West Cowes from the Medina, Isle of Wight Yachting View by Brannon, 1829

An uncolored copper engraving of West Cowes, Isle of Wight, drawn and engraved by George Brannon and published at Wotton on the twenty fifth of May 1829. The town climbs the hillside above the mouth of the Medina in tiers of roofs and gardens, with villas and bow windows along the esplanade and a church tower breaking the skyline. A gaff-rigged cutter comes down under full sail in the foreground and smaller craft work the roads behind her, which is the whole point of Cowes: it was already the yachting capital of England when this plate was cut, the club that became the Royal Yacht Squadron having been founded in 1815. Brannon's burin keeps the rigging and the water in crisp light lines, and the figures on the beach set the scale of the harbor.

Vectis Scenery was George Brannon's life's work, a series of Isle of Wight views drawn and engraved by him and published from Wotton Common on the island, this volume in 1829. The title promised the picturesque beauties, local peculiarities and places of particular interest of the island, and the book served visitors as both a guide and a keepsake. Brannon's own advertisement leaf sets the first series at twenty-eight views and a map. Each plate is a line engraving on copper, taken from a drawing made in front of the subject. The views were issued uncolored, as line engravings on white paper, and this impression is uncolored.

Cowes views are the most sought after of all Brannon's Isle of Wight plates, and this is the classic prospect of the town from the water, cut in the very year the complete Vectis Scenery was issued. It catches West Cowes at the moment the Regency sailing season made the island fashionable, before Osborne House brought the court and the crowds. For a sailing collector, or for anyone with a connection to the Solent, it is the obvious choice from the volume, and it looks particularly good in a group of maritime engravings hung over a sideboard.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.