Coues : “ Behind the Veil: 
197 
Her taste so exalted — her humour so sporting 
Her heart full of tenderness virtue and glee 
Each evening sweet Bow’r round thy cliffs will I hover 
In hopes her fair form thro’ the foliage to see 
Heavn only can witness how dearly I love her 
How sweet Beechen Bower thy shades are to me. 
[Signed] A. Wilson. 
Jan. 18 th 1804. 
Let us trust that “ Anna ” came, and showed herself a woman 
wise and good enough to tell him that she knew he was a great man, 
and that his pictures were beautiful, and that the world would know 
it too some day. In those times Wilson probably needed something 
of this sort as much as he feared the dangers of riches; and it 
might have helped him more than anything else could have done, 
except a little money. 
In one of his books, the late Dr. Turnbull alludes to the portfolio 
of Wilson’s, then in his possession, and reproduces from it a sketch 
of a Heron’s head with Wilson’s autograph. If not the portfolio 
itself, its contents at any rate are now in Mr. Wade’s posses- 
sion. This series of Wilson’s drawings includes, I should judge, 
“the biggest half” of the originals of his famous plates. In han- 
dling these drawings and paintings, of all degrees of completeness , 1 
one of sensibility could but experience some emotions he would not 
care to formulate in words. But something may properly, perhaps 
profitably, be said here. I was fairly oppressed with the sad story 
of poverty, even destitution, which these wan sheets of coarse paper 
told. Some of Wilson’s originals are on the fly-leaves of old books, 
showing binder’s marks along one edge. One of the best portraits, 
that of the Duck Hawk, is on two pieces of paper pasted together. 
The man was actually too poor to buy paper ! Some of the drawings 
are on both sides of the paper ; some show a full picture on one side, 
and part of a mutilated finished painting on the other. Some show 
the rubbing process by which they were transferred. They are in 
all stages of completeness, from the rudest outlines to the finished 
painting. Some are left half-dressed, with pencilled instructions to 
the engraver to fill in red ochre here, and yellow ochre there, etc. 
Wilson sometimes finished the bills and feet in full detail and col- 
oring, leaving much of the plumage blank. One thing is shown 
very clearly by this set of pictures, and the public does not know it 
yet. This is the decided superiority of the originals in comparison 
