J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Most of the page, turned vertically, is taken up with the following calculations in pencil, except the first three lines, the subtotal ‘558’ and ‘2 2 0 –’ in ink. The latter figure overlaps with those on either side:

The words in the first three lines suggest these figures relate to one of Turner’s many engraving projects, apparently mentioning the preliminary drawings (i.e. watercolours), and large paper and India paper proof impressions. There are similar notes on folios 11 verso and 12 recto (D12140, D12141).

There is also part of a landscape sketch, inverted relative to the foliation, showing the distant horizon, which may have been made after the calculations which it overlaps; the main part of the view, possibly from Richmond Hill, is on folio 11 recto opposite (D12139). A scrawled inscription above the horizon appears to read: ‘Club July [?18] 1818 | 18’. These words seem to run on from ‘[?Richmond]’ and ‘[?Academy]’ on the opposite page.

Finberg quotes the Academician Joseph Farington’s account of an informal, convivial excursion along the Thames from Westminster to Richmond by members of the Royal Academy Club including himself and Turner on 7 July 1819.1 Turner’s inscription here possibly relates to the equivalent outing in 1818, although Farington recorded that occasion, which he did not attend but followed closely, as taking place on Friday 17 July.2 Turner’s note of the day of the month is unclear, and perhaps he intended the seventeenth. The inscription probably at least indicates the year of the drawing, if not the specific circumstances. In any case he had a house in Twickenham, across the Thames from Richmond, at this time (see the present author’s ‘Sandycombe Lodge c.1808–12’ section elsewhere in this catalogue).

There are similar panoramic views on folios 11 verso–12 recto, 12 verso–13 recto and 13 verso–14 recto (D12140–D12145).