author

Henry R. Blaney

1855–1913

Best remembered for lovingly detailed views of old Boston and far-flung travel scenes, this American artist and writer turned observation into vivid pictures on the page. His books mix an eye for place with a reporter’s habit of noticing small, telling details.

1 Audiobook

Photogravure

Photogravure

by Henry R. Blaney

About the author

Born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1855, Henry R. Blaney was an American artist, etcher, and writer. He is associated with Old Boston (published in 1896), a work that combined his images and text to preserve scenes of the city’s earlier architecture and streets before many of them disappeared.

Blaney was largely self-taught and became known for etching, drawing, and watercolor work. Contemporary art-biographical sources connect him with oriental and tropical subjects as well as Boston views, and note that he exhibited internationally around the turn of the twentieth century.

He died in Yokohama, Japan, in 1913. Even from the small record that survives online, his work stands out for its mix of visual craft, travel interest, and affection for places with a strong sense of history.