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1885 Kay's Edinburgh Portraits (2 Vols) Biographies chiefly of Scotchmen
1885 Kay's Edinburgh Portraits (2 Vols) Biographies chiefly of Scotchmen
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Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
A series of anecdotal biographies chiefly of Scotchmen
London; Hamilton, Adams & Co., and Glasgow; Thomas D Morison, 1885. Popular Letterpress Edition. Complete in tow volumes. Hardbacks. Blue cloth covered boards. Deckle cut pages. Frontispieces plus numerous illustration/portraits
CONDITION
A very good complete set in sound cloth bindings, endpapers good, all contents present and pages clean throughout both volumes. Overall a very good set.
John Kay captured the panorama of Edinburgh characters in his etchings. He lived on the High Street and had his shop on Parliament Square so he was well placed to observe the very public way of life in the crowded and busy place Edinburgh was in the 18th Century, where people lived and worked in very close quarters. However what added to Kay's portraits and caricatures were the subjects available to him because of the people attracted to Edinburgh due to the intellectual climate of the time.
The portrait etcher and miniature painter John Kay was born near Dalkeith in 1742. His father died early in his life and he was sent to live with relatives of his mother in Leith. He began his barber's apprenticeship aged 13, and opened his own business in the early 1770's. Alongside his career as a barber he pursued an active interest in art, producing many portraits. He attracted the patronage of William Nisbet, and following Nisbet's death in 1784 received an annuity from his son. This income allowed him to focus full time on portraiture. He produced hundreds of caricatures of the most notable figures in Scottish society. The less flattering of these made him a target for legal action on several occasions. After his death 'A series of original portraits and caricature etchings by the late John Kay' was published initially in monthly instalments and later in collected volumes. He died in 1826 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.
(Shop location : Scotland top shelf)
A series of anecdotal biographies chiefly of Scotchmen
London; Hamilton, Adams & Co., and Glasgow; Thomas D Morison, 1885. Popular Letterpress Edition. Complete in tow volumes. Hardbacks. Blue cloth covered boards. Deckle cut pages. Frontispieces plus numerous illustration/portraits
CONDITION
A very good complete set in sound cloth bindings, endpapers good, all contents present and pages clean throughout both volumes. Overall a very good set.
John Kay captured the panorama of Edinburgh characters in his etchings. He lived on the High Street and had his shop on Parliament Square so he was well placed to observe the very public way of life in the crowded and busy place Edinburgh was in the 18th Century, where people lived and worked in very close quarters. However what added to Kay's portraits and caricatures were the subjects available to him because of the people attracted to Edinburgh due to the intellectual climate of the time.
The portrait etcher and miniature painter John Kay was born near Dalkeith in 1742. His father died early in his life and he was sent to live with relatives of his mother in Leith. He began his barber's apprenticeship aged 13, and opened his own business in the early 1770's. Alongside his career as a barber he pursued an active interest in art, producing many portraits. He attracted the patronage of William Nisbet, and following Nisbet's death in 1784 received an annuity from his son. This income allowed him to focus full time on portraiture. He produced hundreds of caricatures of the most notable figures in Scottish society. The less flattering of these made him a target for legal action on several occasions. After his death 'A series of original portraits and caricature etchings by the late John Kay' was published initially in monthly instalments and later in collected volumes. He died in 1826 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh.
(Shop location : Scotland top shelf)
