This thesis considers the making and circulation of drawn and printed imagery in Britain over the period 1610-1750 with a particular emphasis on the observation and record of place. It takes as its focus the contested position of the visual image in Britain over this period, considering the place of the record of the land, past, present and future, in the making and re-making of the country. It is particularly concerned to elucidate links between different forms of depictive practice: ‘pictorial’ and ‘mathematical’, evident at the time of their making, if often lost in their interpretation in the modern literature. These depictive traditions are explored in order to examine the value of the categories of ‘real’ and ‘ideal’ that have tended to dominate narratives of landscape history. Throughout, drawings and prints are considered as forms of knowledge that combined a number of traditions and practices, aged along with those more recent. Tensions between theories and practices of image-making are central rather than incidental to the study, discovered through an examination of manuals and treatises as well as drawings and prints. There is also a recognition of the importance of collecting practices and patronage over this period, explored through the extended legacies of Lord Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. A focus on collections and the legacies of landscape imagery has necessitated that images be brought together from a wide range of regional and metropolitan libraries, archives and art galleries, and reconnected with the wider cultural, political and religious worlds through which they were circulated and enacted at the time of their making. Drawing on a number of disciplinary traditions, this approach offers a new perspective on topographically-informed imagery over this extended period, seeking to expand the parameters of the interpretation of such works.

The dyed cotton textiles called Turkey red are a significant part of Scotland’s cultural heritage and the legacy of its textile manufacturing industry, and were known for their exceptional colour and fastness to light and wash fading. This thesis is a multi-disciplinary investigation of the chemistry of these unique textiles in the context of 19th c. Scotland using historical material re-creations and modern analytical chemistry, situating the dyeing process in a historical context. This research is a significant contribution toward the continued preservation of historical Turkey red textiles. Through a detailed, chemistry-focused examination of Turkey red methods published in English and French between 1785-1911, the key ingredients and steps for the process from a chemical perspective are identified (Chapter 1). The significance, chemistry, and previous research on the role of the oil (Chapter 2) and dye sources used (Chapter 3) are discussed to form the basis of the material re-creations and analysis. The oil is fundamental to and characteristic of the process, which is also noteworthy for being the first to replace a natural dye source (madder or garancine) with a coal-tar derived analogue (synthetic alizarin). Re-creations of dyed Turkey red, Turkey red oil, oiled calico, and synthetic alizarin provide experiential data and reference materials to test analyses prior to application on historical objects (Chapter 4). The analysis of Turkey red oils by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) (Chapter 5) provides information used to characterise, for the first time, how the oil and cotton fibres bond to form the basis of the Turkey red complex. This is studied using conservation-based diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and solid-state NMR (ssNMR) on replica and 19th c. pieces of Turkey red (Chapter 6). Dyes analysis of these samples by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array (UHPLC-PDA) identifies chromatographic profiles of textiles dyed with natural or synthetic dye based on synthetic chemical markers. The presence of pigments on printed Turkey red is confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) (Chapter 7).