The early life of James McBey - James McBey

This book is an autobiographical account of the early years of James
McBey, the self-taught boy from a humble north-east village who became
one of Scotland's most successful and celebrated artists. Writing with
charismatic frankness and realism, McBey describes his passionate desire
to be an artist, from his first etchings (printed with the help of an
old mangle) to the moment when he left a stultifying job to strike out
for Holland to create a life of his own.

McBey's journey was not
an easy one. Poverty, ignorance, his family's indifference, the petty
routines of an Aberdeen bank, his mother's suicide, all these are evoked
with gravity, clarity and a lightness of touch - like the etchings
themselves - which will long remain in the reader's mind.

Introduced
by Nicolas Barker, who edited the original manuscripts, this book
offers a real-life portrait of the artist as a young man and establishes
James McBey as a gifted prose stylist in his own right.