| Reference number | VF/23 |
| Alternative reference number | VF23 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Portrait of James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, by Sir Leslie Ward |
| Artist | Ward, Leslie ['Spy'] |
| Hentschel-Colourtype |
| Date | ?12 August 1908 |
| Description | Vanity Fair cartoon titled 'The Transit of Venus' featuring James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, wearing a suit and cap, and holding a lit cigarette. Full length, slightly right profile. Number 1130 of the 'Men of the Day' series. |
| InscriptionContent | Recto inscription: 'VANITY FAIR Supplement/ Hentschel-Colourtype, London./ “The Transit of Venus”/ (Earl of Crawford)’ |
| Caption | Men of the Day. No. 1130
The Earl of Crawford
The 26th Earl of Crawford (created in 1398) bears the name of James Ludovic Lindsay, and is head of the house of Lindsay. The Lindsays, it is said ,were Baron Lindsays of Crawford before 1143. The mere name transports one at once into the realms of romance. One thinks of the "stern Lindsays" of Walter Scott, and pictures a burly baron with enormous jaws and fists, iron-handed and wooden-headed.
And lo, here is the 26th Earl, a dandy in his way, of most distinguished favour, and very absolute grace, a President at one time of the Astronomical Society, President still of the Camden Society and a Trustee of the British Museum: a scientist and thinker besides, who follows stars swimming across his lenses and questions evolutionary theories as doubtful half-guesses.
A super-subtle Scot, a book-worm and a yachtsman, touching life at fifty points which those early Baron Lindsays knew nothing whatever about: a most interesting figure this premier Earl of Scotland who was born in France; is a Commander of the Legion of Honour and the Rose of Brazil, and has won an immense reputation for brains without having written anything that will live or coined a phrase that has become part of the intellectual currency. |
| Format | Lithograph |
| Physical description | Coloured lithograph on paper, mounted on card |
| Dimensions | 380mm x 263mm |
| Notes | Text is accompanying article from "Vanity Fair" (by Jehu Junior?) |
| Access status | Open |
| Copyright | The Royal Society |
| Provenance | Purchased by the Royal Society from Patrick Pollak Antiquarian & Rare Books, September 1999 |
| Related material | Colour transparency, Box N101. IM/002760 |
| Related records in the catalogue | IM/002760 |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA6482 | Lindsay; James Ludovic (1847 - 1913); 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres; astronomer | 1847 - 1913 |