James Walsh, a longtime friend of Proteus Gowanus as well as a founder/collaborator of Observatory, has just brought out his latest book, There was Something in the Weather, in the Libellulæ series published by Proteotypes, our print arm.

There was Something in the Weather consists of extracts from the early journals of John Ruskin, the most influential art critic of 19^th century Britain. These entries, however, were written when Ruskin was sixteen and making his first journey to Switzerland and Italy, shortly after having been denied the love of Adèle-Clotilde Domecq, daughter of his father’s partner. By using a traced-type calligraphy and reformatting journal entries as lines of verse, James Walsh has moved Ruskin’s text nearer the reader and brought out the suppressed feeling in what might otherwise appear neutral observations of rocks, buildings, glaciers, and skies.

James will read, and there’ll be wine and refreshments. Copies of There was Something in the Weather will be available for purchase and signing.