Caricature of Benjamin Franklin
Date
1789
Sitter
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790, American) , Politician
Creator
J. Macky (British) , Engraver
After
H. S. Grimm (British) , Draughtsman
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 190mm
width (print): 120mm
width (print): 120mm
Subject
Description
Full length fanciful portrait of Benjamin Franklin, seated and in profile, with bookshelves and a globe. Franklin is shown using bellows to heat a furnace, upon which a large distilling vessel is boiling down philosophical works into anecdotes, collected in a vase set upon a table behind him.
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 engraving appears as a frontispiece to volume 1 of the adapted set of Weld’s History.
Inscribed below: ‘J.P.A. Invt. H.S. Grimm Delt. J. Macky Sculpt. Publish’d as the Act directs March 26, 1789 by John Stockdale.’
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American politician and scientist was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1756.
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 engraving appears as a frontispiece to volume 1 of the adapted set of Weld’s History.
Inscribed below: ‘J.P.A. Invt. H.S. Grimm Delt. J. Macky Sculpt. Publish’d as the Act directs March 26, 1789 by John Stockdale.’
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American politician and scientist was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1756.
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's A history of the Royal Society, vol. 1... (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