Every catalogue has its own logic and approach which naturally makes sense to its creator, but may be obscure to everyone else. So, in the interest of clarity, here are some of the reasons for the decisions implicit in my catalogue.
Drawings are not typically dated, and Gillray's are no exception. So to provide a date for a drawing, every cataloguer has to make educated guesses. But when one can associate a drawing with a published print, the guessing, though not foolproof, is a little easier. In those cases, I have chosen (following common sense and institutional wisdom) to date the drawing in the same year or the year before the published print.
When there is no print associated with a drawing, the subject matter or style of the drawing can provide a clue. We know that in 1793 Gillray provided numerous studies of uniforms, guns, and other military equipment for a painting by de Loutherbourg that celebrated the British army victory at Valenciennes in 1793, so I have chosen to lump nearly all such studies in 1793. The British Museum (unaccountably to my mind) dates these drawings from 1772-1794 starting three years before Gillray produced his first print. We also know that in 1794, Gillray provided graphic support for another de Loutherbourg painting—this one celebrating a British naval victory. So I have chosen to date nearly all the clearly naval sketches in 1794 again differing from the British Museum which uses the generic 1772-1794.
But that still leaves a number of drawings which don't have an obvious connection to a print or sufficient indication in style and subject matter to assign them to a specific year. That includes a number of single figure drawings and portrait sketches. In this case, the British Museum dates the drawings from 1772-1815—the most generous possible view of Gillray's active life as an artist. The Fitzwilliam Museum provides no date at all. In my catalogue, I have chosen to list the dates of such drawings as "Unknown" until such time as I think there is evidence to substantiate a specific date. All the "Unknowns" are at the end of the catalogue.
If there is a description of the drawing provided by the institutional owner, I have used that description or a shortened version of it. When the drawing is a version of a recognizable finished print, I have used the title of the finished print. But when there is no desciption provided by the institutional owner (as is the case with most of the drawings in the New York Public Library (NYPL), I have assigned a title/description of my own.
If there are sizes and mediums provided by the institutional owner, I have used those, But I have converted all the measurements into centimeters. Where there are no measurements available, I have to pay a visit to the institution to do my own measurement. I plan to do that for the drawings in the New York Public Library some time this Spring.
Location indicates the owner of the print. NYPL is the New York Pubic Library. Huntington is the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. The Tate is the Tate Britain in London. NMM is the National Maritime Museum, aka Royal Museums, Greenwich. YCBA is the Yale Center for British Art. LWL is the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington, Connecticut, part of Yale University. Metropolitan is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Frick is the Frick Art Reference Library in New York City near but not in the Frick Gallery. Fitzwilliam is the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK.
In most cases, "Link" takes you to the institutional catalogue page for that drawing. If the drawing is not individually catalogued, "Link" takes you to the best alternative I have at my disposal. For the uncatalogued drawings at the New York Public Library, that alternative is a very helpful one: photos taken by Professor Ersy Contogouris from the Université de Montréal in the course of her research on Gillray drawings and kindly made available to me.