Portrait of James Gregory
Date
1798
Sitter
James Gregorie (1638 - 1675, Scottish) , Mathematician
Creator
Edward Harding (1755 - 1840, British) , Engraver
After
11th Earl of Buchan David Steuart Erskine (1742 - 1829) , Antiquary
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 220mm
width (print): 135mm
width (print): 135mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait of James Gregory, wearing academic robes and a broad pilgrim collar. The sitter is turned slightly to the right as viewed, and is shown with a globe.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.234 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. In referring to Sir Isaac Newton’s construction of a reflecting telescope, Weld describes the earlier work on a Gregorian reflector.
Inscribed below: ‘JAMES GREGORIE, Inventor of the reflecting Telescope, from an original, in the possession of Mr. Carnegy, Aberdeen. Buchaniae Comes delt. Pubd. by I. Herbert 1 Jany. 1798. E. Harding Sc.’
James Gregory (1638-1675) British mathematician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1668.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.234 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. In referring to Sir Isaac Newton’s construction of a reflecting telescope, Weld describes the earlier work on a Gregorian reflector.
Inscribed below: ‘JAMES GREGORIE, Inventor of the reflecting Telescope, from an original, in the possession of Mr. Carnegy, Aberdeen. Buchaniae Comes delt. Pubd. by I. Herbert 1 Jany. 1798. E. Harding Sc.’
James Gregory (1638-1675) British mathematician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1668.
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's 2 volume A history of the Royal Society... (London, John W. Parker, 1848) grangerized by the writer and collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847–1916) into 8 volumes, adding illustrative material and manuscript items to Weld's text. The books were initially owned by Ludwig Mond FRS (1839–1909), and according to an inscription by his son Robert Ludwig Mond FRS (1867–1938) they were intended for presentation to the Society. This eventually happened in late 1959, the donor being the politician Harry Nathan (1889–1963), Lord Nathan of Churt.
Related fellows
Charles Richard Weld (1813 - 1869, British) , Author
Associated place