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

Turned vertically in relation to the landscape sketch discussed below, the outer half of the page is taken up with the following very rough pencil notes:

This is a variation of the rather clearer sum in ink on folio 11 verso opposite (D12140), which was presumably inscribed subsequently. There are similar notes on folio 10 verso (D12138), and all seem to relate to the costs involved in one of Turner’s many engraving projects.

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the landscape sketch here continues across folio 11 verso opposite (D12140). It appears to have been drawn over the inscription. The overall sketch appears to show the classic view west up the bend of the Thames below Richmond Hill seen in a number of Turner’s works, most notably his large painting England: Richmond Hill, on the Prince Regent’s Birthday, exhibited in 1819 (Tate N00502).1 This identification is apparently confirmed by what is probably the word ‘Thames’ inscribed at the appropriate point on this page. There are similar panoramic views on folios 10 verso–11 recto, 12 verso–13 recto and 13 verso–14 recto (D12138–D12139, D12142–D12145). For 1818 as the likely date of the drawing, see under D12138.

Technical notes:

There seems to be no sign of John Ruskin’s usual red ink foliation; there are such numbers on most of the later pages (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).