John Thomas Blight

John Thomas Blight (1835-1911)

John Thomas Blight (born October 7, 1835 in Redruth , Cornwall , † January 23, 1911 in Bodmin , Cornwall) was an English writer , graphic artist and archaeologist .

life and work

John Thomas Blight: Ancient crosses and other antiquities in the West of Cornwall (1856)

John Thomas Blight: A Week at the Land's End (1861)

From an early age, Blight showed an extraordinary talent for making drawings and etchings and spent most of his youth with botanical and architectural sketches. Scientists like Robert Stephen Hawker soon became aware of him and had him make illustrations . In 1856, at the age of 21, he published his first work, Ancient crosses and other antiquities in the West of Cornwall , an expanded edition of which appeared two years later. A week at the Land's End followed in 1861 , in which he presented the landscape and antiquities of Cornwall in an atmospheric way.

In 1863 Blight made etchings for the excavation report of the recently discovered prehistoric settlement Carn Euny . He was also the first to suggest that the menhirs and the perforated stone of the Mên-an-Tol could form the remains of a stone circle . In 1864 he wrote the Churches of West Cornwall with Notes of Antiquities of the District . In his works you can also find representations of well-known megalithic structures , including the Lanyon Quoit , the Chûn Quoit and the stone circle of Boscawen-ûn .

Blight's immense achievement, however, remained almost entirely without financial reward, a factor that put a great strain on his daily existence. As a result, he was forced to supplement his meager income as a guide for visitors to the local megalithic sites and excavations . Through contacts with the library in Penzance he became acquainted with the literary historian James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps . Together they visited Wales and Stratford-on-Avon . Blight made numerous drawings of these trips. He also illustrated the compendium written by Halliwell on the life of William Shakespeare , for which he was never paid.

In 1866 he was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London . A year later and only ten years after his literary debut, Blight's behavior became increasingly irrational and he had to be admitted to Bodmin's Lunatic Asylum (literally asylum ) , where he stayed for the rest of his life. He died in 1911 at the age of 75.

Publications

• 1856: Ancient crosses and other antiquities in the West of Cornwall
• 1858: Ancient crosses and other antiquities in the East of Cornwall
• 1861: A week at the Land's End
• 1864: Churches of West Cornwall with Notes of Antiquities of the District

Illustrations

• Cornwall's Dark Age Stone Dwellings and Monuments
• Cornish Witches and Cunning Men
• Cornish Feasts and Folklore
• Cornish Ghosts
• Cornwall's Holy Wells
• The Halligye Fogue

literature

• Selina Bates, Keith Spurgin: The Dust of Heroes. The Life of Cornish Artist, Archaeologist and Writer John Thomas Blight. Windowbox Books, Truro 2006, ISBN 0-9553304-0-8 .
• John Michell: Short Life at the Land's End. JT Blight FSA, Artist, Penzance. Compton Press, Tisbury 1977, ISBN 0-900193-11-5 .

Web links

Commons : John Thomas Blight  - collection of images, videos and audio files