2-714-148 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Margaret McAvoy, An extraordinary Blind Girl', 1821. Portrait of Margaret M'Avoy (1800-1820) who claimed she could sense colours 'through the medium of her fingers' despite having lost her sight. At the request of Sir Joseph Banks, she was investigated by Liverpool historian William Roscoe, who concluded that she was not in fact blind. From "Wonderful Characters: Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation", Vol. II, by Henry Wilson. [J. Robins and Co. Albion Press, London, 1821]