In his note inside the front cover of the sketchbook (
D07755), on to which this drawing extends slightly to the left, John Ruskin described the subject as ‘the sketch of Crowhurst: Liber S.’, thus identifying it as the first idea for the unpublished plate of
Crowhurst intended for the
Liber Studiorum. Turner’s finished drawing for the print is Tate
D08172; Vaughan Bequest CXVIII R. However, Finberg’s entry continued: ‘The resemblance ... is very general and vague. I am inclined to doubt whether there is any connexion between the two.’ In fact the origin of
Crowhurst is in the
Views in Sussex sketchbook (Tate
D10327; Turner Bequest CXXXVIII 8) and the present view is more probably in Petworth Park, looking towards the lake, Finberg’s ‘winding river’; the trees may be those on Lawn Hill. Ian Warrell, in unpublished notes,
1 observes the similarity to the sweep of country and water seen through trees in Turner’s vignette
The Beech Tree’s Petition (watercolour in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh)
2 for Thomas Campbell’s
Poetical Works (1837). This subject was set in Petworth’s park. See also folios 2 (
D07758) and 85 verso (
D07847) for related scenery and verse.
