Joseph Mallord William Turner

Written in brown ink at the outer edge of the page with the sketchbook turned to the right is a note by Turner relating to the discussion at the Royal Academy in 1830 about purchasing the Old Master drawings from the collection of the late president, Sir Thomas Lawrence. The figures inscribed in pencil above this remain obscure.

At the centre of the page is a sketch of Hailes Castle as seen from the north with ‘Traprain Law’ behind it. Turner made a number of sketches of the castle, which sits on the banks of the River Tyne near the village of East Linton, on his way to Haddington from North Berwick on 12 or 13 August 1831. There is a another tiny sketch of Hailes Castle on folio 23 verso of this sketchbook (D25683), and a number of large and more carefully executed sketches in the Abbotsford sketchbook (Tate D25971; Turner Bequest CCLXVII 24a).