The early writings of Mr. Ruskin were carefully preserved by his parents, who encouraged, though they do not seem to have supervised, the production of his juvenile attempts. In only two or three instances a word has been crossed out, and an emendation substituted by his father; but in several places his father and mother have inserted dates into the note-books, or endorsed a loose sheet “John's Poetry (Date).” There is no trace of subsequent revision on the author's part of any poems, except those which actually appeared in print during his youth.

Some of the MSS. are very beautifully written in “copperplate” or “print” hand: indeed, the fair-copying seems to have been quite as important a business as the invention and versification, which were apparently spontaneous, and—to judge from the comparatively small amount of interlineation—almost improvisational. But in the rough original drafts the writing is difficult to read; and, as a single poem was often composed in fragments, at different times, interspersed between all sorts of other writings, the MSS. present a very chaotic appearance.