, but has been explored by Van Akin Burd and James L. Spates. [http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/vanburd1.html An Introduction to Helen Gill Viljoen's Unpublished Biography of Ruskin by Van Akin Burd] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214221201/http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/vanburd1.html |date=14 February 2011 }}; [http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/spates1.html Editor's Introductory Comments on Viljoen's Chapter by James L. Spates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214221152/http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/spates1.html |date=14 February 2011 }} and [http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/viljoen.html Ruskin in Milan, 1862": A Chapter from Dark Star, Helen Gill Viljoen's Unpublished Biography of John Ruskin by James L. Spates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212140033/http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/spates/viljoen.html |date=12 February 2011 }}.</ref>

Ruskin gave the inaugural address at the Cambridge School of Art in 1858, an institution from which the modern-day [[Anglia Ruskin University]] has grown.<ref>For the address itself, see Cook and Wedderburn 16.177–206, and for the wider context: Clive Wilmer, "Ruskin and Cambridge" in ''The Companion'' (Newsletter of The Guild of St. George) no.7 (2007), pp.8–10. [Revised version of inaugural Ruskin Lecture, Anglia Ruskin University, 11 October 2006)]</ref> In ''The Two Paths'' (1859), five lectures given in London, [[Manchester]], [[Bradford]] and [[Royal Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]],{{sfn|Cook and Wedderburn|loc=16.251–426}} Ruskin argued that a 'vital law' underpins art and architecture, drawing on the [[labour theory of value]].{{sfn|Cook and Wedderburn|loc=16.251}} (For other addresses and letters, Cook and Wedderburn, vol. 16, pp.&nbsp;427–87.) The year 1859 also marked his last tour of Europe with his ageing parents, during which they visited [[Germany]] and [[Switzerland]].