Sandby's Drawing Book of Figures
I have recently acquired from France a set of 8 pages (21 engravings in all) titled "The First Drawing Book of Figures by P. Sandby." On consulting Ann Gunn's Catalogue Raisonne of Sandby Prints, I was interested to find that this was a scarce item. Gunn writes that "these cheap little booklets were extremely ephemeral and few have survived. They were either separated or cut up and pasted on walls for decoration." Furthemore, she adds that "no copies bound together as a drawing book [of Figures] have as yet come to light." On contacting her, she confirmed that this is indeed a rare and interesting set. Each page is loose, but small holes suggest that they were once sewn together. The last page has been cropped: whether there were other prints in the set I do not know. This collection was printed by F. Vivares. Gunn assumes that Vivares acquired the plates after Ryland and Byer went bankrupt,and that the set was published before Vivares's death in 1780. I am adding them all to this page, not least because some of them appear to relate to Scotland, sketched when Sandby was working for the Ordnance Survey in the Highlands. They depict everyday scenes, mundane perhaps, but all the more interesting to us now for that. The titles for each print I have taken from Gunn's catalogue.
Caricatured Heads of a Man and a Woman, and the figure of a man with a Leek or Feather in his Hat." If it is a leek, this might be a Welshman.
"Old Man and Woman Seated on a Bench." Dated 1747 on the print. Sandby's earliest dated etching.
"Old Man with Staff over his Shoulder."
"A Soldier with a Musket On Guard, a Windmill in the Background. "
"A Man with a Basket on his Back."
"A Man Carrying a Hod on his Back."
"Milk- a Woman Carrying Milk-Pails on a Yoke."
"A Woman with a Stick and a Basket, a Tower in the Background."
"Man Leaning on a Staff, Buildings Beyond."
"A Man with a Basket."
"Woman Walking in a Cloak, Figures in the Background." Probably an Edinburgh Scene?
"Man with a Spade and a Dog."
"Street Scene at Night, with a Sedan Chair and Figures. " Sandby experimenting with conveying night scenes in engraving, c.1758.
"Two Men, a Woman and a Boy with a Hoop." Gunn suggests this might be an Edinburgh scene?
"A Man with a Barrow, a Woman with a Basket and Other Figures." An Edinburgh scene?
"A Dairy Maid and her Lover." Note the cat helping itself opportunely!
"Two Men with a Dog, Conversing, a Woman in the Distance." An Edinburgh scene?
"Seated Lovers by a Lake or River." The early states of this print had a longer blank margin at the bottom.
"Three Road Builders within a Rococo Border"
"A Group of Figures in a Landscape." An Edinburgh scene?
"Two Road Builders within a Rococo Border." Gunn suggests the two road building images (numbers 20 & 21) can be dated to c.1754. Similar images can be found in a drawing "The Great Bridge over the Virginia River" which is dated 1754. The two images here could depict Scottish road building.
