Jemima Blackburn
Jemima Blackburn ( born May 1, 1823 in Edinburgh as Jemima Wedderburn, † 1909 Roshven Estate ) was a Scottish painter and in the Victorian era, one of the leading illustrators, in particular for ornithological topics. Her watercolors show many daily family scenes in the late 19th century in the Scottish Highlands as well as scenes from fantasy children's fables.
Life
Jemima Wedderburn was the youngest daughter of Rt Hon James Wedderburn (1782-1822), Solicitor General for Scotland, and his wife Isabella Clerk of Penicuik (1790-1865), daughter of Sir James Clerk of Penicuik and Janet Irving. Your first drawing lessons they received at the painters John Ruskin and Sir Edwin Landseer, who praised their great talent for drawing. In 1849 Jemima Wedderburn married in Edinburgh her childhood friend Hugh Blackburn († 1911), Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow.
Jemima Blackburn made the acquaintance of the most famous personalities of the century, including John Ruskin, Sir John Everett Millais, Anthony Trollope, John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, Louise, Duchess of Argyll, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli.
Worth mentioning
- James Clerk Maxwell, a cousin ( first degree) of Jemima Blackburn, developed a set of equations ( Maxwell's equations), which form the foundations of the theory of electricity and magnetism.
- Charles Darwin was referring to Mrs. Blackburn's observations in its sixth edition of the Origin of Species.
Primary literature
Secondary literature
- Robert Fairley and Jemima Blackburn: Jemima: The Paintings and Memoirs of a Victorian Lady, Canongate Books Ltd, 1998, ISBN 0-8642-1818-4
- Robert Fairley: Blackburn 's Birds. Canongate Books Ltd, 1993, ISBN 0-8624-1436-9