THE twenty-four colour
plates included -in this small volume are all taken from The Clans of the Scottish
Highlands, by James Logan, with original sketches by R. R. McIan, and first published
in two large quarto volumes by Ackermann & Co., London, in 1845 and 1847. The
centenary of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and the several visits to the Highlands by Queen
Victoria had created an interest in the costume of the clans, and the sumptuously produced
Ackermatin edition, limited as it was to subscribers, failed to meet the demand.
Accordingly, Messrs Ackermann sold the plates to another firm, who republished the two
volumes in 1857. This firm in turn disposed of the plates to a less reputable publisher,
who some years later reprinted the two volumes exactly as they were originally issued,
even using the Ackermann imprint and the 1845 date. It is possible, however, to
distinguish between the two editions, because in the pirated one the Mackinnon plate is
cracked, the stone having been broken as result of a fall. Unfortunately, not many
complete copies of the original book and plates are now in existence, because when a set
finds its way into the sale-room, it is usually bought by a print dealer and broken up.
James Logan, who wrote the accompanying
descriptions to the book, had a varied career. Born at Aberdeen towards the end of the
eighteenth century, he was himself an artist, but devoted his life to antiquarian
research. He was the author of the celebrated The Scottish Gael, today regarded as
an authoritative account of the history of the manners and national peculiarities of the
Highlanders. The Prince Consort, following the purchase by the Queen of Balmoral Castle,
had taken a considerable interest in Logan's Clans of the Scottish Highlands, and
when the author's improvidence resulted in his being in reduced circumstances, the Prince
presented him with a brotherhood in the Charterhouse.
The seventy-two large quarto plates, of which
it is possible in this volume to reproduce only a selection, were drawn and painted by
Robert Ronald McIan. He studied art, at the same time acting on the stage for a while, and
later painted chiefly pictures of Highland life and history. He was an associate member of
the Royal Scottish Academy.
