Ruskin (John) Autograph Letter signed to his Mrs [Maria] La Touche, [c. ?1860s], arranging to meet her the following Friday, and expressing delight on hearing of "the dignified portrait" of ?Rose.

Ruskin (John, art critic and social critic, 1819-1900) Autograph Letter signed to his Mrs [Maria] La Touche, 1p., 8vo, n.p., n.d., [c. ?1860s], arranging to meet her the following Friday, and expressing delight on hearing of "the dignified portrait" of ?Rose, "which is in fact what brings me into town", hoping to see her again "Here", perhaps ?Denmark Hill, "the peach blossoms are pretty in the garden - Better than those roses", folds.

⁂ Ruskin's famous obsession with Rose La Touche. Rose was nine years old and Ruskin was thirty eight when they first met to give her lessons in drawing. He several times proposed marriage to Rose, but she rejected his offers, partly on religious grounds. In October 1861 she fell ill, possibly from anorexia nervosa, which eventually killed her in 1875. The distress Ruskin felt at the death of Rose was to affect his own mental stability and in later years led to permanent insanity. Ruskin is believed to to have sketched or painted Rose at least three times.