author
Henry Blackburn
1830–1897
Best known as a Victorian art critic and travel writer, this lively observer helped readers navigate the major London exhibitions of his day. He also left behind a warmly remembered memoir of illustrator Randolph Caldecott, showing his lasting interest in visual storytelling.
5 Audiobooks
Breton Folk: An artistic tour in Brittany
by Henry Blackburn
The Art of Illustration 2nd ed.
by Henry Blackburn
Artists and Arabs; Or, Sketching in Sunshine
by Henry Blackburn
Normandy Picturesque
by Henry Blackburn
Randolph Caldecott: A Personal Memoir of His Early Art Career
by Henry Blackburn
About the author
Henry Blackburn was a British writer, editor, and art critic active in the late nineteenth century. Reliable catalog and museum records identify him as the editor of Academy Notes and related exhibition guides, and connect him with a long run of illustrated books about art, travel, and popular culture.
His work moved easily between criticism and travel writing. Books associated with him include Artists and Arabs, Travelling in Spain in the Present Day, Breton Folk, Art in the Mountains, and English Art in 1884. Together they suggest a writer who enjoyed making places, pictures, and exhibitions accessible to a wide reading audience.
Blackburn is also remembered for Randolph Caldecott: A Personal Memoir of His Early Art Career (1886), written as a tribute to the celebrated illustrator. That book, along with his exhibition handbooks, shows the kind of author he was: informed, enthusiastic, and eager to bring readers closer to the art and artists of his time.