John Shanks. Cicerone of Elgin Cathedral.
[n.d., c.1830.
Rare etching. Sheet 260 x 175mm (10¼ x 7"). Trimmed within plate, some cockling of paper.
Full-length sketch portrait of John Shanks (c.1759-1841), an Elgin shoemaker who was paid by a local gentleman to clear the derelict Elgin Cathedral of rubbish. According to an obituary in the Inverness Courier ''he removed, with his pick-axe and shovel, 2866 barrowfuls of earth, besides disclosing a flight of steps that led to the grand gateway of the edifice. Tombs and figures, which had long lain hid in obscurity, were unearthed and every monumental fragment of saints and holy men was carefully preserved, and placed in some appropriate situation ... So faithfully did he discharge his duty as keeper of the ruins, that little now remains but to preserve what he accomplished''. Shanks was officially appointed the site's Keeper and Watchman in 1826.
[Ref: 54391] £130.00
Rare etching. Sheet 260 x 175mm (10¼ x 7"). Trimmed within plate, some cockling of paper.
Full-length sketch portrait of John Shanks (c.1759-1841), an Elgin shoemaker who was paid by a local gentleman to clear the derelict Elgin Cathedral of rubbish. According to an obituary in the Inverness Courier ''he removed, with his pick-axe and shovel, 2866 barrowfuls of earth, besides disclosing a flight of steps that led to the grand gateway of the edifice. Tombs and figures, which had long lain hid in obscurity, were unearthed and every monumental fragment of saints and holy men was carefully preserved, and placed in some appropriate situation ... So faithfully did he discharge his duty as keeper of the ruins, that little now remains but to preserve what he accomplished''. Shanks was officially appointed the site's Keeper and Watchman in 1826.
[Ref: 54391] £130.00