Shores of Fife by William Ballingall was published on 7 October 1872. It was printed by T. and A. Constable of Edinburgh and published by Edinburgh-based Edmonston and Douglas. The volume was dedicated to Sir Robert Anstruther of Balcaskie, Bart., M.P. who was the Lord Lieutenant of Fife. The preface, written from William Ballingall's home at 35 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh (indicated on the photograph below), speaks of the author's "love of his native county" and "desire to promote the art of Engraving on Wood". It also references the "Subscribers" who had to be patient while Largo-born Ballingall completed his research and drawings.
Indeed the amount of research and quantity of illustrations within the book was considerable. was a "labour of love, in which he wrought incessantly for four or five years". Subject matter covered included the archaeology of Fife, the mineralogy of Fife, the Flora of Fife and Kinross and in-depth accounts of several Fife towns and stretches of coastline. Content was contributed by a number of experts - for example Charles Howie wrote the section on flora - but Ballingall himself compiled the chapter on Largo Law and Its Neighbourhood. Within this part of the book, Ballingall writes about Lower Largo being the birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, about Sir Andrew Wood, Sir Philip Durham and Sir John Leslie.
The one hundred original illustrations in the book, draw upon the work of various artists. Some of the illustrations were both drawn and engraved by Ballingall. Other artworks were created by others then used as the basis for an engraving by Ballingall. A few were entirely the work of contributors. The many artistic contributions of William himself include representations of St Andrews Cathedral, the Lomond Hills, St Monance Castle and Church and Falkland Palace. His larger scale engravings were signed W Ballingall SC. The "SC" is a Latin abbreviation for sculpsit, meaning "he/she carved it,"
Smaller scale pieces tend to include only a subtle WB towards the foot of the engraving. Of course all of the Largo-related images were both drawn and engraved by Ballingall himself. Those pieces include the Standing Stones of Lundin, Largo Parish Church, Alexander Selkirk's Cottage (as well as specifically his sea-chest and cocoa-nut cup), Andrew Wood's Tower and Pitcruvie (Balcruvie) Castle.
William received high praise for Shores of Fife, noting his "softness and delicacy of touch, for the wonderful manipulation of light and shade" (Dundee People's Journal 12 Oct 1872). He reached the highest capability in wood engraving and we can still enjoy the results of his painstaking artistic endeavours (and the effort of his printers and publishers) today. William Ballingall followed Shores of Fife with further books featuring his artwork: Scenes of Scottish Story (1874) and Edinburgh Past and Present (1877).
You can read more about the life of William Ballingall (1840-1919) here and more about his artistic brothers John Ballingall and Alexander Ballingall in previous blog posts.
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