Auction of rare artworks by Sir James Skene of Rubislaw

The auction will be held at Lyon & Turnbull on Wednesday 24th February and it’s expected to fetch in the region of between £10,000 and £12,000. It has been described as a “significant artefact in Scottish cultural history” by an expert in Scott – and the relationship between the two men – the drawings were done between 1793 and 1834. Sir James Skene of Rubislaw, was a lawyer and talented amateur artist, who came from a prominent Aberdeen family, sketched scenes, not only in Scotland, but around Europe, at Scott’s request, in a role almost like that of a photographer. Scott drew detail and inspiration from these images, sometimes featuring places he had never visited, and they would form the basis of many of his settings throughout his poetry and in The Waverley Novels.

It includes one sketch of Doune Castle, from 1817, now a famous filming location of “Outlander” and “The Outlaw King”. In 1814, Sir Walter Scott used Doune Castle in his first novel, “Waverley”, as the protagonist, Edward Waverley, is brought there by the Jacobites. Scott described the castle as a “gloomy yet picturesque structure.”

Forgotten for 200 years, the importance of the album was uncovered during lockdown by the great-great-great grandson of renowned lighthouse engineer, Robert Stevenson (grandfather of celebrated author Robert Louis Stevenson). James Will, a former lawyer, decided to use the time to find out more about the book that had been lying among family papers.

James explained:

"I suspect my grandfather, Alan Stevenson, purchased the album at auction in the 1950s given his love of lighthouse illustrations. However, I can only speculate as an acquaintance has been documented between Robert Stevenson and Sir James Skene, suggesting a possible earlier connection."

”I had always known of the album but it wasn’t until we were all confined to our homes that I did some detective work. Helpfully a great deal of the sketches are dated so they can be matched to events described in Skene’s writings and Scott’s Journal."Many of the illustrations can be traced to the friends’ excursions to ruins, castles and other sites. It was absolutely extraordinary to find a collection like this whose existence was completely unknown to academics.”

Professor Richard Hill, an Edinburgh University graduate now working at Chaminade University of Honolulu, said:

"Sir Walter Scott called James Skene "his artist” partly as a mark of deep respect and friendship but also because of their creative working relationship. This collection represents an artistic collaboration between one of world literature's most important authors, and his artist-friend whose work inspired some of the most famous scenes of Scottish literature."

"James Skene is always referred to parenthetically in Scott scholarship, but I think he must take his rightful place in the creation of a Scottish popular identity: his work is in part responsible for some of the most enduring imagery associated with Scotland."

Cathy Marsden, a Rare Books specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, commented:

“I was so excited to see this album – it’s a remarkable collection of illustrations which capture the sights and experiences encountered by one of Scotland's greatest and most influential writers and his close friend. It will be really interesting to see how the bidding goes and be part of finding the drawings a new home."