James Holman

James Holman, 1830, Royal Society portrait by George Chinnery , painted in Canton ( Guangzhou ).

James Holman (born October 15, 1786 in Exeter , † July 29, 1857 in London ) was a British traveler, adventurer and author who toured Europe and the world as a " blind traveler ".

Life and sickness

Born the son of a pharmacist , Holman joined the British Navy in 1798 , where he rose to lieutenant . In 1810, while on board a ship off the coast of America, he fell ill with an unknown disease that not only led to permanent joint pain and restricted mobility, but also left him completely blind at the age of 25 . According to other suspicions, the disease was purely an eye disease and his musculoskeletal system disease was due to rheumatism . Rheumatic diseases were also quite common among young seafarers during this time due to the constant stay on deck of wet, cold and windy ships.

to travel

On his return to England, Holman initially studied medicine and literature at the University of Edinburgh , equipped with a disability benefit from the Navy . From 1819 to 1821 he finally went on the Grand Tour and traveled through France , Italy , Switzerland , Belgium , the Netherlands and parts of Germany . Holman made numerous notes on all his travels with the help of a noctograph , which allowed blind people to write. After his return he was able to publish his travel memories The Narrative of a Journey through France, etc. (1822).

In the same year Holman began a world tour from west to east, but had to end it in the Siberian city ​​of Irkutsk , as he was accused of espionage by the Russian authorities and deported to Poland . After his return trip, which took him back to London through Austria , Saxony , Prussia and Hanover , he published the travel memoirs Travels through Russia, Siberia, etc. (1825).

In the following years from 1827 to 1832, Holman managed to undertake the planned world tour. From 1834 to 1835 the four volumes of A Voyage Round the World, including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America, etc.

Holman died in London in 1857 while he was in the process of preparing an account of his last trip to Spain , Portugal , Moldova , Montenegro , Syria and Turkey .

effect

The extensive trips that Holman was able to undertake despite his disability, as well as the detailed travel reports, which enjoyed great popularity, ensured his fame and influence. Holman was a member of the Royal Society and the Linnaeus Society , among others . Charles Darwin cites his world travel memories in The Voyage of the Beagle as a source for the flora of the Indian Ocean . Holman's fight against slavery in Equatorial Guinea was recognized by the English colonial government, which named a river in the African country the Holman River .

Works

• A Voyage Round the World, Volume I by James Holman Original text in Project Gutenberg
• A Narrative of a Journey, undertaken in the years 1819, 1820, and 1821, through France, Italy, Savoy, Switzerland, parts of Germany bordering on the Rhine, Holland, and the Netherlands, etc. London, 1822.
• Travels through Russia, Siberia, Poland, Austria, Saxony, Prussia, Hanover, etc. undertaken during the years 1822, 1823, and 1824, while suffering from total blindness, and comprising an account of the author being conducted a state prisoner from the eastern parts of Siberia. London, 4th ed., 1834
• A Voyage Round the World, Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America etc. etc. from MDCCCXXVII to MDCCCXXXII . 4 volumes. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1834

literature

• Jason Roberts: A Sense of the World. How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler. HarperCollins Publishing, New York 2006 ISBN 0-00-716106-9
• Ilija Trojanow, Susann Urban: I see the world with feeling. The notes of the blind world traveler James Holman. Piper Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-89029-757-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "James Holman". In: GEO Saison, No. 09/2007, pp. 54–59

Web links

• Website of the Holman researcher Jason Roberts with further information