The Prints of Scotland
March 16, 2010 3:12 PM   Subscribe

What can you tell me about these Scottish landscape prints I found in the trash?

The Broomielaw, Glasgow
Helensburgh
Loch Long
The Clyde from Above Gourock
The back of one of the frames

They are labeled "Chrome lithograph, circa 1890". Does that mean these were printed in 1890, or do they look like reproductions of 1890 prints?

A couple of them are say "T NELSON & SONS" in the corner of the image.

I bumped into the previous owner when I was carrying these home--he said he found them at a yard sale, and that they might be original. I'm not counting on that, but I'd like to learn the story behind these.
posted by domnit to Media & Arts (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
If these aren't authentic, then you have some cool forgeries. T. Nelson & Sons was a publishing firm that started in Scotland around that time. The company still exists and these may be of great value to them.

You'll have to do some more investigating , though.

I would check this out further if I was in your shoes.
posted by snsranch at 4:07 PM on March 16, 2010


We've got a 90 year-old Scottish water colour with almost exactly that sort of frame (but think your matte is from the 1980s). Cut the paper off the back of the frame and look at the print.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:10 PM on March 16, 2010


Best answer: They're from this book: Souvenir of Scotland : its cities, lakes and mountains printed by T Nelson and sons as you say. You can see all the other views online at that link too.
posted by Flitcraft at 5:39 PM on March 16, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks, Flitcraft, that's great! Do you know anything else about the book?

In that link the pictures appear on every fourth page, with "ghosts" on the other pages. Is that just a weird scan, or is it actually like that? (And if it is, why?)

Is it likely that the pictures I found were clipped from this book, or would they have been produced separately?
posted by domnit at 6:00 PM on March 16, 2010


The pictures are protected by thin paper sheets bound into the books. This is common in old books. In move from n7 to n9, you can see that you're "flipping" a piece of tracing paper.
posted by howfar at 6:28 PM on March 16, 2010


The ghosts are tissue guards for the illustrations. I can't really add much except that it was a popular tourist book with 'postcard sized illustrations' and there were some fabulously kitsch Mauchline ware bindings for it. They may have used those same pictures in its companion book 'Souvenir of the Clyde' too but the internet archive scan of that hasn't come out properly. Possibly they were clipped from the book, if the dimensions fit.

BTW Mauchline ware is quite fun too.
posted by Flitcraft at 9:29 PM on March 16, 2010


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