Portrait of John Gay
Date
1787
Sitter
John Gay (1685 - 1732, British) , Poet
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 220mm
width (print): 135mm
width (print): 135mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait, presented in an oval. Gay is turned to the left as viewed, informally dressed in a turban, a shirt open at the neck, and a robe.
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.423 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Weld’s text describes the Spalding Gentleman’s Society and its members, including Isaac Newton and ‘Mr. Gay the poet’.
Inscription above: ‘JOHN GAY’. Inscribed below: ‘Mr. JOHN GAY.’.
John Gay (1685-1732) British poet and playwright, author of The Beggar’s Opera (1728).
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.423 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. Weld’s text describes the Spalding Gentleman’s Society and its members, including Isaac Newton and ‘Mr. Gay the poet’.
Inscription above: ‘JOHN GAY’. Inscribed below: ‘Mr. JOHN GAY.’.
John Gay (1685-1732) British poet and playwright, author of The Beggar’s Opera (1728).
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's A history of the Royal Society, vol. 4... (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