The greater part of the collection is made up of prints, although there are also significant numbers of drawings. The prints largely date from the sixteenth through to the eighteenth centuries in Alexander Hendras Sutherland's collection, and from the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in his wife's. The drawings are usually late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century in date, and are either topographies or reproductions of paintings, although there are notable exceptions, for example the Wyngaerde Panorama of London and Cigoli's Design for a Monument to Henri IV.[1] In addition, many autographs - usually in the form of signatures cut from larger pages - have been added to two of Charlotte Sutherland's books, Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron (Sutherland 12-16) and Orford's Royal and Noble Authors (Sutherland 23-43).
Anthonis van den Wyngaerde, London Bridge,
from the
Panorama of London,
brown ink over black chalk,
c.1544/5
Lodovico Cigoli, Equestrian Monument
to Henry IV, King of
France, pen and brown ink,
blue wash and white heightening,
c.1604.
Originally Clarendon, vol. I, pt 7, facing p. 438
King Charles the First's Head Drawn in Optiks,
engraving.
Clarendon, vol. I, pt 3, facing p. 118
The subject-matter of the extra-illustrations is, of course, related to the books they illustrate.
The majority are portraits. Given the dominance of the Clarendon and Burnet, comprising between them more than two-thirds of the collection, the greater part are of foreign and British royalty, the nobility, and other notable figures from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries; Burnet is responsible for a significant body of Scots. The next most significant extra-illustrated work, Orford's Royal and Noble Authors, similarly focuses on British royalty and aristocracy. Other notable subjects are bibliophiles and those connected with the book trade (Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron, Sutherland 12-16), late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century theatrical figures (Reynolds's Life, Sutherland 82-5), and notable Swiss, from the Reformation onwards (Coxe, Travels, Sutherland 151-5). There are also a fair number of images of figures from classical antiquity, either represented from antique artworks, or the artists' imaginations.
Jakob Cristof Le Blon,
Cardinal Fleury, colour
mezzotint.
Large Prints & Drawings, vol. III, fol. 9
In part originally engraved
by W. Bressie, The Portraturs
of
the Commanders in Chiefe of
the Parlyments Forces by Sea and
Land,
engraving (2nd state), printed and
published by Peter Stent,
c.1646/1650.
Clarendon, vol. II, pt 6, facing p. 369
Next most significant are topographies. These mostly relate to the British Isles, again with a notable Scottish strand in Burnet. There are also a significant number of continental scenes, particularly associated with military campaigns in Burnet, but also found in Dibdin's Picturesque Tour (Sutherland 19-22), Reynolds's Life, and of course Coxe's Travels in Switzerland. One of Mrs Sutherland's volumes of Miscellaneous prints (Sutherland 166) also contains many prints of Surrey, where she had moved following her husband's death. Related to the topographies are various antiquarian studies of monuments etc., found in Orford's Royal and Noble Authors, in particular. There are also a few scenes best described as 'topographical genre' - depictions of local markets etc. - in Dibdin's Picturesque Tour, and a set of colour lithographs of Swiss costume in Coxe's Travels.
Paul Sandby, A distant View of Leith from the south-east, watercolour and chalk over graphite, 1747. Burnet, vol. I, pt 4, facing p. 241
Finally come the works described by Charlotte Sutherland as 'miscellaneous'. The majority of these are of events, mostly political or military and, again, relating to British history of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The same is true of various allegories and satires, and of the broadsides which are also included in Clarendon and Burnet. Reynolds's Life also contains several scenes from literature.
The Country's Complaint, from
Mercurius
Rusticus, engraving.
Clarendon, vol. II, pt 1, facing p. 17
No King, No Popery, Liberty: Cromwell for
Ever,
bodycolour with some areas of varnish, on
parchment.
Clarendon, vol. III, pt 5, facing p. 373
A Plot with Powder, 1605, engraving.
Burnet, vol. I, pt.
1, facing p. 11
The Execution of Charles I, engraving,
published by
Francoys van Beusekom, 1649.
Clarendon, vol. III, pt 3, facing p.
198
The least illustrated volumes usually have frontispieces of the author's portrait added, or additional states of illustrations issued with the work.
(The illustrations on this page have been drawn from objects of which the Ashmolean Museum already has colour images; they are not, therefore, fully representative of the collection.)
