Portrait of John Somers, Baron Somers
Date
1793
Sitter
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers (1651 - 1716, British) , Lawyer
Creator
John Hall (1739 - 1797, British) , Engraver
After
Godfrey Kneller (1646 - 1723, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 155mm
width (print): 97mm
width (print): 97mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait of John Somers, wearing a long, curled wig, and Lord Chancellor’s robes, with a lace cravat. Behind, the bag holding the Great Seal. With a decorative border and the Somers coat of arms below, with a portcullis on each side.
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.338 in volume 3 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Chapter 13 of Weld’s text commences with a biography of Lord John Somers.
Inscribed: ‘JOHN LORD SOMERS. Sr. Godfrey Kneller pinx. Jno. Hall sculp. Engraved from the Original in the possession of the Rt. Honble. the Earl of Hardwicke. London Published as the Act directs by W. Strahan, T. Cadell and D. Prince, June 1 1793.
John Somers, Baron Somers (1651-1716) British lawyer and politician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1698. He served as President of the Royal Society, 1698-1703.
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.338 in volume 3 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Chapter 13 of Weld’s text commences with a biography of Lord John Somers.
Inscribed: ‘JOHN LORD SOMERS. Sr. Godfrey Kneller pinx. Jno. Hall sculp. Engraved from the Original in the possession of the Rt. Honble. the Earl of Hardwicke. London Published as the Act directs by W. Strahan, T. Cadell and D. Prince, June 1 1793.
John Somers, Baron Somers (1651-1716) British lawyer and politician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1698. He served as President of the Royal Society, 1698-1703.
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's A history of the Royal Society, vol. 3... (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