John Ruskin letter to Ellen Heaton, 1856 late November

Ruskin advises Heaton on the preservation of her recently acquired Turner pieces, stating that the Walls of Rome and St Angelo can be displayed, provided they are "securely pasted in at the back." He says that he would not expose the Parnassus at all, for fear of damage by gas. He tells Heaton that candlelight would not damage the works. Turner praises Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh as the "finest [poem] in the English language." He has lost the Brownings' Florence address and asks Heaton to send it to him. Ruskin exclaims: "NO CHALK from anybody" and says he will look at some Maddox Brown water colours and tell Heaton about them - he is not quite sure about them at the present moment. In a postscript, Ruskin tells Heaton she doesn't need to be as careful with Turner's Aldborough which is "not one half so delicate as the vignettes.". [Date provided by Surtees: End of November 1856]