Caricature of William Huggins
Date
1903
Sitter
William Huggins (1824 - 1910, British) , Astronomer
Creator
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (1851 - 1922, British) , Artist
Creator - Organisation
Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Lithographer
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 380mm
width (print): 263mm
width (print): 263mm
Subject
Description
Caricature of William Huggins at full length, holding a cane and hat in his right hand.
Inscribed in the bottom left corner of the print: ‘Spy’
Inscribed above: ‘VANITY FAIR April 9th 1903’
Inscribed below: ‘Vincent Brooks, Day & Son Ltd. Lith./ “Spectroscopic Astronomy”’
This caricature is titled ‘Spectroscopic Astronomy’ and was number 873 of the ‘Men of the Day’ series published in Vanity Fair between 1868-1913.
The associated text reads: ‘He practically invented, and has greatly developed, spectroscopic astronomy, receiving for his honour therein the best Medals of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Since then he has gone on prismatically and microscopically researching unknown worlds, with results that make him a far greater man than he looks. He has discovered more about comets than most of us yet know; he has lectured much and learnedly; he has written many scientific and some very original papers, and he has been guilty of a sort of Stellar Atlas […]’
Sir William Huggins (1824-1910), British astronomer, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1865.
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (1851-1922), British artist who did much of his work under the pseudonym ‘Spy’ and served as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair between 1873-1911.
Inscribed in the bottom left corner of the print: ‘Spy’
Inscribed above: ‘VANITY FAIR April 9th 1903’
Inscribed below: ‘Vincent Brooks, Day & Son Ltd. Lith./ “Spectroscopic Astronomy”’
This caricature is titled ‘Spectroscopic Astronomy’ and was number 873 of the ‘Men of the Day’ series published in Vanity Fair between 1868-1913.
The associated text reads: ‘He practically invented, and has greatly developed, spectroscopic astronomy, receiving for his honour therein the best Medals of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Since then he has gone on prismatically and microscopically researching unknown worlds, with results that make him a far greater man than he looks. He has discovered more about comets than most of us yet know; he has lectured much and learnedly; he has written many scientific and some very original papers, and he has been guilty of a sort of Stellar Atlas […]’
Sir William Huggins (1824-1910), British astronomer, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1865.
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (1851-1922), British artist who did much of his work under the pseudonym ‘Spy’ and served as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair between 1873-1911.
Object history
Vanity Fair ’s ‘Men of the Day’ series, which featured a full page, colour caricature of a significant public figure and text commentary, largely written by "Jehu Junior", was a popular feature that ran between 1868 and 1913.
This print was donated to the Royal Society by former PRS Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952), as part of a bound volume featuring caricatures, photographs and signature facsimiles of the individuals.
This print was donated to the Royal Society by former PRS Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952), as part of a bound volume featuring caricatures, photographs and signature facsimiles of the individuals.