Observations upon the picturesque scenery of North Wales
- NLW MS 24199C.
- File
- [late 1790s]
Travel journal, [late 1790s] (watermark 1796), of Richard Cust [stationer and gentleman naturalist, of Westminster and Carlisle], containing his 'Observations on the Picturesque Scenery of North Wales in the Autumn of the year 1783' (ff. 7-73 passim), together with thirteen monochrome wash watercolours of landscapes viewed (ff. 15, 16, 23, 25, 26, 28, 35, 41, 42, 46, 47, 49, 50). The journal primarily describes Cust's impressions of the scenery in terms of the ideals of the picturesque and the sublime; the entries are undated.
As explained in the introductory section (ff. 2-5) the Observations were transcribed by Cust from his original 1783 travel journal, with the illustrations being based on brief sketches. Cust and his unnamed companion(s) travelled by coach from London (f.7) to Llangollen (ff. 8 verso-9), then via Conwy (f. 10) and Bangor (f. 13) to Anglesey (ff. 13 verso-17 verso) and Caernarfon (ff. 19 recto-verso, 22 recto-verso). From there they went on excursions up Snowdon (ff. 24-34 passim) and to [Aberglaslyn] (ff. 34 recto-verso, 37-38) and Llanbenys [Llanberis] (ff. 39-40 verso, 43 recto-verso, 44 verso-51 passim, 54-55 verso), before returning to Conwy (ff. 57 recto-verso, 59-61 verso) and Llangollen (ff. 64-65 verso, 68-69, 70 verso, 72-73). There are descriptions of the castles at Caernarfon (ff. 19 recto-verso, 22 recto-verso), Dolbadarn (ff. 40 verso, 43, 55) and Conwy (ff. 57 recto-verso, 59-60); four of the watercolours also depict Dolbadarn Castle (ff. 41, 42, 46, 47), the others are mostly views of mountains and rocky outcrops. The narrative is incomplete and breaks off after a description of the River Dee at Llangollen (f. 73); additionally, eleven pages have been left blank to provide space for further illustrations (ff. 20, 21, 29, 32, 36, 53, 56, 58, 66, 67, 71, usually with indicative captions written in pencil on the otherwise blank versos).
Cust, Richard, 1754-1844