Thomas Moran and his wife, the artist Mary Nimmo Moran (1842–1899), traveled to Europe in 1882. For Mary it was an opportunity to visit her birthplace of Strathaven, Scotland, and for Thomas an opportunity to create sketches of the town’s castle, which he later worked up into the etching seen here. To provide a more expansive view of the ruins for the etching, Moran changed the vertical orientation of one drawing (13.774) to horizontal.¹

Moran made additional modifications. When we compare the first state (14.393a) of the etching to the second state (14.393b), we note additional lines in the upper left of the latter, suggesting more clouds in the sky. The first state or early state of a print is any impression made before there are any additional deliberate and permanent alterations to the original plate. Upon examining the first impression, an artist may decide to change the initial plate, as Moran did when he added more lines to suggest more clouds. Satisfied, Moran made no further changes to the plate, and all the subsequent impressions are second state.²

—Sandra Pauly, Henry Luce Foundation Curatorial Scholar for Moran Collection Research, 2021

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¹ Friese in Morand and Friese, The Prints of Thomas Moran, 115.
² Friese in Morand and Friese, The Prints of Thomas Moran, 114.