The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, James Logan, R.R. McIan

[bookish]

I was on the hunt for illustrations of highland dress, and was wondering if I could find images of all of R.R. McIan's illustrations for The Clans of the Scottish Highlands. Lo, and behold: Stanford has the 2 volumes as JPEG images. It's a slog to download, though. You have to download one image at a time.

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/927302

"Part 2," is actually Vol. I, and "Part 1," is Vol. 2.

[Troglodyte]

I was on the hunt for illustrations of highland dress, and was wondering if I could find images of all of R.R. McIan's illustrations for The Clans of the Scottish Highlands. Lo, and behold: Stanford has the 2 volumes as JPEG images. It's a slog to download, though. You have to download one image at a time.

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/927302

"Part 2," is actually Vol. I, and "Part 1," is Vol. 2.

This is very useful, as the images are good quality and more than enough for most peoples needs, I would have thought.

The work has been re-issued a few times, and those from the 19th century are fairly faithful to the original. Around 1980 in a large format facsimile with the images being more than twice the size of the original lithos, was published in both hard- and paper-covers. Sets of McIan's prints were published at the same time, with the intention of them being framed and displayed - as you see in many of the Highland dress outfitters.

Since then, there have been other publications of the prints in large paper-back format, again with the intention of them being framed for display, so there is now an abundance of them on the second-hand book market, ready printed in good display or exhibition quality if you want to save yourself time and the cost of printer ink!

[OC Richard]

Just be aware that Robert Jones (RR McIan was a stage name) was an English actor, stage painter, and illustrator.

His illustrations don't agree with what we know about historical Highland Dress, and it's fitting to make the distinction between actual illustrations of Highland Dress (that is, early portraits done from life of men wearing Highland Dress) and illustrations done long after the period in question showing little in the way of research about, or familiarity with, Highland Dress.

Before getting the Logan job he was painting and exhibiting in London illustrations based on Scottish mythology. His illustrations done for Logan were also more in the line of mythology or fantasy.

In London, Jones met the Allen Brothers, also Englishmen who adopted Scottish aliases. Though the Allen Brothers' illustrations are far more fantastical than Jones', yet they do share some features, like the Ghillie shoes which first appear in all three men's illustrations.

[bookish]

Just be aware that Robert Jones (RR McIan was a stage name) was an English actor, stage painter, and illustrator.

His illustrations don't agree with what we know about historical Highland Dress, and it's fitting to make the distinction between actual illustrations of Highland Dress (that is, early portraits done from life of men wearing Highland Dress) and illustrations done long after the period in question showing little in the way of research about, or familiarity with, Highland Dress.

Before getting the Logan job he was painting and exhibiting in London illustrations based on Scottish mythology. His illustrations done for Logan were also more in the line of mythology or fantasy.

In London, Jones met the Allen Brothers, also Englishmen who adopted Scottish aliases. Though the Allen Brothers' illustrations are far more fantastical than Jones', yet they do share some features, like the Ghillie shoes which first appear in all three men's illustrations.

I have it in mind to find critiques of the historicity of the illustrations (and of the book as a whole). One can plainly see the influence of costume and drama, as well as the overall representation as part of the zeitgeist within the Romantic era. An analysis of clothing styles of the day and regional descriptions within Scotland during that time period are probably outside the immediate scope of what I aim for. At the moment, I am looking for sources and maybe planning some blog posts. I am also sure that the illustrations include elements that did not exist as standard Highland dress, but became normalized and adopted as "traditional" dress.

[bookish]

This is very useful, as the images are good quality and more than enough for most peoples needs, I would have thought.

The work has been re-issued a few times, and those from the 19th century are fairly faithful to the original. Around 1980 in a large format facsimile with the images being more than twice the size of the original lithos, was published in both hard- and paper-covers. Sets of McIan's prints were published at the same time, with the intention of them being framed and displayed - as you see in many of the Highland dress outfitters.

Since then, there have been other publications of the prints in large paper-back format, again with the intention of them being framed for display, so there is now an abundance of them on the second-hand book market, ready printed in good display or exhibition quality if you want to save yourself time and the cost of printer ink!

I was considering purchasing one of these reprints from the 1980s. I was really looking for high-quality digital resources, though, so I'm glad that I won't have to scan physical media myself.