Reference code
CO
Title
Cooke Ledger
Date
1829-1878
Level
Fonds
Extent & medium
1 volume
Historical Background
E.W. Cooke was born in London, son of an engraver and print publisher. Trained by his family from childhood he became an excellent, almost forensic draughtsman. His career was centred on the specialist genre of marine painting, a mode at which he excelled and in which he found considerable success.
Cooke was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1851 and to full membership in 1863. At his death he left a bequest for the establishment of a fund to relieve distressed painters over the age of sixty, know as the Cooke Bequest. The operation of this fund was passed to the Artists General Benevolent Institution in 1996.
Provenance
Studio of the artist.
Acquisition Details
Presented by Mr. Robert F.R. Cooke, 1954.
Language/Script
The ledger is formed of ruled paper with additional hand ruling by the artist. It is meticulously organised and displays the sort of calligraphic hand frequently found in the manuscripts engravers and draughtsmen.
Physical Characteristics
The ledger was long shelved with the historic books in the Royal Academy Library and bears the ex libris of the Library. The ledger was rebound in the 1980s or early 1990s with marbled boards and quarter morrocco leather.
Finding Aids
The Cooke ledger was included in the H.M.C. findings aids and was catalogued by Jean Agnew in May 1975.