| Administrative History | The drawings are thought to have accompanied John Grant Malcolmson's paper "On the Relations of the different parts of the Old Red Sandstone in which Organic Remains have recently been discovered, in the Counties of Moray, Nairn, Banff, and Inverness", which was read before the Society on 5 May 1839. The refereeing process was positive, but as the accompanying fossils and drawings were mainly fish the intention was to delay the paper's publication until Louis Agassiz, who was working on his 'Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles' (1833-1843/4), could cast his expert eye over them. Agassiz did not return to Britain until 1840, by which time Malcolmson had left for India.
Before departing for India, Malcomson returned the fossils and the drawings by Jonathan Stiven. The other drawings by Lady Eliza Gordon Cumming (1797-1842) were left at the Society for her to collect as she usually spent the summer in London. However at the behest of William Buckland, the drawings were left for Agassiz to view but he took them with him back home to Neuchâtel and are now thought to be lost.
After Malcolmson's death in 1844, the paper was forgotten. Whilst researching the Elgin Sandstones for a paper in 1858, Roderick Murchison (1792-1891) was reminded of the paper by Malcolmson's friend Reverend George Gordon (1801-1893). Malcolmson's original mss along with two illustrations were found in the Society's archive, still wrapped up ready for printing.
According to the published article which appeared in the 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society', vol 15 (1859), a topographical map was also retained. This is no longer extant, but a letter describing a geological map which Malcolmson was compiling can be found at: GSL/L/R/4/266-266a. Malcolmson's sections which did survive were published in the 1859 paper and were not retained.
The watercolour of the fossil fish is similar to the species from Lethen Bar which were drawn by Lady Eliza Gordon Cumming, see: LDGSL/614/3/114b. However the style bears similarity to the work of the artist Joseph Dinkel who was Agassiz's main artist during this period and based at the Geological Society of London. |
| Publication Note | The accompanying paper was read before the Society 5 May 1839, and an abstract was published as: Malcolmson, J G. "On the Relations of the different parts of the Old Red Sandstone in which Organic Remains have recently been discovered, in the Counties of Moray, Nairn, Banff, and Inverness", Proceedings of the Geological Society of London', vol 3 (1839) pp141-144; the final version was published in 1859 in the 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society', vol 15 (1859), p336-352. |