George William Blunt

George William Blunt 1802-78, American hydrographer; son of Edmund March Blunt, a pioneer publisher of nautical books and charts in Newburyport, Mass. He established (1821) himself in a similar business in New York and published the numerous editions of Bowditch's Navigator, Blunt's Coast Pilot, and nautical charts of the world. The copperplates of these maps and the copyrights to the Navigator and Coast Pilot were later purchased by the U.S. Hydrographic Office when that bureau began its publication work. From 1833 until his death, Blunt was first assistant in the U.S. Coast Survey. He also served for 32 years on the Board of Pilot Commissioners and did much to put through needed reforms in the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Blunt, Anthony (b Bournemouth, Hampshire, 26 Sept. 1907; d London, 26 Mar. 1983). British art historian and spy. He was director of the Courtauld Institute of Art from 1947 to 1974, Surveyor of the King's (later Queen's) Pictures from 1945 to 1972, and one of the leading figures in establishing art history as an academic discipline in Britain. His career was loaded with honours, but in 1979 he suffered disgrace (including being stripped of his knighthood) when it was sensationally revealed that he had spied for the Soviet Union during his service at the War Office in the Second World War. He coped calmly with the ignominy and continued with his scholarly work until the end of his life. During the 1930s he had written a good deal of journalism on contemporary art, expressing Marxist views that he later repudiated, but after the war his publications were mainly on French and Italian art and architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries, and he was particularly renowned as the leading authority on Poussin. His books include Artistic Theory in Italy: 1450–1600 (1940), Art and Architecture in France: 1500–1700 (1953 and subsequent edns.), The Art of William Blake (1959), and Guide to Baroque Rome (1982). His brother Wilfrid (1901–87) was drawing master at Eton 1938–59, curator of the Watts Gallery at Compton 1959–85, and the author of numerous books on art and other subjects, notably The Art of Botanical Illustration (1950) and ‘England's Michelangelo’ (1975), a biography of Watts.

Blunt, Anthony (1907–83). British art historian and spy. He was director of the Courtauld Institute of Art from 1947 to 1974, Surveyor of the King's (later Queen's) Pictures from 1945 to 1972, and one of the leading figures in establishing art history as an academic discipline in Britain. His career was loaded with honours, but in 1979 he suffered disgrace (including being stripped of his knighthood) when it was sensationally revealed that he had spied for the Soviet Union during his service at the War Office in the Second World War. He wrote on a wide variety of subjects, but is best known for his contributions to the study of French and Italian art and architecture in the 16th and 17th centuries, above all for his numerous books and articles on Poussin. His books include Artistic Theory in Italy 1450–1600 (1940), Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700 (1953 and subsequent edns.), The Art of William Blake (1959), and Guide to Baroque Rome (1982). His brother Wilfrid (1901–87) was drawing master at Eton 1938–59, curator of the Watts Gallery at Compton 1959–85, and the author of numerous books on art and other subjects, notably The Art of Botanical Illustration (1950) and ‘England's Michelangelo’ (1975), a biography of Watts.