57 exceptionally fine prints, drawings, and watercolors on paper. A fine and important collection relating to one of the finest of salmonid works and illustrating the artistic history of Jardine’s monograph from conception to completion. This archive comprises hand-colored engraved plates, some with variant coloring, original pencil drawings, original watercolors, intermediary states of the plates with engraved fish and watercolor backgrounds, uncolored proofs of the plates on India paper mounted, hand-colored proof plates inscribed to the colorist Bayfield, and related drawings and engravings, all mounted.

Condition: Occasional light spotting, some corners soiled, handling marks, annotations and other use marks associated with antique archival material.

The collection includes:

I. Salmo Salar. The Common Salmon of the British Waters: Young or Gilse. No. 1. Solway Firth in July, Size of Life, weight 2lb. 13 oz. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; the finished engraving with trial coloring, inscribed in pencil ‘pattern for Mr. Bayfield’; uncolored proof state with fish engraved and background in pencil and wash, annotated in pencil (448 x 640mm); uncolored proof on India paper mounted; drawing, in pencil, of the fish only.

II. Salmo Salar. The Common Salmon of the British Waters: Young or Gilse. No. 2. River Tweed in July, reduced.1/3 from a Fish 3.1/3lb. Hand-colored engraving from the published work (458 x 632mm); uncolored proof state before letters (411 x 618mm); uncolored proof state printed on India paper mounted; the finished engraving with trial coloring, inscribed in ink ‘Copy for Mr Bayfield. W.J.’; drawing, in pencil, laid-down, annotated in pencil ‘Reduced from Male Gilse 3 lbs weight - 20 inches long. Tweed 14 July 1835.’

III. Salmo Trutta. Salmo Albus of Dr. Fleming, Herling of the Solway. Young states of migratory Trout. Male Size of Life. Solway Firth in August. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; uncolored proof state printed on India paper mounted; the finished engraving with trial coloring, inscribed in pencil at upper right ‘pattern’; drawing, in pencil and brown wash, laid-down; drawing fish only, in pencil, laid-down.

IV. Salmo Ferox. Great Lake Trout. Male No. 2. Loch Layghal, Sutherlandshire, in June. Male Size of Life. Weight 4lbs. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; drawing, in pencil, grey wash, heightened with white of fish only, partially erased annotation in pencil; the finished engraved plate with trial coloring, inscribed in ink ‘Copy for Mr Bayfield. W.J’; uncolored proof state printed on India paper mounted.

V. Salmo Fario. Common Trout: Lacustrine varieties, No. 2. 1. Lochs in Assynt, Sutherlandshire. 2. Lochawe, Argyleshire, weight 14oz.. Hand-colored engraving from the published work as titled; the finished engraving with trial coloring inscribed at lower left ‘Copy for Mr Bayfield. W.J’; uncolored proof state printed on India paper, mounted; together with drawings for each fish. 1. Drawing, in pencil; proof state with fish engraved and background drawn in pencil and watercolor, annotated in pencil ‘alter foliage in foreground’. 2. Drawing in pencil; drawing, in pencil, on London Board; drawing, pencil and watercolor, inscribed ‘14 oz weight June, Flesh pink, extremely powerfull [sic] - Cladich, 13 Aug’; proof state with fish engraved and background drawn in pencil and watercolor, annotated in pencil ‘Fish Nat Size’ and with a note in pencil about the foliage.

VI. Coregonus Willughbeii. Vendace or Lochmaben Corregonus. Castle Loch, Lochmaben, Dumfrieshire in June. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; drawing, in pencil heightened with white, annotated in ink at upper right ‘To be engraved on copper, size of paper and same position of fish to be kept. Sketch for Background will be Sent’; uncolored proof state printed on India paper mounted; engraving with variant hand-coloring.

VII. Salmo Salar. Adult male in Breeding State. River Annan in December, reduced one third. 2 versions of the hand-colored engraving, one with variant coloring, from the published work; study, in pencil, of the head, on grey paper; study, in pencil, of the whole fish on grey paper, annotated in pencil ‘13 Rays in the pectoral fins including the short ones on each side’ and with other anatomical information, including measurements of the specimen depicted; study, pencil and watercolor, annotated in ink at upper right ‘Sketch for the background to be introduced into before going to the engravers - the fish is about half an inch to low upon the paper’, laid-down; drawing, pencil, pen-and-ink, and watercolor; proof state before letters, inscribed in ink ‘Aquafortis proof. W.B.’; the finished engraving with trial coloring, inscribed upper right ‘Pattern’.

VIII. Salmo Salar. Young or Gilse Male. Solway Firth 8 t h June. Size of Life. Weight 6 oz. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; proof state before letters, inscribed in ink lower edge with caption and signatures, and above in pencil ‘the whole fish wants finish and softening’ and giving further instructions to the engraver on specific details.

IX. Salmo Trutta. Sea Trout. Male Size of Life, weight 4 l b 3 oz. Drawing, in pencil, heightened with grey wash, of the fish only; drawing, in pencil, heightened with grey wash, of the fish only, inscribed at lower right ‘S. Trutta. Solway 5th July 1839. Male. Size of Life, weight 4 lb. 3oz.’; proof state with the fish engraved only and the background in pencil with grey and brown wash; proof state before letters, with the fish only hand-colored, inscribed at lower right ‘Pattern’; uncolored proof state before letters.

X. Sea Trout Nos. 1 and 2. Salmo Trutta. Solway Firth in June, Size of Life. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; drawing, pencil and watercolor, with caption inscribed in pencil at lower edge, and before the fishing basket; study, in pencil, of the background with the fish in outline.

XI. 1. Salmo Trutta. Young of 15 months bred in Mr Shaw’s ponds. 2. Young States Migratory Trout. River Annan in May. 3. Young States of Migratory Trout. Solway Firth in June. Proof state before letters, inscribed in ink below ‘Unfinished’. Together with drawings for each fish. 1. Drawing, pencil and watercolor 2. Drawing, pencil and watercolor 3. Drawing, pencil and watercolor. And the engraved vignette for accompanying text leaf with the fish partially hand-colored, inscribed at upper right in ink ‘Pattern’.

XII. Salmo Fario. Lacustrine varieties No. 1. Loch Skerne, Dumfrieshire. Size of Life. Hand-colored engraving from the published work; engraving, the fish partially hand-colored, annotated in pencil with instructions to the engraver and to the colorist. Together with, JARDINE. British Salmonidae. London: Drukkerij de Lange/van Leer for Decimus, 1979.

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE’S ALBUM OF SKETCHES FOR
THE LANDSCAPE BACKGROUNDS OF BRITISH SALMONIDAE 

[WITH]: JARDINE, Sir William (1800-1874). “Sketches from Nature by W. Jardine Bart. 1841”. Folio (19 x 13 1/4 inches). EXCEPTIONALLY FINE ALBUM OF 37 ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR AND 37 PENCIL DRAWINGS BY JARDINE depicting highland and lowland Scottish scenery sketched by Jardine on his fishing tours, including his Sutherland tour, the Tweed and his home territory of Dumfriesshire and the Solway Coast, tipped-in to an album, mounted one and two to a page (9 loose), with his manuscript captions and dates in ink below each. Contemporary half red morocco, tan embossed cloth, gilt (a little scuffed at the edges).

Provenance: According to a note signed by Christopher T. Dalgety, loosely inserted: Sir William Jardine (1800-1874); his eldest daughter Jane Home Jardine; her son William Jardine Herries Maxwell (1852 – 1933), of Munches in Buittle (both sons killed in action at Gallipoli in 1915); Munches estate sale ca 1945; Christopher Thomas Dalgety
(1907-1980), an ornithologist and explorer in the Arctic in the 1920s and 1930s, his sale Bonhams Edinburgh, 18th May 2016, lot 103.

The beautiful and evocative scenery captured in these watercolors and sketches were printed by Lizars for the final plates and vignettes in British Salmonidae.

Jardine was an avid angler, and while fishing in Sutherland between 1832 and 1835 he made a series of detailed on the spot sketches because, as he later explained, the colors of fish fade rapidly on death. The sketches and watercolors are dated 1832 and record his “Sutherlandshire” tour, starting in Lairg and fishing the Shin, loch Craigie [sic] and loch Naver. A sketch ‘between Lairg and Altnaharra’ clearly shows the boat on wheels which they used to travel the highlands drawn by two Highland ponies. It allowed them to fish every loch they passed and served as transport and shelter for some nights too. “At each loch they passed at least one of the party would tackle up and try the contents, and the colors (and tastes) of the trout they caught were diligently recorded.”

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE’S MAGNUS OPUS:
BRITISH SALMONIDAE

[WITH]: JARDINE, Sir William (1800-1874). British Salmonidae. Edinburgh: W.H.Lizars, 1839-1841. 2 parts (all published) in one volume. Folio (27 2/8 x 20 inches). 12 EXCEPTIONALLY FINE hand colored engraved plates by Lizars after Jardine (laid down on linen), each with accompanying leaf of letterpress text, three engraved vignettes,
including one hand-colored. Modern half brown morocco original brown cloth boards.

Provenance: According to a note signed by Christopher T. Dalgety, loosely inserted: Sir William Jardine (1800-1874);
his eldest daughter Jane Home Jardine; her son William Jardine Herries Maxwell (1852 – 1933), of Munches in Buittle (both sons killed in action at Gallipoli in 1915); Munches estate sale ca 1945; Christopher Thomas Dalgety (1907-1980), an ornithologist and explorer in the Arctic in the 1920s and 1930s, his sale Bonhams Edinburgh, 18th
May 2016, lot 103.

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE (SCOTTISH, 1800-1874)

Sir William Jardine, was the 7th Baronet of Jardine Hall near Lockerbie, Scotland. Jardine was the leading authority on salmon and trout in the British Isles. An excellent sportsman, his preeminent knowledge of the species was intimate and personal, and his expertise in the field was so noted that in 1860 he was appointed to the Royal
Commission on the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales.

Jardine, perhaps best known for his Naturalist’s Library series, was also an ardent angler. His estates were in the fertile fishing areas near the rivers Annan and Tweed, placing him in a perfect position geographically to explore his fascination with salmon and trout. His independent research, and artistic inclinations, culminated in the finest
and most comprehensive monograph on these fish ever produced in the British Isles, and perhaps in the world, British Salmonidae.

The magnificent, large-scale plates of the British Salmonidae included four of the salmon at various stages of its development, four of the sea-trout, one of the ferox, two of the brown trout, and one of the vendace. No artist better captured the sport of salmon and trout fishing, nor the appearance of the species themselves. For this reason, since the first appearance of Jardine’s work 150 years ago, it has fascinated biologists, fishermen, and art collectors alike.

Jardine’s printed series is exceedingly rare, having been offered at auction only twice in the past twenty years. This opportunity, however, is unprecedented in that it comprises a number of the existing original drawings and watercolors that were generated in preparation for the publication, all by Jardine himself. In the artist’s stunning original watercolors and drawings, much more than in any print, one understands the unparalleled excellence, the meticulous attention to detail and the aesthetic sensibility that characterized his work. Truly the fish appear to come to
life in Jardine’s flawless images, rendered with outstanding naturalism. These are the most important records of his monumental work, and offer a unique, unparalleled glimpse into the history and culmination of a landmark publication focusing on gamefish.

The Sir William Jardine archive is a comprehensive collection encompassing several elements: a group of seven clamshell boxes containing 57 prints, drawings, and watercolors on paper prepared for British Salmonidae; an album of nature sketches with landscape compositions designed for Jardine’s printed works, and Jardine’s own copy of the exceedingly rare British Salmonidae.

Together this archive is a visual story of creating this scientific and artistic feat celebrating sport fishing. The three parts of this remarkable archive are described in full on the following pages.

You can view the catalogue here.