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The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries
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Wm. Channing's sketches in Edinburgh (3)
Wm. Channing's sketches in Edinburgh (3)
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These drawings and paintings from volume 1 of William Channing's 'Sketches in Edinburgh', give an artist's impression of tenement life in the mid 19th century. His drawings are glimpses into the past down the narrow closes and alleyways of the Old Town. We see higgledy-piggledy houses and tenements towering skywards, laundry hanging from windows across the walkways and local characters talking in the streets.
Although a little-known artist today, it's thought Channing worked as scene painter at a theatre in Manchester before moving to Edinburgh and continuing in this profession at the Theatre Royal.
Channing's delightful sketches are particularly valued for their representation of the architectural elements and details of buildings and closes now much changed or long since disappeared. His sketches provide a significant record of how Edinburgh's cityscape looked over 150 years ago.
View more of William Channing's beautiful sketches from
volume 1
and
volume 2
.