Portrait of Voltaire
Date
late 18th century
Sitter
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694 - 1778, French) , Philosopher
Creator
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 205mm
width (print): 117mm
width (print): 117mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait, presented in an oval. Voltaire is shown holding a book in his left hand, half-turned, regarding the viewer. Behind, a bookcase with a curtain. Presented on a pedestal, with decorative features, including musical instruments.
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.441 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. A footnote to the text mentions Voltaire’s visit to Engand in 1726-27 and his remarks on the Royal Society.
Inscribed above: ‘Engraved for the Universal Magazine’. Inscribed below: ‘FRANCIS de VOLTAIRE. Printed for J. Hinton, at the Kings Arms in Paternoster Row’.
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and philosopher of the Enlightenment.
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.441 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. A footnote to the text mentions Voltaire’s visit to Engand in 1726-27 and his remarks on the Royal Society.
Inscribed above: ‘Engraved for the Universal Magazine’. Inscribed below: ‘FRANCIS de VOLTAIRE. Printed for J. Hinton, at the Kings Arms in Paternoster Row’.
Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and philosopher of the Enlightenment.
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