‘Historical treasures’
Date
1876
Creator
J. T. Balcomb (British) , Illustrator
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 393mm
width (print): 268mm
width (print): 268mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Composite illustration, twenty-one scientific instruments from various collections, on loan to the 1876 International Exhibition at South Kensington. The group of objects includes the Royal Society’s reflecting telescope by Sir Isaac Newton, placed centrally in the composition. The South Kensington Museum would later evolve into the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum collections.
The figures are numbered and described in a key below: 1. Tycho Brahe’s quadrant. 2. Sir Francis Drake’s astrolabe. 3. Galileo’s telescope. 4. Galileo’s second telescope. 5. Newton’s telescope. Jansen’s compound microscope, 1590. 7. Galileo’s microscope (occhialino). 8. Sir Humphry Davy’s first safety-lamp. 9. Third safety lamp. 10. Davy’s improved safety-lamp. 11. Pascal’s adding and subtracting machine, 1642. 12. The ‘Napier Bones’ for division and multiplication, about 1700. 13. Sommering’s electric telegraph, 1809. 14. Faraday’s magneto-electric induction apparatus. 15 and 16. Faraday’s later apparatus. 17. Forbes’s apparatus. 18. Galileo’s air thermometer. 19. Dalton’s mountain barometer. 20. Dalton’s apparatus for testing the tension of ether vapour. 21. Ancient Swiss clock, from Dover Castle.
Full page illustration from The Illustrated London News, 16 September 1876, p.269. Captioned below: ‘HISTORICAL TREASURES IN THE LOAN COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS, SOUTH KENSINGTON.’ The print is signed lower right ‘J. T. BALCOMB. DEL.’
An accompanying article ‘Loan collection of scientific apparatus’ (p.270) provides more detailed descriptions of the objects, drawn from the official catalogue of the exhibition.
The figures are numbered and described in a key below: 1. Tycho Brahe’s quadrant. 2. Sir Francis Drake’s astrolabe. 3. Galileo’s telescope. 4. Galileo’s second telescope. 5. Newton’s telescope. Jansen’s compound microscope, 1590. 7. Galileo’s microscope (occhialino). 8. Sir Humphry Davy’s first safety-lamp. 9. Third safety lamp. 10. Davy’s improved safety-lamp. 11. Pascal’s adding and subtracting machine, 1642. 12. The ‘Napier Bones’ for division and multiplication, about 1700. 13. Sommering’s electric telegraph, 1809. 14. Faraday’s magneto-electric induction apparatus. 15 and 16. Faraday’s later apparatus. 17. Forbes’s apparatus. 18. Galileo’s air thermometer. 19. Dalton’s mountain barometer. 20. Dalton’s apparatus for testing the tension of ether vapour. 21. Ancient Swiss clock, from Dover Castle.
Full page illustration from The Illustrated London News, 16 September 1876, p.269. Captioned below: ‘HISTORICAL TREASURES IN THE LOAN COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS, SOUTH KENSINGTON.’ The print is signed lower right ‘J. T. BALCOMB. DEL.’
An accompanying article ‘Loan collection of scientific apparatus’ (p.270) provides more detailed descriptions of the objects, drawn from the official catalogue of the exhibition.
Object history
Purchased by the Royal Society.
Associated place