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

The inscription (inverted as presently bound) appears to record a commission by Charles Cope of Leeds. A similar inscription appears on folio 36 recto (D11556; Turner Bequest CXLVIII 20) in relation to a sketch of Kilnsey Crag in Wharfedale. Because of the unreliable order of pages in this part of the book (see Introduction), it is not altogether clear to which subject the present inscription might relate, although it currently faces a sketch of Mossdale Head on folio 31 verso (D11568; Turner Bequest CXLVIII 27a). Charles Cope was an artist in his own right, and also an engraver, and it may be that he intended to publish a couple of Turner subjects. It is interesting that the inscription appears to be dated nine years after the drawings in the sketchbook were made, although Turner was certainly referring to them in the mid-1820s as the source of compositions for his series of Picturesque Views in England and Wales (see for example the subject of Richmond on folio 25 verso (D11544; Turner Bequest CXLVIII 13a).