Portrait of Mary Somerville
Date
1848
Sitter
Mary Somerville (1780 - 1872, Scottish) , Scientist
Creator
William Holl (1807 - 1871, British) , Engraver
After
James Rannie Swinton (1816 - 1888, British) , Draughtsman
Object type
Library reference
R64137
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 110mm
width (print): 85mm
width (print): 85mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders portrait of Mary Somerville, facing slightly towards her right. She is shown wearing a bonnet with neatly combed hair underneath, and a bow collar around her neck. Engraved after a chalk drawing now in the National Portrait Gallery.
Inscribed below: ‘W. Holl, sc.’ ‘Mary Somerville.’ ‘From a drawing by James R. Swinton, Esq: 1848.’ ‘London, John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1848.’
Mary Somerville (1780-1872), Scottish scientist and writer, published her first paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1826. The Royal Society commissioned a bust of her in the 1830s, which is still on display. She was not elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Inscribed below: ‘W. Holl, sc.’ ‘Mary Somerville.’ ‘From a drawing by James R. Swinton, Esq: 1848.’ ‘London, John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1848.’
Mary Somerville (1780-1872), Scottish scientist and writer, published her first paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1826. The Royal Society commissioned a bust of her in the 1830s, which is still on display. She was not elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Object history
Frontispiece to Physical Geography, Vol I (1848).