| Description | Still life showing four of the historical objects owned by the Royal Society, with a key printed below. (A) Reflecting telescope constructed by Sir Isaac Newton. (B) Sundial made by Sir Isaac Newton when a boy. (C) Mace of the Royal Society. (D) Dr. Priestley’s electrical machine.
Cutting from the Illustrated Times, 27 October 1860, p.267. Captioned below: ‘RELICS PRESERVED IN THE ROOMS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.’
The accompanying article contains information extracted from Charles Richard Weld’s A history of the Royal Society (London, John W. Parker, 1848). Two of the objects shown (the Newton telescope resting upon the manuscript of Principia Mathematica and the Newton sundial) are from illustrations in Weld’s book, while two others (the Priestley electrical machine and mace) are from generic sources, not resembling the actual objects in the Royal Society’s collections. The illustration is therefore a composite one, drawn from several earlier engravings. |