Views of the Isle of Man by Daniel King

Daniel King,a pupil of W.Hollar, produced a series of 16 monochrome wash drawings generally dated between 1643-51 when he was thought to have been on the Island with James 7th Earl of Derby. These drawings are important in providing valuable information on both the architectural and social aspects of 17th Century life. The original drawings are in the British Museum [addional MSS 27362]; Williamson gives a little of the early history of their ownership by Ralph Thoresby, well known Antiquarian (1658-1725), before their acquisition by the British Museum. However at the end of the 19^th Century it was possible to buy water colour copies and it is my set of such copies that is illustrated here.

The engraved views in King's Vale Royall were based on these drawings - it is possible that the views (or some of them) may date from 1652-3 and done explicitly for James Chaloner whose account of the Island, written in 1653, is bound up with that volume. This thesis expounded by K Williamson (see page on Birds) is based on Chaloner's known interest in ornithology and Bishop's Wilson's comment that Chaloner wanted such a view.

Each drawing has a title and explanation of the keyed items. As usual behind each small (8k) image lies a larger (25/30k) image.

I have grouped them into five major groups:

• Castletown and Castle Rushen (9)
• Bishopscourt (3)
• Peel Castle (1)
• Douglas (1)
• Birds (2)