The collection of paintings, drawings, watercolours and etchings by Samuel Palmer in the Ashmolean Museum is the most important in the world. It is especially rich in the early works of the Shoreham period, from c. 1824 to 1834, notably the haunting self portrait and the unique group of six sepia drawings of 1825, which represent the 'visionary landscape' at its most intense. This handbook reproduces in colour all but a few of the works by Palmer in the Ashmolean. The book is designed to provide a stimulating introduction for the general reader and a useful and reliable guide for the expert. Colin Harrison is an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Western Art in the Ashmolean Museum.