Caricature of Roderick Impey Murchison
Date
1870
Sitter
Roderick Impey Murchison (1792 - 1871, Scottish) , Geologist
Creator
Carlo Pellegrini (1839 - 1889, Italian) , Caricaturist
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 380mm
width (print): 263mm
width (print): 263mm
Subject
Description
Caricature of Roderick Murchison at full length, shown smiling and in right profile as vieed, one hand resting on his jacket breast, the other holding a cane.
Inscribed in the bottom left corner of the print: ‘Ape’
Inscribed above: ‘VANITY FAIR. NOV. 26, 1870’
Inscribed below: ‘No. 108. MEN OF THE DAY No. 14./ “A Faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents.”’
This caricature is titled ‘A faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents’ and was number 14 of the ‘Men of the Day’ series published in Vanity Fair between 1868-1913.
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1897), baronet, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826 and was awarded its Copley Medal in 1849 for ‘the eminent services he has rendered to geological science during many years of active observation in several parts of Europe; and especially for the establishment of that classification of the older Palaeozoic deposits designated the Silurian System’.
Carlo Pellegrini (1839-1889), Italian artist who did much of his work under the pseudonym ‘Ape’ and served as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair between 1869-1889.
Inscribed in the bottom left corner of the print: ‘Ape’
Inscribed above: ‘VANITY FAIR. NOV. 26, 1870’
Inscribed below: ‘No. 108. MEN OF THE DAY No. 14./ “A Faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents.”’
This caricature is titled ‘A faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents’ and was number 14 of the ‘Men of the Day’ series published in Vanity Fair between 1868-1913.
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1897), baronet, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826 and was awarded its Copley Medal in 1849 for ‘the eminent services he has rendered to geological science during many years of active observation in several parts of Europe; and especially for the establishment of that classification of the older Palaeozoic deposits designated the Silurian System’.
Carlo Pellegrini (1839-1889), Italian artist who did much of his work under the pseudonym ‘Ape’ and served as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair between 1869-1889.
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.