Turner: Five Letters and a Postscript.

Hind, C. Lewis (Charles Lewis), 1862-1927Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 64K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Turner: Five letters and a postscript. by C. Lewis HindAuthor: Hind, C. Lewis (Charles Lewis), 1862-1927,Language: English, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: Dec 23, 2012

Editor's review

This book consists of five letters and a postscript written by the British art critic C. Lewis Hind around the painter Turner. Concise in length, it belongs to the introductory genre of art appreciation and art history. Its value lies in the epistolary form, which brings the reader closer to Turner; it does not aim for the completeness of a systematic biography but instead highlights, through a critic's eye, key qualities in Turner's work such as light, atmosphere, and imagination, making it suitable as a lightweight guide to understanding Turner the man and his art. The letter form gives the discussion an informal, essayistic intimacy, allowing readers to enter the subject gradually by following the author's line of inquiry. Because it was written early, the prose carries the tastes and rhetorical habits of early twentieth-century art criticism, and the original English poses some linguistic difficulty for non-native readers. As a public-domain e-book, it is better suited as supplementary material for topical reading than as a substitute for art albums or general histories. Reading it alongside images of Turner's works is recommended for best results.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Turner and British landscape painting who want to begin with lightweight criticism
Art history or fine arts students using it as English-language topical extensive reading material
Readers who enjoy epistolary essays and prefer short art criticism
Readers with some English reading ability who wish to understand the style of early art criticism

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic, complete Turner biography or detailed chronology
Beginners who struggle with English reading and need Chinese translation and notes
Users of art albums seeking high-resolution plates and a catalogue of works

Reading tips

First browse images of Turner's representative works, then read the letters, so as to connect the text with visual impressions.
Read the letters one by one in order, pausing briefly after each to note the author's core judgments.
Look up critical terms or historical names as needed, without letting individual unfamiliar words interrupt the overall reading rhythm.
After finishing, revisit the postscript to sort out the progressive line of argument across the five letters.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are these letters written by Turner himself?

No. These are five letters and a postscript about Turner written in epistolary form by C. Lewis Hind; they are art criticism by a later author, not a collection of Turner's own letters.

Can someone without a background in art history read this book?

It is possible, but some English reading ability is needed. The book emphasizes criticism and impression rather than systematic knowledge, so reading it alongside images of Turner's works and basic art history materials will make it easier to follow.

Is this book suitable as a primary source for Turner research?

Not really. It is short, was written early, and is closer to appreciative critical essays. It can serve as supplementary topical reading, but systematic research still requires biographies, catalogues of works, and authoritative art history studies.

Comments

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About the author

Hind, C. Lewis (Charles Lewis), 1862-1927 Author

Charles Lewis Hind (1862–1927) was a British art critic and writer. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life await fuller treatment in specialist sources, yet the six works held in the collection make his main direction clear: he wrote accessible introductions to European masters of earlier centuries, combining biographical narrative with commentary on individual works. His subjects range from Constable, Hogarth, Romney and Watteau to Turner, and Turner's Golden Visions and Turner: Five Letters and a Postscript in particular reflect his lasting interest in Turner's use of colour and light. Written for general readers in a plain style, these texts set each painter's life against specific pictures and remain a useful starting point for understanding these British and French artists.