1825 Documents
Documents, Dated Watercolours and Early Accounts of the Artist
1 March 1825
Thomas Lupton’s (1791–1873) mezzotint Ripon Minster on the Rivers Ure and Skell (see print after TG1666) is published as plate twelve of William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England (republished as The River Scenery of England, 1827).
March 1825
Amédée Pichot, Historical and Literary Tour of a Foreigner in England and Scotland (Pichot, 1825, vol.1, p.111)
Looking at present-day artists, Amédée Pichot (1795–1877) complains that their landscapes ‘are merely sketches, very different from the dioramas created by the magic pencils of Girtin or Turner’. The former he describes as ‘An artist of extraordinary talent who died a few years ago’.
1 June 1825
John Bromley’s (1795–1839) mezzotint Bolton Abbey on the River Wharfe (see print after TG1680) is published as plate fourteen of William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England (republished as The River Scenery of England, 1827)).
24 September 1825
The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c., no.453 (24 September 1825), p.620
In a review of William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England, the mezzotint Bolton Abbey on the River Wharfe (see print after TG1680) is described as ‘one of the most beautiful of Girtin’s twilight effects’.
November 1825
The Lady’s Magazine, new series, vol.6 (November 1825), p.696
Reviewing the mezzotints in William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England, the writer notes the general improvement in the art of engraving since the executants are now ‘better draughtsmen’. The rivers ‘continue their course … the artificial course which is assigned to them by the masterly drawings of Turner and Girtin’. The fifth number is ‘rendered particularly worthy of notice by the skillful representation of three kinds of light, the full light of the sun, twilight, and gloomy light after a shower. In the view of Bolton Abbey, the effect of the second species is happily delineated.’
November 1825
La Belle Assemblée, new series, vol.2 (November 1825) p.228
Reviewing the mezzotints in William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England, the writer praises Bolton Abbey on the River Wharfe (see print after TG1680): ‘The names and merits of the designers are too justly appreciated to require any eulogy from us.’ This number is ‘at least equal in excellence to any of its predecessors. Every admirer of the beautiful, the impressive, and the sublime in nature, ought to patronize this publication.’
December 1825
The Eclectic Review, new series, vol.1 (December 1825), p.526
In a review of the prints in William Bernard Cooke’s (1778–1855) Rivers of England, the mezzotint Bolton Abbey on the River Wharfe (see print after TG1680) is censured:
Girtin’s share in the work does not please us quite so well. The scenes from his drawings are heavy and black, and this we suspect to be the fault of the engraver, as the view of Bolton Abbey is spirited and rich; nor is there any such character in the fine aquatinted etchings which were published from his Parisian sketches, shortly after his death.
1800 - 1801
Ripon Minster, from the South East
TG1666
1801
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
TG1680
1801
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
TG1680
1801
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
TG1680
1801
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
TG1680