Excerpt from The Complete Works of John Ruskin, Vol. 39<br><br>With such material in han d, the first question which the editors had to decide concerned the form in which Index references were to be given. They would have been saved a great deal of trouble if the old references (to chapters and numbered sections) had been retained, but this plan would have been inconvenient in the present edition, which contains so much new matter. The plan of giving a double system of references (so that the Index might in a measure have been available for the previous editions of Ruskin) was upon reflection rejected. Considerations of space were decisive against it. Moreover, this Library Edition is intended to be, and is likely always to be, the Reference Ruskin, and as such may be expected to find a place in most per manent libraries, private and public, in this and other countries.<br><br>The preliminary preparation of index-slips for the hitherto unprinted matter, as well as for the notes and introductions, was the work of Miss Slaughter. Much re-arrangement has, of course, been necessary, and it has often been convenient to combine several references under a new heading. The index, as finally presented, is the work of the two editors; Mr. Wedderburn having done the letter a (except Art and Artists), the Bible, and the letters d, h, i, j, k, n, 0, q, u, o, to (with some exceptions), a', y and z, and Mr. Cook, the rest; and the whole work having then been subjected to a joint revision.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.