Publisher's Synopsis
William Daniell was born in 1769, the son of the landlord of the Swan Inn in Chertsey. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1807, and a Royal Academician in 1822. An accomplished artist in oils and watercolours, he also had matchless skills in the magical process of aquatint engraving. Such were his artistic vision and delicacy of touch, that he was able to produce the most wonderful atmospheric aquatint prints, which had the appearance and impact of water colour paintings. His greatest work, 'A Voyage Round Great Britain', included 308 prints of coastal scenes, and was published by Longman over the period 1814–25. John Garvey's first encounter with Daniell's work was in 1969, when he first held a Daniell aquatint print in his hands, of the spectacular mountain, Bla Bheinn, which is part of the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye. He was overwhelmed by the composition of the view, the black threatening profile of the mountain dwarfing the people and boats on Loch Slapin below. Here, Garvey brings together 17 aquatint prints and 10 pencil sketches from the Hebridean islands of Eigg, Rum, Skye and Raasay, and photographs showing these views as they are today. He takes the reader along the route of Daniell's journey in 1815, using the artist's words and those of contemporary travellers, such as Walter Scott and Dr John McCullock, to describe the scenery and the condition of the people. He puts greatest emphasis on the celebration of Daniell's skill as an artist, but additionally gives his journey historic perspective.
