English School of Painting 1885 First Edn: Chesneau, Ruskin Preface, Illustrated
 
The English School of Painting By Ernest Chesneau (1885, 1st UK ed.)
Translated by L. N. Etherington. Preface by John Ruskin.
Cassell & Company, The Fine Art Library series, 1885. 8vo. xliii, 339pp + publisher’s catalogue.
 
Publisher & Edition
 
Cassell & Company, London, The Fine Art Library (edited by John Sparkes).
First UK edition (1885) – translated edition with Ruskin preface and upwards of 100 engravings. Printed and published 1885.
 
Physical Description & Binding
 
Original decorative cloth over boards in the publisher’s highly ornamented cloth binding. Gilt titles to spine; blind-stamped decoration to back board. Coloured pastedowns and endpapers. Uncut leaves present in the publisher’s catalogue at rear. Page edges slightly roughly cut (typical of many Victorian trade bindings). Illustrated throughout with upwards of one hundred engravings; includes frontispiece and many full-page plates.
 
Size approx: 19.6 × 13.2 × 3.2 cm. Weight approx: 626 g.
 
Key Features
First UK edition (1885) in Cassell’s Fine Art Library series.
Preface by John Ruskin 
Translated from French by L. N. Etherington.
Illustrated throughout with upwards of 100 engravings; attractive frontispiece.
Decorative original cloth binding with gilt titles and blind-stamped boards.
Coloured pastedowns and endpapers; several unopened (uncut) leaves in publisher’s catalogue.
Clean internal condition with no pen or pencil marks.
 
Historical / Bibliographic Context
 
Ernest Chesneau (1833–1890) was a prominent French art historian and critic. This English translation (1885) placed his scholarship before a British audience; Ruskin’s prefatory contribution strengthens the book’s standing among Victorian art criticism and collectors. Cassell’s Fine Art Library offered accessible, well-illustrated studies of national schools of painting, popular with collectors, students, and libraries.
 
Condition Report
 
Exterior Condition
 
This is a well-preserved decorative Victorian cloth binding with original gilt titles and ornamental boards. The binding is intact, robust, and visually attractive for its age (circa 140 years old), with only minor bumping, mild edge wear, and a few small rubs typical of a well-cared-for antique book.
Original highly decorative cloth over boards; binding intact and robust.
Gilt titles to spine clear; blind-stamped back board decoration attractive.
Light wear only: soft bumping to corners, small nicks/rubs to spine ends, tiny scattered surface marks and very small patches of rubbing at edges.
Overall very good for a 140-year-old decorative cloth binding.
 
Interior Condition
 
Pages bright and neat, lightly tanned as typical, occasional very light foxing only.
No pen or pencil marks; a few leaves uncut in the publisher’s catalogue (unread leaves).
Light crease on just a few pages and rough edge from original production; no rips.
Very faint gutter cracks at pastedowns (light) and between a couple of pages, but text block is secure.
All xliii + 339 pages present plus publisher’s catalogue. No missing pages.
Completeness & Notes
Complete text and illustrations; all plates present to the best of visual inspection.
Several uncut catalogue leaves at rear — a period feature and desirable to collectors.
Leaves show evidence of original uncut/severed edges (knife-cut), part of the book’s manufacturing history.
 
Provenance & Presentation Notes
No owner inscriptions, stamps or ex-libris noted. 
 
Collector’s Summary
 
A handsome first UK edition of Chesneau’s survey of English painting, splendidly illustrated and presented in Cassell’s decorative cloth. Ruskin’s preface and the translator’s careful work make this a desirable example for collectors of Victorian art criticism, Ruskiniana, and decorated bindings. Exceptionally neat internally for its age, with pleasing original cloth and uncut leaves in the publisher’s catalogue.