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Joseph Mallord William Turner
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Sketchbooks
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Sketchbooks from the 1810s
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Corfe to Dartmouth Sketchbook
Turner Bequest CXXIV 1–48
Sketchbook bound in parchment
48 leaves of white wove paper bound as a single gathering within single free endpapers (probably the original covers) of off-white laid paper, page size 170 x 209 mm
Makers unidentified; no watermarks
Inscribed by Turner in ink ‘Corfe to Dartmouth’ on the front flyleaf (D40821)
Numbered 167 as part of the Turner Schedule in 1854 and endorsed by the Executors of the Turner Bequest, verso of the front flyleaf (verso of D40821)
48 leaves of white wove paper bound as a single gathering within single free endpapers (probably the original covers) of off-white laid paper, page size 170 x 209 mm
Makers unidentified; no watermarks
Inscribed by Turner in ink ‘Corfe to Dartmouth’ on the front flyleaf (D40821)
Numbered 167 as part of the Turner Schedule in 1854 and endorsed by the Executors of the Turner Bequest, verso of the front flyleaf (verso of D40821)
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, pp.353–4, CXXIV 1–48, as circa 1811.
1974
Gerald Wilkinson, The Sketches of Turner, R.A. 1802–20: Genius of the Romantic, London 1974, p.126.
This is the first of the medium-sized sketchbooks Turner used in the West Country in 1811 (see the introduction to the tour), in parallel with the small, interleaved Devonshire Coast, No.1 guidebook-sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CXXIII) in which some of the same sites appear, as discussed in individual entries.
After sketching in the smaller book at Christchurch (Tate D08403, D08406, D08411, D08419, D08421, D08425; CXXIII 22, 24, 27, 31, 32, 34) and Poole (Tate D08387, D08391; Turner Bequest CXXIII 14, 16), he began in earnest in the present sketchbook with views of Corfe Castle, Swanage and Lulworth Cove, before moving west to Dorchester, Weymouth, Portland, Charmouth, Lyme Regis, Exeter, Teignmouth, Totnes and the River Dart, Dartmouth and Brixham. Having filled this book, he then took up the similarly constructed Ivy Bridge to Penzance sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CXXV) as he moved further west.
Technical notes
The parchment outer cover appears to date from after Finberg’s Inventory, where the sketchbook is described as having ‘paper covers’ only,1 and the inscriptions which Finberg describes as being on the outer faces of the front and back are evident on what are now effectively flyleaves (D40821, D41522). Many leaves show evidence of removal from and replacement on stubs left in the book, with rubbing, darkening and occasional long-standing repairs to small tears at the edges, and rubbed and rounded corners. The edges of the parchment cover are by contrast crisp, and the surfaces clean. It may have been created during conservation work to protect the vulnerable laid paper of the book’s actual cover, presumably to match the construction of the Ivy Bridge to Penzance sketchbook from the same tour, as mentioned above, which has laid paper endpapers within an original parchment cover bearing Turner’s inscription.
The sketchbook’s page order appears relatively undisturbed since Finberg’s 1909 listing, apart from the restoration as folio 9 of a leaf that was then elsewhere, and the question of drawings being numbered as rectos but bound then or since as versos, discussed in individual entries. A further note follows the main concordance. Assuming that the pages are now rebound in their original arrangement, Turner worked with the book held either way up, and often on the left-hand side of the double-page spread rather than his customary right.
A concordance is given to show in particular John Ruskin’s original sequence of numbering in red ink, unusually overridden in this case by Finberg, who noted ‘Mr. Ruskin’s endorsement – “Thirty leaves of Inventory Book No.167. Good for Distribution.” ... The leaves were distributed, but Mr. Ruskin had numbered them before distribution. But as his numbers ran in the reverse order of the journey I have not adopted them for this catalogue, though I have used them to establish the sequence of the pages.’2 Assuming Ruskin inscribed the leaves consistently, his numbers are no longer evident on more than half the pages, as indicated by the queries in the last column.
Folio | Tate | Turner Bequest | Ruskin’s foliation |
Recto of Front Endpaper | D40821 | - | - |
1 Recto | D08807 | CXXIV 1 | - (48?) |
1 Verso | D08808 | CXXIV 1a | - (48?) |
2 Recto | D08809 | CXXIV 2 | - (47?) |
3 Recto | D08810 | CXXIV 3 | - (46?) |
4 Recto | D08811 | CXXIV 4 | - (45?) |
5 Recto | D08812 | CXXIV 5 | - (44?) |
6 Recto | D08813 | CXXIV 6 | ‘43’ on verso |
7 Recto | D08814 | CXXIV 7 | ‘42’ on verso |
8 Recto | D08815 | CXXIV 8 | ‘41’ on verso |
9 Recto | D08940 | CXXV 49, bound and stamped as CXXIV 9 | ‘40’ on verso |
10 Recto | D08817 | CXXIV 10 | - (39?) |
11 Recto | D08818 | CXXIV 11 | - (38?) |
12 Recto | D08819 | CXXIV 12 | - (37?) |
13 Recto | D08820 | CXXIV 13 | ‘36’ on verso |
14 Recto | D08821 | CXXIV 14 | ‘35’ on verso |
15 Verso | D08822 | CXXIV 15 | - (34?) |
16 Verso | D08824 | CXXIV 16 | - (33?) |
17 Recto | D08826 | CXXIV 17 | - (32?) |
18 Recto | D08827 | CXXIV 18 | - (31?) |
19 Recto | D08828 | CXXIV 19 | ‘30’ on verso |
20 Recto | D08829 | CXXIV 20 | - (29?) |
20 Verso | D08830 | CXXIV 20a | - (29?) |
21 Recto | D08831 | CXXIV 21 | - (28?) |
21 Verso | D08832 | CXXIV 21a | - (28?) |
22 Recto | D08833 | CXXIV 22 | ‘27’ on verso |
23 Recto | D08834 | CXXIV 23 | - (26?) |
24 Recto | D08835 | CXXIV 24 | ‘25’ on verso |
25 Recto | D08836 | CXXIV 25 | ‘24’ on verso |
26 Recto | D08837 | CXXIV 26 | ‘23’ on verso |
27 Recto | D08838 | CXXIV 27 | - (22?) |
28 Recto | D08839 | CXXIV 28 | - (21?) |
29 Recto | D08840 | CXXIV 29 | - (20?) |
29 Verso | D08841 | CXXIV 29a | - (20?) |
30 Verso | D08842 | CXXIV 30 | - (19?) |
31 Verso | D08844 | CXXIV 31 | - (18?) |
32 Verso | D08846 | CXXIV 32 | - (17?) |
33 Verso | D08848 | CXXIV 33 (bound as verso) | ‘16’ on this side |
34 Verso | D08849 | CXXIV 34 (bound as verso) | ‘15’ on this side |
35 Verso | D08850 | CXXIV 35 (bound as verso) | 14? |
36 Verso | D08851 | CXXIV 36 (bound as verso) | ‘13’ on this side |
37 Recto | D08852 | CXXIV 37 | ‘12’ on verso |
38 Recto | D08853 | CXXIV 38 | ‘11’ on verso |
39 Recto | D08854 | CXXIV 39 | - (10?) |
40 Recto | D08855 | CXXIV 40 | ‘9’ on verso |
41 Recto | D08856 | CXXIV 41 | ‘8’ on verso |
42 Recto | D08857 | CXXIV 42 | ‘7’ on verso |
43 Recto | D08858 | CXXIV 43 | ‘6’ on verso |
44 Recto | D08859 | CXXIV 44 | ‘5’ on verso |
45 Recto | D08860 | CXXIV 45 | ‘4’ on verso |
46 Recto | D08861 | CXXIV 46 | ‘3’ on verso |
47 Recto | D08862 | CXXIV 47 | ‘2’ on verso |
48 Recto | D08863 | CXXIV 48 | ‘1’ on verso |
Verso of Back Endpaper | D41522 | - | - |
There are some anomalies in this sequence. The drawings on the following folios are bound as versos, with the Tate ‘D’ numbers initially allocated to their respective (blank) rectos when accession numbers were allocated now standing for these verso drawings instead, and the subsequent redundant number cancelled in each case: folio 15 verso (D08822): D08823 cancelled; folio 16 verso (D08824): D08825 cancelled; folio 30 verso (D08842): D08843 cancelled; folio 31 verso (D08844): D08845 cancelled; folio 32 verso (D08846): D08847 cancelled.
The drawings on folios 33–36 (D08848–D08851), numbered as if rectos by Finberg, are also bound as versos but there were no redundant ‘D’ numbers in these instances. A further record (D08816) was created for the supposedly ‘missing’ CXXIV 9 in sequence with adjacent drawings, but was subsequently rendered redundant and cancelled as D08940 (Turner Bequest CXXV 49) was correctly rebound as folio 9 recto.
Matthew Imms
February 2011
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD40821
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08807
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08808
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08809
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08810
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08811
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08813
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08814
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08815
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08940
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08817
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08818
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08820
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08826
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08828
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08830
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08831
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08832
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08833
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08834
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08835
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Joseph Mallord William TurnerCorfe to Dartmouth SketchbookD08837
How to cite
Matthew Imms, ‘Corfe to Dartmouth sketchbook 1811’, sketchbook, February 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www