The son of a London barber, Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775 - 1851 is generally acknowledged to be the most creative and perceptive artist that Britain has ever produced. By the age of 13 he had already been admitted to the Royal Academy Schools and a year later was exhibiting his first watercolours at the Academy. By 24 he was an associate member. A master with watercolors and with oils, Turner is celebrated for his innovative treatment of light on a wide range of landscape subjects. Later works such as "Snow Storm: Steam Boat off a Harbor's Mouth" make it clear why many view him as an important precursor to the imminent Impressionists and modern abstract art. All are large full plate images very crisp and clean from a disbound book.. His Topographic pics will also be listed on the appropriate county page. but also appear here for convenience

Antique engraved print published from Picturesque Views in England and Wales. From Drawings by J.M.W. Tuner, engraved under the superintendence of Mr. Charles Heath with descriptive and historic illustrations by H.E. Lloyd. Two Volumes. London: Published for the Proprietor, by Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row. (1825-38). Folio Sized

 The ninety-six engravings which made up Turner's Picturesque Views in England and Wales were issued by Charles Heath and Robert Jennings and Co. between the years 1827 and 1838. Copper engravings from drawings (two from paintings) by J.M.W. Turner. A number of engravers were employed by the publisher Charles Heath, including (in order of appearance) E. Goodall, R. Wallis, W.R. Smith, J.C. Varrall, R. Brandard, J. Willmore, T. Jeavons, W. Radclyffe, C Westwood, W. Miller, W. Tombleson, J.B. Allen, J. Henshall, James H. Kernott and J. Horsburgh. In the first published state on folio sheets of laid India paper, only sixty impressions of each were issued according to contemporary advertisements; of these thirty were sold together with their preliminary outline etchings. The history of the series is extremely interesting; originally engravings were to be published in serial form, consisting of one hundred and twenty views of cities, seaports, abbeys, castles and waterways. Charles Heath and the firm of printsellers, Jennings and Co., who - and this should have been a warning to Turner - had been unable to maintain a steady relationship with any one publisher during a period of about ten years. Turner was paid £30 for each of the drawings and it was agreed that once they were engraved Heath could sell them to provide further income.

The plates and pages of text are unnumbered, including in the index. The plates with a succession of publication lines tell the story of the commercial failure of the series. The publication commences with "Robert Jennings, Poultry", then "R. Jennings, 2, Poultry & Giraldon Bovinet, Gallerie Vivienne, Paris", "Robert Jennings & William Chaplin, Cheapside", "Moon, Boys & Graves, Pall Mall" and finally "Longman & Co. Paternoster Row". Publication dates on the plates are from March 1st, 1827 in Volume I and from 1832 to 1838 in Volume II.

The title pages of the two volumes have a publication date of 1838. The publisher on the title pages is Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row. The printer, on the reverse of the title page, is J. Haddon, Castle Street, Finsbury. All the individual plates have an attribution to McQueen as printer.

The text, by H.E. Lloyd, is disappointing in that it bears little or no relation to the particular images, and in particular fails to comment on the human activities within some of the more interesting social scenes, with the exception of reference in the title to the sailor's wedding in plate 3.

The legend below the image takes a standard form with the title and publication line in the centre. The attribution to Turner is bottom left under the image margin. In the example shown Turner has also concealed his name in bottom left corner of the engraving. The attribution to the engraver is bottom right under the image, with the attribution to the printer of the plate below.

By the end of 1825 however the inevitable crash followed the great economic boom with s uch disastrous effect that nearly eighty banks throughout the country were forced to close. In spite of this, publication of the Picturesque Views continued and in 1829, Turner had been travelling around the country, returning with, amongst others, some thirteen sketches which were later developed for the series.

The venture was proving expensive and beyond the means of Jennings whose share was sold to Moon, Boys and Graves in 1831. Heath was failing to find further subscribers and was also running into financial difficulties. By 1838, Longman's, who had taken over a half-share in the venture from Moon, Boys and Graves, decided that it was doomed financially. They had issued the finished engravings in two volumes at a reduced price but there was still little response, so to avoid further losses the series was terminated. Heath was financially ruined and sold off much of his personal collection to settle his debts. Then Longman's, in an attempt to recoup their losses, put up at auction all the copper plates together with the remaining stock of prints. At the last minute the whole collection was bought privately by Turner himself for £3000, allegedly to prevent the plates falling into the hands of the reprint bookseller, H.G.Bohn.

 titled. . . .PICTURESQUE VIEWS ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF ENGLAND by JMW Turner published in London:by John and Arthur Arch, Cornhill, et al, 1826, 1826. Engraved by W. B. Cooke, George Cooke, and other eminent engravers. 48 full page engravings and 31 engravings in the text.A complete set of these plates originally issued in 16 parts between 1814 and 1826 as these are all unbound folio these plates are presumed to be from the earlier part work set ie sold loose in paper to be sent to your own binder.