The records in this series contain information on, and images of, both paintings illustrated in the plates section of the Wilson publication and also variants of paintings not illustrated but referred to in the 'Notes on Plates' section (pp.151-240).
The files follow the arrangement of the paintings in the publication according to the following subjects: Portraits, Subject Pictures, English & Welsh Landscapes, Italian Landscapes, Unidentified and Miscellaneous Landscapes, Paintings attributed to Wilson, Predecessors, Pupils and Followers of Wilson and an Addendum.
They contain photographs and images of works, notes, letters and correspondence relating to each individual catalogue entry. Many give details of provenance and opinions about the authenticity of works. The letters include those from owners, curators, librarians and dealers. Some files include extracts from published exhibition, auction and collection catalogues. A small number of files contain press cuttings.
The photographs are usually annotated with details of provenance, sales, exhibitions and Constable's opinion regarding authenticity. Often the photographs are variants of the painting. The Centre's Photographic Archive contains mostly duplicate images of the photographs filed in this series. However, it also includes the occassional unique image [see URL below].
There are no files for plate numbers 10a-b; 40a-c; 42a-b; 44b; 48a; 49b; 52b; 53a; 63a-b; 77b; 80a; 85b; 88b; 95b; 102a; 102c; 108a-c; 109a; 109c; 113b; 114a; 116a; 120a-b; 121a; 124a-c; 127a; 128a; 130a-b; 131a; 135b-c; 137a; 138b; 149a-b; 151a-b; 152b; 153a; 159a; 159c; 160a-b.
The titles of the files are taken from the folders they were contained in rather than from the text as it appears in the published entry.