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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Erotica and Improvisations c.1834-6 > Colour Studies (1) Sketchbook [Finberg ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes c.1834-6

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes’ c.1834-6
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 48 Recto:
Inscription by Turner: Notes c.1834–6
D28857
Turner Bequest CCXCI b 48
Pencil on white wove paper, 101 x 77 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘48’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXCI(b) – 48’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, Turner has written nine lines of what appear to be continuous prose notes, becoming increasingly cramped and scrawled as they progress. It seems effectively impossible to recover the overall sense, but the following is a highly speculative and incomplete attempt at a transcription, its tenor perhaps suggesting some matter of business:
The [?sl...] M [?being] | and [?the Largest] E [?l] | My dis[...] | [?In B...] shall [?come] | before [?my being M...] | is [?filled] for [?N ...] [‘?before’ inserted below] | [?my ..., ap...] | [?there short ... 2 ...] | [... ?up by my G ...]
For other notes in this sketchbook, see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
May 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes c.1834–6 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-inscription-by-turner-notes-r1149078, accessed 25 April 2024.