‘Marignac, near St. Beat Haute, Garonne, October 4, 1821’, Plate 47 from Plates Illustrative of a Journal of a Tour in France, Switzerland, and Italy.

1823

Special Collections D919 CP 95

London: Printed for G. and W.B. Whittaker

In 1819, Marianne Colston (née Jenkins, 1792-1865) married the wealthy Bristol merchant, Edward Francis Colston. Almost immediately, they set off on their Continental tour, with servants in tow. Marianne recorded their travels in her Journal of a Tour, which sadly Special Collections does not own. However, we do have the 50 folio lithographs that accompanied her two-volume set. Marianne was also an amateur painter and sketched her way through Europe. In the hope that her pencil supplied the deficiencies of her pen, she sketched picturesque sights that always appear grand. When people are placed within the scene, they are always small-scale. Here, Marianne is at Marignac, near St. Beat Haute, Garonne, sitting quietly with pencil and pad in hand. Perhaps, it is her husband shading her with the umbrella.