Portrait of Jedidiah Buxton
Date
1754
Sitter
Jedidiah Buxton (1707 - 1772, British) , Mental arithmetician
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Library reference
R62588
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 215mm
width (print): 128mm
width (print): 128mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders portrait of Jedidiah Buxton, the farm labourer and calculator. The sitter is shown wearing a coat, unbuttoned to reveal the waistcoat, a dark slouch hat with a headscarf beneath. He holds a staff in his right hand and faces to the right as viewed. Presented in an oval frame on a pedestal.
The accompanying article gives account of his arithmetical abilities, and his visit to London: ‘The only objects of Jedediah’s curiosity, except figures, were the king and royal family, and his desire to see them was so strong, that, in the beginning of the spring, he walked to London on purpose, but at last returned disappointed, the king having just removed to Kensington as Jedediah came into London. He was however introduced to the Royal Society, whom he called the volk of the Siety Court: the gentlemen who were present asked him several questions in arithmetic, to prove his abilities, and dismissed him with a handsome gratuity’.
Illustration for the article ‘The Life of Jedidiah Buxton’. The Gentleman’s Magazine, and historical chronicle…[edited] by Sylvanus Urban, v.24, (1754) pp.251-252.
Inscribed below: ‘Jedidiah Buxton Aetat 49 – Numeros memini – Virgil’.
Jedidiah Buxton (1707-1772), British mental arithmetician, visited the Royal Society in 1754.
The accompanying article gives account of his arithmetical abilities, and his visit to London: ‘The only objects of Jedediah’s curiosity, except figures, were the king and royal family, and his desire to see them was so strong, that, in the beginning of the spring, he walked to London on purpose, but at last returned disappointed, the king having just removed to Kensington as Jedediah came into London. He was however introduced to the Royal Society, whom he called the volk of the Siety Court: the gentlemen who were present asked him several questions in arithmetic, to prove his abilities, and dismissed him with a handsome gratuity’.
Illustration for the article ‘The Life of Jedidiah Buxton’. The Gentleman’s Magazine, and historical chronicle…[edited] by Sylvanus Urban, v.24, (1754) pp.251-252.
Inscribed below: ‘Jedidiah Buxton Aetat 49 – Numeros memini – Virgil’.
Jedidiah Buxton (1707-1772), British mental arithmetician, visited the Royal Society in 1754.
Associated place