‘Immensely private’: inside great sketchbooks from history

The V&A has delved into its archives to showcase the embryonic work of leading artists including Leonardo and Constable along with lesser-known talents, offering a rare insight into the artistic mindWhat was John Constable up to at 8.30am on 26 September 1814? If his sketchbook can be trusted, the great landscape painter was in Dedham Vale on the Essex-Suffolk border sketching the valley below, using quick pencil strokes to capture shadows in the foreground, trees in the middle distance and