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

This page, turned horizontally for Turner’s inscription, was considered by Finberg as a flyleaf. ‘Manffordd’ may be either Minffordd on the southern slopes of Cader Idris, above Talyllyn, or Minffordd on the edge of Traeth Mawr, two miles east of Porthmadog. When Turner visited the region William Alexander Madocks (1773–1828) had yet to drain Traeth Mawr;1 the estuary with its extensive sandbanks was a point of interest on the traveller’s way up the west coast of Wales, just before entering Snowdonia via the Pass of Aberglaslyn. The note of a place to stay is characteristic of the practical information that Turner liked to collect when preparing a tour, or during one; see for example the full itinerary on the opening pages of the South Wales sketchbook (Tate D40553–D40556; front flyleaves of Turner Bequest XXVI).

Verso:

Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.