Portrait of William Petty
Date
early 19th century
Sitter
William Petty (1623 - 1687, British) , Natural philosopher
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
After
John Closterman (1660 - 1711, German) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 135mm
width (print): 85mm
width (print): 85mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders study of Sir William Petty, face turned slightly to the right as viewed, looking directly to the viewer, wearing a long wig, his clothing lightly sketched.
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.52, as Weld’s text describes Petty’s patent 1648 for a machine to copy writing.
Inscribed below: ‘SIR W. PETTY’. A pencil inscription states: ‘after Closterman’.
William Petty (1623-1687) British natural philosopher and administrator in Ireland, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1660.
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.52, as Weld’s text describes Petty’s patent 1648 for a machine to copy writing.
Inscribed below: ‘SIR W. PETTY’. A pencil inscription states: ‘after Closterman’.
William Petty (1623-1687) British natural philosopher and administrator in Ireland, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1660.
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