Portrait of Abraham Cowley
Date
1776
Sitter
Abraham Cowley (1618 - 1667, British) , Poet
Creator
Richard Bernard Godfrey (1728 - 1799, British) , Engraver
After
Mary Beale (1633 - 1699, English) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 145mm
width (print): 115mm
width (print): 115mm
Subject
Description
Half-length study of Abraham Cowley, with long naturally curled hair, wearing a white shirt and robe. Looking to the left as viewed, one arm held across his body.
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.66, as Weld’s text reproduces the list of potential Royal Society Fellows introduced at the first meeting of the organisation, on 28 November 1660. This list included ‘Dr. Cowley’.
Inscribed below: ‘ABRAHAM COWLEY. Mary Beale Pinx. R. Godfrey Sc.’
Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) British poet, author of an ode To the Royal Society, published in The History of the Royal Society, by Thomas Sprat (London, 1667).
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.66, as Weld’s text reproduces the list of potential Royal Society Fellows introduced at the first meeting of the organisation, on 28 November 1660. This list included ‘Dr. Cowley’.
Inscribed below: ‘ABRAHAM COWLEY. Mary Beale Pinx. R. Godfrey Sc.’
Abraham Cowley (1618-1667) British poet, author of an ode To the Royal Society, published in The History of the Royal Society, by Thomas Sprat (London, 1667).
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