In the Footsteps of R.L.S.

a book by

Jessie Patrick Findlay

illustrated from photographs by

John Patrick

Comments from

Winifred Wilson

Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland

Thank you to Winifred Wilson for allowing me to reproduce the book cover above.

Winifred wrote:

In the Footsteps of

Robert Louis Stevenson

Illustrated Book

"As the librarian of The Arthur Ransome Society (TARS), I acquire books in a wide variety of subjects, and have recently been given a slim book by Jessie Patrick Findlay, called In the footsteps of R.L.S., published by W.P. Nimmo, Hay, & Mitchell, Edinburgh, in 1911, illustrated from photographs by John Patrick."

Jessie Patrick Findlay

"I was curious to know more about the author and came across this page about Jessie Patrick Findlay and her family EdinPhoto web site this morning.

I see that Jessie published a number of books, but this one is not mentioned, and I wonder whether you know of it, or of the photographs in it.  There are four of them, all well-known images of R.L.S. and his Swanston home.

The cover picture puzzles me, as it seems to be a photograph of a painting of a building."

Winifred Wilson, Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland:  February 19, 2014

Reply to Winifred

The Book

Thank you, Winifred, for telling me about the book above.  I had not previously been aware of it or of the photos in it.  However, the photo on the cover appears to be of Craigmillar Castle.

The illustration on the book cover can be compared below with an engraving of the castle (in much better state of repair) publishe in 'Modern Athens' in 1829.

Book Cover

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Winifred Wilson

Engraving

Published in 'Modern Athens', 1829

©  Copyright: For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

The Patrick Family

 My research into the Patrick family has not been very extensive.  It has mainly been the result of:

-  collecting photographs taken in and around Edinburgh by James Patrick, dating from around the 1890s.

- collecting postcards of Edinburgh published by James Patrick and his son John, also a photographer.  These date from around the early-1900s.

- reading in contemporary photographic journals about some of the lantern slide lectures presented jointly by John and his sister Jessie to Edinburgh Photographic Society in the 1890s.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  February 24, 2014