FOREWORD

D.C. Rose, General Editor of THE OSCHOLARS group of journals

All scholars of Oscar Wilde know that at Oxford the two principal influences on the young Irishman were Walter Pater and John Ruskin. While Wilde’s debt to Pater has been and continues to be well explored, the place of Ruskin in his life and thought has been more or less reduced to anecdotes about Wilde working on the Hinckley road project. It was clear to me that it was the business of THE OSCHOLARS to examine more minutely the teachings of Ruskin, and to draw (or let others draw) the inferences. The idea, first of having a section within THE OSCHOLARS consecrated to Ruskin, and then of creating a new journal, was born.

In Anuradha Chatterjee, we have been fortunate to find as editor of this journal a highly qualified and dedicated Ruskin scholar, able and willing to take this project and expand it into a study of significance to Ruskin studies and indeed intellectual history in general. Her Statement of Purpose is wide-ranging and ambitious. With her Editorial, it sets an agenda for these pages in which other Ruskin and nineteenth-century specialists will join.

Dr Chatterjee grew up in India where she completed her 5 year Diploma in Architecture. She went on to complete her Masters in Architectural History and Theory from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), specialising in nineteenth and twentieth century architectural theory. She has completed a doctoral thesis, titled ‘The Troubled Surface of Architecture: John Ruskin, Human Body, and External Walls’. The thesis makes a major contribution to Ruskin studies and architectural theory as it re-frames fragments from Ruskin's writings and unifies them into the theory of the adorned ‘wall veil’. This is a theory of architecture, dress, and body, and it puts Ruskin in the same league as Gottfried Semper (who is well-known for his research on the textile origins of architectural ornamentation). The thesis chapters are being developed for publication in 2008. Dr Chatterjee has taught design and history/theory for several years. She is interested in nineteenth century architectural theory scholarship, specifically the role of scholarship in re-casting design practices. She now has a Lecturer's post at the Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture and Design, University of South Australia.

The Eighth Lamp, which we hope to publish twice a year, is a very welcome addition to the oscholars group of publications. It will illuminate much that has been obscure.