Portrait of Kenelm Digby
Date
mid 18th century
Sitter
Kenelm Digby (1603 - 1665, British) , Natural philosopher
Creator
Georg Wolfgang Knorr (1705 - 1761, German) , Engraver
After
Anthony van Dyck (1599 - 1641, Flemish) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 170mm
width (print): 120mm
width (print): 120mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders study of Sir Kenelm Digby, half-turned to the right as viewed, looking directly to the viewer. Digby has long natural hair and a beard.
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 p.19, as Weld’s text refers to an Academy to be established in England in the years 1616-1617, by Edmund Bolton: ‘…it is very interesting to find the name of Sir Kenelm Digby, one of the original members of the Royal Society, by whom the latter is connected with the proposed Academy’.
Inscribed above: ‘Impavidum Ferient’ [Digby’s motto]. Inscribed below: ‘KENELMUS DIGBY. Eques Anglicus. Cancellarius et Consiliarius Regius, ac Anglicae Societatis Sodalis: Philosophus acutissmus. Nat A. Den A. 1665. d.ii 1unii. Ex collection Friderici Roth-Scholtzii, Norimberg. Knorr sc.’
Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-1665) British natural philosopher and courtier, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1663.
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 p.19, as Weld’s text refers to an Academy to be established in England in the years 1616-1617, by Edmund Bolton: ‘…it is very interesting to find the name of Sir Kenelm Digby, one of the original members of the Royal Society, by whom the latter is connected with the proposed Academy’.
Inscribed above: ‘Impavidum Ferient’ [Digby’s motto]. Inscribed below: ‘KENELMUS DIGBY. Eques Anglicus. Cancellarius et Consiliarius Regius, ac Anglicae Societatis Sodalis: Philosophus acutissmus. Nat A. Den A. 1665. d.ii 1unii. Ex collection Friderici Roth-Scholtzii, Norimberg. Knorr sc.’
Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-1665) British natural philosopher and courtier, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1663.
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