Image number: RS.20815

    Caricature of John Burdon-Sanderson

    Date
    1894
    Sitter
    John Scott Burdon-Sanderson (1828 - 1905, British) , Physiologist
    Creator
    Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (1851 - 1922, British) , Artist
    Creator - Organisation
    Object type
    Archive reference number
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 380mm
    width (print): 263mm
    Subject
    Description
    Caricature of John Burdon-Sanderson inclined to the left as viewed, one hand in his trouser pocket, with a chair visible in the background.

    Inscribed in the bottom left corner: ‘Spy’
    Inscribed above: ‘VANITY FAIR’
    Inscribed below: ‘Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith/ “Oxford Physiology”’

    This caricature is titled ‘Oxford Physiology’ and was number 587 of the ‘Men of the Day’ series published in Vanity Fair between 1868-1913.

    The associated text begins: ‘Born at Newcastle-on-Tyne nearly sixty-six years ago, he seems to have learned something of Medicine at Edinburgh University, where he took his M.B. degree; for at the age of eight-and-twenty he burst upon Paddington as its Medical Officer of Health. He became physician to the Middlesex Hospital and to the Brompton Consumption Hospital, and presently come to be so well known as a man of research that he was made Jodrell Professor of Physiology in University College […]’

    Sir John Scott Burdon-Sanderson (1828-1905), British physiologist, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1867 and served as Vice President between 1874-1875 and 1894-1895. He received the Society’s Croonian Award in 1867, 1877 and 1899, and its Royal Medal in 1883 for ‘the eminent services which he has rendered to physiology and pathology, especially for his investigation of the relations of micro-organisms to disease, and his researches on the electric phenomena of plants’.

    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 purchased by the Royal Society in 1999.
    Powered by CollectionsIndex+/CollectionsOnline