Portrait of Thomas Birch
Date
1786
Sitter
Thomas Birch (1705 - 1766, British) , Historian
Creator
James Hopwood the elder (1742, British) , Engraver
After
James Wills (British) , Painter
Object type
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 175mm
width (print): 113mm
width (print): 113mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders study of Thomas Birch in clerical robes, white bands and wig. The sitter looks to the left as viewed and is presented in an oval frame.
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 at pp.vi-vii, as Weld’s introductory text discusses previous histories of the Royal Society, including Birch’s History of 1756.
Inscribed below: ‘THOS. BIRCH, A.M. & R.S.S. J. Wills pinx. J. Hopwood sculp.’
Thomas Birch (1705-1766) British compiler of histories and biographer, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1735.
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 at pp.vi-vii, as Weld’s introductory text discusses previous histories of the Royal Society, including Birch’s History of 1756.
Inscribed below: ‘THOS. BIRCH, A.M. & R.S.S. J. Wills pinx. J. Hopwood sculp.’
Thomas Birch (1705-1766) British compiler of histories and biographer, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1735.
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