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

The building in this sketch, a three story structure with a surrounding arcade at street level and a cupola in the roof, is identifiable as the Old Corn Exchange in the Grassmarket by a 1818 engraving by H.S. Storer.1 Turner has concentrated on the top levels and roof, especially the cupola which he has drawn again to the right to show it from a different angle. The sketch at the left also shows a portion of the roof. One corner of the same building is depicted at the far left of the drawing on the opposite page (folio 49 verso; D13410; CLXV 49a).

This page has been inscribed, presumably by Finberg, ‘68a’ in pencil. Finberg’s order, which follows Ruskin’s red ink numbering (see the verso of this page, D13447; CLXV 68), shows that the page had been bound at the end of this sketchbook by 1909, but it has since been rebound in the order indicated here. Rebinding was presumably prompted by noticing that at the bottom of the page is the continuation of the drawing from folio 49 verso, showing the roofs of the buildings.