Portrait of Benjamin Johnson
Date
1756
Sitter
Benjamin Johnson (1527 - 1637, British) , Poet
Creator
George Vertue (1684 - 1756, British) , Engraver
After
Gerrit van Honthorst (1590 - 1656, Dutch) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 165mm
width (print): 100mm
width (print): 100mm
Subject
Description
Half-length portrait, presented in an oval. Johnson is shown with natural hair and a beard, wearing a shirt and buttoned coat. Presented in an oval, supported on a pedestal.
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.467 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. A footnote to the text mentions a Mathematical Society, founded in 1717, which met in taverns, including the Ben Johnson’s Head in Spitalfields.
Inscription below: ‘Vertue Sc. Ben: Johnson.’.
Benjamin [Ben] Johnson (1572-1637) British poet and playwright, author of Volpone, or the Fox (1606), The Alchemist (1610) and many other works.
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.467 in volume 4 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. A footnote to the text mentions a Mathematical Society, founded in 1717, which met in taverns, including the Ben Johnson’s Head in Spitalfields.
Inscription below: ‘Vertue Sc. Ben: Johnson.’.
Benjamin [Ben] Johnson (1572-1637) British poet and playwright, author of Volpone, or the Fox (1606), The Alchemist (1610) and many other works.
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