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Samuel Gedge Ltd
CONTINENTAL SKETCHES BY SAMUEL PROUT
90. [PROUT, Samuel.] [Sketchbook of continental landscapes and street scenes in Italy,
France and Switzerland.]
[c.1845.] Sketchbook of white laid paper with label “J.Betts bookseller & stationer 115 Strand” 4to (18 x 22.5cm)
approximately 115 pages with pencil sketches or studies, with additional blanks, occasional marks or smudges, one leaf
detached, stitching loosening in places, in original leather-backed marbled boards, spine worn with soft leather torn at
head and foot, boards with light wear to extremities.
This sketchbook contains continental landscapes and street scenes drawn in pencil by Samuel Prout (1783-
1852) depicting locations in France, Switzerland and Italy. One of the foremost watercolour painters of
the first half of the nineteenth century, Prout specialised in continental views and pioneered lithographic
techniques in such works as Illustrations of the Rhine (1822-1826). His abilities as a draughtsman, in particular
his skill at capturing the qualities of old buildings and masonry, are in evidence in the brisk and fluid
sketches here. French locations depicted include Poitiers, Orleans, Amiens, Reims and Laon while a selection
of Alpine views display mountainscapes with small villages together with sketches of lakes including
Como and Lugano. Some of the sketches include colour notes, suggesting that Prout intended to work
them up into finished watercolours.
The supplier of this sketchbook, “J. Betts bookseller & stationer 115 Strand”, began working from this
address in 1845, therefore it would appear that the sketches cannot have been made any earlier than that
date. Towards the end of his career Prout’s failing health prevented the extensive continental travel of his
younger years and though it is not possible to date this sketchbook with any certainty, he is known to have
been on the continent in 1845 in Brussels.
Provenance: this sketchbook was part of the collection of material relating to Samuel Prout, recently dispersed,
held at the North Devon Athenaeum, Barnstaple. For references to this sketchbook, see: Richard
Lockett, Samuel Prout 1783-1852, 1985, p.84-5.
£3750