Joseph Mallord William Turner

Here Turner has made a swift record of a harbour, possibly Ostend, orientated inversely to the foliation. An array of craft is docked in the marina: small rowing boats and cobbles can be seen, marked out by cursory curved lines, with larger sailing vessels with tall masts in the middle distance. Figures animate the scene at right. Two further sketches of a walled harbour run parallel to the gutter of the book.

The same harbour is depicted opposite, on the paper paste-down of the inside front cover (Tate D41216) and on folio 1 verso (Tate D28539; Turner Bequest CCXCI 1a).

Technical notes:

The leather loop on the inside front cover has stained the sheet.