PALMER (Samuel) [1805–1881] The Lonely Tower, (1879)
Etching, printed from the original copperplate following its restoration by art historian H Macbeth Raeburn (1860–1947).
Two shepherds guarding sheep gaze at a tower standing high on a distant hill, which has a solitary lit window. Starlight and radiance from a crescent moon low on the horizon illuminate the landscape and its human and animal occupants. It was intended to illustrate John Milton’s poem ‘Il Penseroso’. Print XVII from an edition of XXI
Measures 6-9/16 x 9-3/16 inches, with wide margins

Provenance: Inscription dated 1963 by DAVID GOULD (1922-2004), one of the first 19th-century picture specialists for ‘Antiques Roadshow”, he exposed (1976) Tom Keating’s watercolor forgeries of Samuel Palmer through scientific analysis of papers and pigments despite seemingly flawless provenance and general acceptance by the majority of experts. Consequently, his endorsement of this Samuel Palmer print is quite significant. The recipient, Maurice Percival was an art teacher at Harrow School and Downside, illustrating three books by or about Shakespeare during the 1940s-1960s.