The Scottish Enlightenment was one of the truly great intellectual and cultural movements that the world has ever seen. Its achievements in science, philosophy, history, economics, and other disciplines were immense. This beautiful week-to-view Pocket Diary pays tribute to the movement by recording the landmark dates and ideas that made the Scottish Enlightenment such a wondrous moment, and capturing the spirit of the time in the brilliant etchings of Edinburgh caricaturist John Kay (1742-1826).
Although John Kay served his apprenticeship as a barber and followed this profession for many years in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, his consuming passion was observing and drawing the world around him. In 1785 he gave up his barber shop in Parliament Square to become a full-time sketcher and painter of miniatures, producing an estimated 900 portraits and caricatures over a long and prolific career.
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Sheila Szatkowski, an expert and enthusiast of his work, selects some of the most memorable individuals captured by John Kay.
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