Portraits of William Herschel

@x%6656/88$0.00+ .50 Copyright01988PergamonPress pk.

Vistas inAstronomy, Vol.32,pp.6>94,1988 Printed inGreatBritain. Allrights reserved.

PORTRAITS

OF WILLIAM HERSCHEL A. J. Turner

24 rue du Buisson-Richard,

78600 Le Mesnil-le-Roi,

France

1. INTRODUC!TION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The present work,has-the limited aim of providing a chronological list of the known portraits of William Herschel together with such relevant information about them as can now be discovered.

It

is not a study in iconography, still less in the history of art, but seeks only to supply the raw materials upon which such studies could be based.

Like any such undertaking, its compilation has

been heavily dependent upon the help and kindness of those many people who have answered enquiries and shown me their portraits..

My

greatest debts are to the late Eileen Shorland for showing me

photographs of some otherwise unknown portraits together with a number of interesting documents, and to Richard Walker, National Portrait Gal,lery, London, who generously shared with me material on Herschel assembled in the course of his own researches, and who saved me from several errors. Mme Anne-Marie de Narbonne of the Paris me the portraits in her charge. Cambridge,supplied

Observatory devoted almost an entire afternoon to showing'

D.J. Bryden then of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science,

copies of all the engraved portraits in his care, and Francis Maddison, Museum

of the History of Science, Oxford, drew my attention to some interesting references in the Museum files.

Elizabeth Hamilton-Eddy of the Picture Coriservation Department, National Maritime Museum

Greenwich made available the results of her examination of the Artaud portraits.

Frank Simpson

commented on a draft of the work, and H.D. Howse, Beresford Hutchinson and Carole Stott of the Department of Navigation and Astronomy, National Maritime Museum, aided its progress.

For help

of various kinds I am indebted to MlleJ. Alexandre, l'observatoire de Paris, D. Coffee", Hastingson-Hudson; Jennifer Drake-Brockman, Little Compton; Colin Franklin, Culham; Munich;

Dr. L. Honigmann,Schlossmuseum, Weimar;

A.D. Johnson, London;

Dr. R. Heinrich, Deutsches Museum,

Jill Knight, Victoria Art Gallery Bath;

Enid Lake, Royal Astronomical Society;

McNab, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; H.S. Torrens, Keele University; Zeitlin, Los

Janet Dudley, Royal Greenwich Observatory:

Griselda Grimond, Colnagi 6 Co;

Leggatt Bros, London;

Mrs. L. Miller, Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston;

Dr. F.R. Zankl, Historisches Museum, Hanover;

Mrs.

Jessie Dr.

the late J.

Angeles.

For supplying photographs and granting permission for their reproduction I am grateful to The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings (C5, El, Ml, Nl); (C7, C8);

the Mtiseum of the History of Science, Oxford (C2);

D7, H2, N9, NlO);

l'observatoire de Paris (K7, M3, Sl);

Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston (Cl,

H3):

Historisches Museum, Hanover

The National Portrait Gallery (Dl,

the late Eileen Shorland (Al, Bl);

Zeitlin and ver Brugge, Los Angeles (Jl).

graphs are from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

the

All other photo-

Inevitably some fugitive portraits of

Herschel are not listed here and two portraits from Holden's list (see note 5) by Bonneville and by Baisch have not been found and are not listed.

Any information concerning them or other por-

traits would be of the greatest interest. 2. WILLIAM HERSCHEL AND THE DISCOVERY OF URANUS In 1781 William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

The impact of this discovery can be likered

in Europe only to that of Galileo's recognition of the spots on the sun and the moons of Jupiter.

65

66

A. J. Turner

Henceforward Herschel, musician by trade and of strictly local fame, an amateur in Bath of astronomy and natural philosophy, ranked among the most revered astronomers of Europe. the ignorance as to who he was, rivalled the fame which he acquired.

Perhaps only

As Bode wrote:

'In the Gazette Littiraire of June 1781, this worthy man is called Nesthel; in Hertschel; Julius' Journal Encycmique in a letter from Mr. Maskelyne to M. Messier, Herthel; in another letter of Maskelyne's to Herr Mayer at Mannheim, Herrschell; M. Darquier calls him Mermstel. What may his name be? He must have been born a German'? Inexorably in the succeeding years, as paper followed paper in the Philosophical Transactions! Herschel justified his sudden notoriety with elegant expositions of his patient, solid, and generally irrefutable researches.

Inevitably he was, and remained, a personage of interest for the

intellectual journalists of his day and a subject of curiosity for their readers. vitably this public required an image. journals of the period.

Equally ine-

Most of the engraved portraits listed below derive from

That they exist at all is evidence of the interest felt in Herschel and

each constitutes an element in his growing fame.

Popularization depends upon media, but media

themselves ultimately depend upon a limited number of sources adapting and decorating them as serves their turn.

The iconography of Herschel is no exception, and the sources of the many ex-

tant portraits are relatively few.

In the following survey the portraits are listed in chrono-

logical order as far ss this can be determined, each source portrait being followed by a list of those derived from it.

Details are given as follows:

artist and source, medium, dimensions

(height x width), general description and commentary.3 3. THE PORTRAITS Al

? c. 1760 or earlier Not known, probably oil on canvas, dimensions not known. Herschel as a young man shown seated at a table with his head turned towards the right. His left arm rests on the table indicating with the index finger something on a map or diagram.

In his right hand he holds a pair of dividers.

This portrait is known only from a photograph supplied to Herschel's English descendants by descendants of the German branch of the family at Hanover.

Its present location is

unknown. Bl

2. 1764 Painter not known, oval miniature, dimensions not known. This miniature is known only by a photograph of it taken at Greville's Studio, 113 High Street Slough, which remains in the possession of Herschel's English descendants.

The

photograph is identified by a note on a paper frame pasted to it, 'Miniature of William Herschel at about the age of 26, given by him to Caroline L. Herschel'.

Location not

known. Cl

El7831 Wedgwood, Josiah.

After John Flaxman the Younger, pale blue jasper medallion dipped

paler blue, diameter of major axis 121 mm. Profile bust to right, above Herschel's head are two arcs the inner one carrying a star.

Below the bust is the name 'HERSCHEL'.

and the dating of this piece pose difficulties.

Both the attribution of the design Reilly & Savage4 found no evidence

for the attribution to Flaxman and proposed a date after 1788 based on the omission of the model from the 1787 and 1788 Catalogues.

Caroline Herschel however categorically

stated that Flaxman's Wedgwood profile was done in 1782,5 although she admitted elsewhere' that she was often uncertain about dates.

Certainly a medallion existed

by Christmas 1784 since it is mentioned in a letter of that date by Sir William Watson.7 If Caroline's evidence be accepted for the attribution to Flaxman, and it is to this design that Watson refers, then an earlier date seems justifiable and must fall between 1782 and 1784.

That this supposition is correct appears to be

Portraits of William Herschel

67

confirmed by the date 1783 inscribed on later composite issues of the medallion and by the inscription 'from tne life 1783' written in ink on a copy of a later issue (C3) given to the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath in 1907 by Sir William J. Herschel which would otherwise be without meaning-S

This issue also confirms the attribution being signed

'Flaxman' on the lower edge of the bust. Location: C2

? c.

Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston q.

1784-88

Wedgwood after JohnF'laxman the Younger, pale blue dip jasper ware; 'WEDGWOOD';

inscribed below the bust 'HERSCHEL'

signed on the back

lllmm x 86mm.

Relief profile bust to right with the planets Saturn and Uranus shown top right on arcs of their orbits.

The portrait was cast from the same mould after Flaxman as was used

in 1782/3 but the arcs have been modified, those of the earlier issue carrying only a star. Location:

c3

C.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

1786-88

Wedgwood after John Flaxman the Younger, pale green or blue dip jasper ware, signed on the back 'WEDGWOOD';

inscribed on the return of the bust 'FLAXMAN', and below the

bust 'DR. W. HERSCHEL 1783':approx. size 134mm x 92nrm. As C2 but with the differences of inscriptions noted above.

The planetary arcs on

this issue have also been modified, the curve of the arc on this issue being more pronounced.

This change was perhaps made in order to remove Uranus from its un-

comfortably close proximity to Herschel's nose.

Since Herschel did not receive

a doctorate from any university until 1786, the date 1783 can only be that of the original issue. Locations:

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford (Green din) ;

Victoria Art

Gallery, Bath (Blue dipl.1°

c4

No date Wedgwood after John Flaxman the Younger, pale blue jasper ware, inscribed as number C3, approximate size 136mm x 97mm. A variant issue of C3 lacking any depiction of planets, stars or their courses. Private Collection.

c5

No date but probably early 20th century. Wedgwood after John Flaxman the Younger, pale blue jasper ware signed 'FLAXMAN' on the lower return of the bust.

Approximate size 235mm x 19Omm.

Relief profile bust to right cast from the Flaxman mould but now with a strap scroll beneath the bust carrying the name 'DR. W. HERSCHEL 1783', and surrounded by an oval

wreath made up of lilies of the valley and four rosettes."

Location:

C6

Royal Astronomical Society, London.

1785 Sewell, J. line engraving on paper, engraved area 152mm x 81mm. Oval profile bust to left in a medallion within a rectangular frame.

Below the

portrait, and surrounding the name HERSCHEL' in a tablet on a shelf contained within the frame, are emblematic ornaments.

To the left an octant behind a table telescope,

to the right a chart and a celestial globe.

Inscribed 'Published Feby.l, 1785, by

.I. Sewell Cornhill', it was used to illustrate a biographical article on Herschel in The European MagazinelZ.

The depiction of Herschel appears to be modelled on that by

Flaxman for the Wedgwood medallion although it is here reversed and there are some minor differences. Locations:

Reference Library, Bath; British Museum London, Dept. of Prints and DrawingsI Holden 5 & 9. Historisches Museum Hanover.

68

c7

A. J. Turner

No

date

As C6

but

Location: C8

176mm x 10511~s and without inscriptions except 'J Walker! Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine14.

No date Line and stipple engraving without signature, dimensions not known, half length to right, oval, marked 'Dr. W. Herschel'in italic.

Probably based on the first Flaxman/

Wedgwood issue as the two arcs 'above Herschel's head carry,only a star emblem. Location: c9

Historisches Museum Hanover.

No date Mme. Dupiery after Sewell, engraved by Tboenert.

Red-brown engraving on paper,

172mm x 1lOmm. Profile bust to left in a circular frame with Saturn and Uranus (Herschel) shown on arcs at top left.

Inscribed on a tablet below the portrait 'WILLIAM HERSCHEL

N6 a Hanovre en 1738 qui a decouvert la nouvelle planete le 13 Mars 1781. Dessine p. Mme Dupiery grave p. Thoenert'. Location:

Cl0

Holden 1.

Historisches Museum, Hanover.

No date After Mme Dupiery after Sewell.

Red-brown etching on paper, 153mm x 114mm

Closely similar portrait to that by Mme Dupiery but the medallion is oval not circular, the portrait longer (three buttons are shown not two) and there are differences in the treatment of the plaque carrying the legend. Location: Cl1

Centro Internazionale di Storia dello Spazio e de1 Tempo Brugine.

15

No date Line engraving on paper, 104mm x 63mm, half length to left within a four rule frame. Marked

!HERSCHELL%n hollow lettering.

A poor likeness. 16

Location: Dl

Centro intemazionale

di Storia della Spazio e de1 Tempo, Brugine.

1785 Abbott, Lemuel F. Oil on canvas, 743mm x 616 nrm. Half length to right.

Originally signed, in ink in the bottom left corner of the

back of the canvas 'L.F.Abbott Pinxt

1785' "

Painted at the instance of William Watson Jr (1744-?1825), who recommended the artist by whom a portrait of Watson's father had recently been completed. Watson wrote to Herschel,

'He[Abbott]',

'will I doubt not exert his very best, as he will be

sensible that he is painting for posterity as well as for the present time'18 . When the portrait was a+most completed Caroline saw it in Abbott's Great Russell Street studio remarking in a letter written fifty-five years later that 'it was reckoned to be an excellent likeness'.ly

On the death of Watson the portrait was sold with

his effects being purchased by a Bath dealer, Robert Walker who retained until his death in 1860 when it was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery, London. Location: D2

National Portrait Gallery, LondonZo

Holden 23.

1788 T. Ryder (engraver) after Abbott, stipple engraving on paper with etched letters (116mm x 97mm).

Oval, inscribed 'Published as the Act directs Feb.11. 1788 by S.

Watts No.28 Walcott Place, Lambeth' and 'Gulielmus Herschel LL.D. RSS Sidera cuncta notat tacito labentia coelo'.21 'From an Original Picture in the possession of Wm. Watson M.D. FRS.' Location:

Department of Prints & Drawing, British Museum, London. Museum of the History of Science Oxford, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

69

Portraits of William Herschel

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath.

D3

L'Observatoire de Paris.

Holden [17]

.

No date As D2 but 122mm x 101 mm, without date or place but with the reference to the Aeneid included at the end of the Latin verse. Location:

D4

Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine.Z3

1798 C. Westermayr, probably after Ryder after Abbott, copper plate, size of plate approx. 198mm x 1OOmm. Medallion showing Herschel's head and shoulders only, and reversed to left. Inscribed 'C. Westermayr fecit'.

'Dr. Fried. Wilh. Herschel. Gebohr zu Hanover

d: 12ton Nov 1738 Sidera cuncta notat tacito labientia coelo'.

Published by

F. van Zach in the Allegemeine Geographische Ephemeriden, I, 1798 facing p.137, Location:

D5

L'Observatoire de Paris.24

Holden [31

Higgs, after Abbott, enamel, 89mm x 57nm1. Miniature copy of Abbott's portrait commissioned by J.F.W. Herschel who on 15 August 1823 paidf8:O:o for the work, which information he recorded on the back.

D6

No date. Lady Caroline Gordon, 25 after Abbott, drawing, dimensions not known. This copy of Abbott is not known to survive but may be identical with the next entry.

D7

No date. Artist not known, after Abbott, crayon, dimensions not known. The location of this copy is not known, but it is reproduced as the frontispiece to Lubbock.26 Possibly it may be identified with the previous entry.

D8

1860, 7 February Sir George Scharf, after Abbott, pencil on paper, 126mm x 93mm signed 'G.S. Feby 7th 1860' Reference sketch of the Abbott portrait made by Scharf (1820-95) Secretary (from 1857) and Director (from 1882) of the Portrait Gallery, London, at Robert Walker's house, Bath, and included in the note books in which he made rapid sketches of all portraits that he saw. Location:

D9

National Portrait Gallery, London;

T.S.B.

III p.84

1860 Ford, Charles, after Abbott, water colour miniature on paper, 1431mn x 105mm. Location:

D10

Holburne of Menstrie Museum, Bath.27

1871 S. Hollidge, after Abbott, wood block. A poor likeness published in the Illustrated London News 1871.

The portrait together

with a short biography were published immediately after the death of Sir John Herschel, whose obituary and portrait appeared the following week.

That the death of John Herschel

was commemorated by an account of his father was caused by the fact that of John was not available when needed.

8

portrait

70

Dl 1

A. J. Turner

187516 5. Joseph Brown, after the drawing by Lady Gordon (D5- D6above), after Abbott, Stipple,

oval, diameter of major axis 4 in (103mm). Inscribed 'Sir Wm. Herschel BE. 1876'.

Hollow letter caps ... John Murray, Albemarle Street

Published in Mrs. John Herschel, 'Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline

Herschel, London, 1876 (second edition, 1879), facing page 118. Location:

National Portrait Gallery, London. Proof presented by John Murray (Publisher) December 1875.

D12

Holden [111.28

No date Muller, C. After Abbott, engraving on paper, engraved area: (2lOmm x 152mm). Location:

D13

Historisches Museum, Hanover.

Holden 1121

No date. Executor not

known, after Abbott, Photogravure, 241mm x 195mm.

Inscribed

'Photographische Gesellschaft in Berlin'. Location: D14

British Museum, London.

Department of Prints and Drawings.2g

Nineteenth century. Artist not known, after Abbott, oil on canvas,

a3amm x 63Smm.

A full size copy of Abbott's portrait which belonged to, and was presumably executed for, the Bath Literary and Philosophical Institution.

Since no portrait of

Herschel is recorded as belonging to the City of Bath, it was presumably to this copy that A.S. Herschel referred in some confused notes on a new year greetings card in 1900,30 in which he mentions a portrait hanging in Bath Town Hall (recte? the buildings of the Bath Literary 6 Scientific Institution).

It was this copy which was

used to decorate the Bath Room of the British Pavilion at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris.31 Location: El

The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath:

1785 Not known, silhouette, approximate height 65 mm.

Profile to left, inscribed on the back

with William Herschel's name, that of 'Dr. Lind' and the date, in a contemporary hand. This silhouette is probably one of those which Caroline noted were taken in 1785 when Abbott's portrait was completed and perhaps from it rather than from the life.

The

date of 1785 therefore tends to confirm those remarks in her letters where she discusses Abbott's portrait and it's accompanying silhouettes rather than those where she speaks of Bond's portrait and its silhouettes in 17S2.32 The inscription on the back may be interpreted as having been scribbled on to identify the sitter, Dr. Lind being the recipient.

The latter may probably be identified as Dr. James Lind (1736-1812) physician

to the Royal Household and who lived at Windsor.

He had considerable interests in

astronomy and in science generally and is highly likely to have been acquainted with Herschel at this time. Location: Fl

British Museum, London.

Department of Prints and Drawings.33

El7871 Chenu, Peter Francis,34bust, dimensions not known. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1788 (N0.654)~~ next to the bust by Lochde. No.Gl). Location not known.

(See below

Portraits of William Herschel

Portrait

Al

Portrait

Bl

71

Portrait

Cla

Portrait

Clb

Portraits of William Herschel

73

74

A. J. Turner

Portraits of William Herschel

76

A. J. Turner

Portraits of William Herschel

A. J. Turner

Portraits of William Herschel

79

80

A. J. Turner

Portraits of William Herschel

Portrait

03

81

82

A. J. Turner

Portrait

Tl

Portraits of William Herschel

Gl

1787 Loch&,

John

The bust at Windsor the

and the

mask

both

Bath.3g

library

the

same the

in

powered

‘and

Holden

Location

J.C.

The cast 1841

made

it

was

ting.43

which

was

the

my poor with

see

both

the

Pulteney

from

the

retained

was

a description

of

Gips

The Head in

the

nose

seen

in

taken the

at taking

[i.e.Gypsum] leaning

to

Mask depends

In

mask in

to be

of

at bust

Society.3B

still

Brother.

the

was working

exhibited

Royal

cast

a Mass

2 straws of

was

92 Great

was

Herschel

to

It

at

a copy

added

withdrawing

the

on the

prevent

on a single

face.42

known.

at

auction

(2.

for

bust

commissioned

bust,

house

perhaps it

in

in

by Watson

Bath

in

(Gl

and passed

exchange

remained

for

the

to

Loche’e’s

above)

John bust

possession

of

which

Herschel of

he

retained.

In

the

following

year

at

Caroline’s

Watson,

Herschel’s

descendents

promp-

until

sold

1958.44

The National

Portrait

Gallery,

London.45

1787-B)

Wedgwood Profile

after bust

LochBe, to

The alteration out

the

it,

in

826 mm.

cast

for

Thereafter

Location:

the

green

left, in

dip

above

the

arcs

of

the

inaccuracy

Location:

Wedgwood

jasper

Herschel’s was

the

head result

depiction

Museum,

ware.,

diameter are

of

on the

arcs

of

a letter

original

of

major

the

from issue

orbits Watson

of

102mm.

axis of

Saturn

and Uranus.

to Wedgwood

pointing

1782/3.46

Barlaston.47

1787 silhouette,

Not known, Taken his

by a young

bust

of

Watson, where

dimensions

(but

unnamed)

of

hung not

which

not

hung

in her

at

drawing

known.

artist

Two copies

Herschel.

one it

Location

Jl

of

to

and this

Caroline it

face

the

to

plaster

in Watson’s

who requested

11

not

Watson

I believe

afterwards

destruction

of

it

had

men,“O

when Lochee

who retained

Lady Watson

Saxe-Weimar

learned

business

45,

Watson,

of

Jr.

Family.

to bequeath

account

on the of

Caroline

Watson Royal

1787 LochBe,

Hl

later

an angle

is

of of

of

the

possession

a bust

piece

I heard

it

[211.

for

by handfuls

(and else

A mask a slightly

at

to

Herzog

Gallery

an awful

a Chair,

suffocation,

G3

In

[poured]

of

Movement,

G2

1842.

the

William of

intended

the

his

Sir

members

cast, in

1814-15

time.41

cast,

was

still

for

from

various According

it

were

In

of

1788.37

possession

his

back

in

from which

however,

Street,

838 mm.

on a commission

on busts

Academy

Watson’s

of

bust,

executed

Castle

Royal

1841

C.,36

was

who accompanied

of

Slough,

the

silhouette

the

other

Lochee were

being

when he

given

taken

to

by

took

the

the

mask

Herschel’s

Caroline

for

by

to Hanover,

room.48

known.

1788 Coffin,

Edmond.,

Academy

in

?c.

Half

Location

oil

Mather. length,

Mather

Brown

compatriot

experienced

JP’fA 32:1-?

or wax profile,

dimensions not

not

known.

Exhibited

at

the

Royal

not

known.50

known.

1790.

Brown,

his

bust

1788.“’

full

on canvas, face

(1761-1831) Benjamin immediate

to

61Omm x 508..

left,

torso

arrived

in

West. success.

turned London

He first

slightly from

exhibited

Boston at

to

right.

via the

Paris

Royal

Location in

1781

Academy

in

and worked 1782

and

with

A. J. Turner

84

Kl

1794 Russell, John.

Pastel, 61Omm x 46Omm.

Signed 'J. Russell RA Pt 1794'.

Half length to left, Herschel aged 56, is shown wearing a furred gown and holding a sketch marked 'The Georgian Planet [Uranus] with its Satellites'. John Russell (1745-1806) was a highly popular portrait artist whc specialised in pastels. He had strong interests in science, particularly in astronomy and produced portraits of In addition he spent nearly twenty years in

many of the leading scientists of the day.

He was apparently on friendly terms with

producing detailed maps and globes of the moon.

Herschel who lent him a 7' reflecting telescope of his own design for his work on the moon.51 Location: K2

in a private collection.

1833-37 Striven, E. after Russell, stipple, approximative size 121mm x 98mm;

rectangular, in-

scribed in hollow letter caps, 'Sir W. Herschel, From a crayon Picture by the late J. Russell, EsqreR.A. in the possession of Sir John Herschel'. of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge'.

Under the Superintendance

Published by Charles Knight,

Ludgate Street, London'5z. The same plate was also issued with the imprint 'Wm. S. Orr & Co. London'. Locations:

Reference Library, Bath.

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. Whipple Museum of the History

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. of Science, Cambridge53.

National Portrait Gallery, London (Orr variant)

Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine54 Holden K3

8.

No date Striven after Russell, stipple 13Omm x 102mm, rectangular, inscription as for K2. This version of Striven's engraving is identical with K2 except that it is slightly larger.

A variant issued by William Mackenzie, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and New York,

lacks all the inscription after 'Sir John Herscheli!. Locations:

The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings.55 History of Science, Oxford.

The Museum of the

The Whipple Museum of the HistoryofScience,

Cambridge. K4

1846 Janssen, [?C.A.] after Russell, no details known. A copy made at Collingwood when Janssen painted Sir John Herschel's portrait from the life for the Pulkova Observatory, Russia.56

K5

?Early to Mid-nineteenth

century.

Location not known.

Not known, after Russell, miniature copy in oil.

254mm x 222 mm. Location: K6

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.57

2. 185314 J.B. Dancer after Russell, microphotograph of a version of the Russell portrait mounted on a microscope slide. 82 J.B.D.'.

Width 0.05 in.

Inscribed 'Sir W. Herschel born 1728, Astronomer

and with the label of the vendor J. Warner Optician 72 Fleet St'.

No 82 of the series of 512 microphotographs made commercially by the Manchester optician John Benjamin Dancer (d 1887) who was apparently the originator of the technique.58 Location:

in a private collection.5g

85

Portraits of William Herschel

K7

~,1880

Not known, after Russell, chromolithograph

131mm x 81mm.

Frontispiece to The Story of the Herschells:

A Family of Astronomers, London (Thomas

Nelson & Sons), 1881, an anonymous, hagiographic work of no value. The portrait has been redrawn, thus losing all facial expression.

Beneath the frame on

a scroll of paper laying open over two books and a small, hand-held refracting telescope is marked 'Sir John Herschel'.

Ka

No date C. Brand after Russell, lithograph, approx. 255mm x 183mm, rectangular without frame. Inscribed 'Cacilio Brand geh.'

'Steindr. v A. Kneisel'.

'W. Herschel, nach einer

Bleistift Zeichnung von 3. Russell Esqr., in Besitz des Sir John Herschel.' A relatively faithful version of Russell's portrait reversed so that it faces right and with the inscription faultily transcribed as 'The ? Cicoan [sic] Satellites'.

Planet whit [sic1 --

its

Location:

l'observatoire de Paris.60

Holden [4] K9

No date H. Pinhas after Russell, copper plate, approx. 243mm x 166 mm, rectangular with ,double Inscribed 'H. Pinhas SC'

rule frame. Location:

Holden [13] KlO

'TEPUEhb Herschel'.

l'observatoire de Paris.61

.

No date H. Pinhas after Russell, steel engraving, approx.

248~~ x 178mm.

Inscribed H. Pinhas SC' and (cursive script) 'Herschel'. Location: Ll

Historisches Museum, Hanover.

1798 Burney, Edward F. No details known. A portrait of Herschel by Burney is mentioned by Fanny Burney in a letter to Dr. Charles Burney dated from West Humble, 18 December 1798.62

Ml

John Keenan, enamel miniature, no other details known.

Exhibited at the Royal Academy

(Catalogue no.721).63 Location not known. Nl

1814 Fr. Rehbert, Stipple, 294mm x 22Omm. Half length to right against a background of trees at night with a crescent moon, and stars (part of the constellation Gemini) in the sky. viv Windsor 1814'.

'James Godby Sculpt'.

Inscribed 'Ft. Rehberg, del. ad

'Dr. HERSCHEL (hollow letters) Member of the

Royal Society of London, Imp. Academies of St. Petersburg and Vienna, National Institut at Paris, Royal Academies of Berlin, Stockholm, Cc &c. November 1738.

Born at Hanover, the 15th

The background represents part of the Constellation of Gemini with a

telescopic aspect of the Georgium Sidus as it was discovered by Dr. Herschel at Bath, the 13th of March 1781, in consequence of which he was soon after introduced to the most ble . SIR gracious patronage of His Majesty King George III. Dedicated to the Rt. Hon JOSEPH BANKS, Bart. Presdt. of the Royal Society, by his very respectful and obedient servant, Frederick Rehburg, Member of the Royal Academy of the Fine Arts Berlin &c 6~. London. Publd. Nov.l,1814 by Mr. Rehburg, 30 St. James Street 6 Colnaghi & Co. Cockspur Street'.

86

A. J. Turner

Caroline Herschel thought little of this portrait describing it as 'Reberg's bad copy'. A miniature from it was, she says, used to illustrate an unnamed biography of Herschel. 64 Possibly this may be the version without background, no. N4 below. Location: British Museum, London. N2

Department of Prints and Drawings. (proofl65

1814 Godby, J. after Rehburg, stipple, 242mm x 197mm. Location: The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich,

Wellcome Institute of the History

of Medicine.66 Probably Holden 1191 N3

.

la22 J. Boilly after Rehburg, lithograph approximately 346mm x 255 mm. Inscribed 'Rehburg ad viv de1 Windsor'

'SC Boilly'

des Sciences Herschel (William) AssociE Qtranger.

'Institut Royal de France Acadre Ne B Hanovre le 15 Novembre 1738,

mort le 25 Aoflt 1822'. Head and shoulders only without backgorund. Location:

1'0bservatoire de Paris6' Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine .68 Centro Internazionale di Storia dello Spa&o e de1 Tempo.6g Holden [181 . N4

1823 Not known, after Rehburg, stipple engraved area 72mm x 57mm Half length to right, exactly as Rehburg's original but without the background and reduced in a rectangular frame with a lion masque in each corner. Published in George Smeeton, The Unique, ff 46-47, London, 1823. Location: British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings.70

N5

1823 Thomson, J. after Rehburg, stipple, 19Omm x 118mm. Lacks all the background of trees and stars;

inscribed 'Published by Henry Fisher, Caxton

Hall, London, July 1 1823. Locations:

British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings.71 Municipal Reference Library, Bath (2 copies).

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.

National Portrait Gallery, London.

Wellcome Institute of the History of

Medicine.72 N6

No date. Tassie, William, after Rehburg, medallion in white enamel paste on a ground glass ground tinted by a back paper.

Height approx 2 ins. (51 mm), signed 'W. Tassie F' and bearing

in relief on field to left of the shoulder the Herschel sign of an 'H' with globe suspended from the cross bar (this is also the symbol for Uranus and was used as on Herschel family symbol) above are seven stars.

William Tassie (1777-1860) succeeded to the gem-

engraving and modelling business of his uncle James Tassie (1735-1799) who had developed his enamel paste for making imitation gems and casting medallions in Dublin in association with Dr. Quinn whose pupil he was.

It is of some interest that the jewel-like reflective

properties of the substance led Herschel to attempt to cast a mirror in the substance.73 Location not known.74 N7

No date Fr. Muller, after Rehburg, approx. 25Omm x 163mm. plate mark. Plain background. Location: Holden

Observatoire de Paris.

[161 ?

Cropped in vertical height below the

Inscribed 'Gemhhlt von Fr. Rehburg Gestochen von Fr. Muller' Historisches Museum, Hanover.

87

Portraits of WilliamHerschel

N8

F.W. Boettinger after Rehburg, lithograph, 105mm x 84mm. Boettinger SC.'

'Wilhelm Herschel'

Inscribed 'F. Rehburg del. F.W.

'In Verlag von Ernst Fleischer in Leipzig'.

Background of trees and stars. Location:

Historisches

Museum,

Hanover.

Holden [21 N9

No date J.W. Bollinger after Rehburg, stipple, 188mm x 125mm, octagonal half length to right before sky.

Inscribed 'Schumann Zwickau'.

Location: NlO

Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine.75

No date After Rehburg, line, 155mm x 105mm.

Half length to right enclosed in an oval medallion with

'Dr Herschel' marked in a curve to right. Location: Nl 1

Centro Internazionale della Storia dello Spazion e de1 Tempo, Brugine.76

2.1860 Gilbert, J., Skill, J.F. & Walker E. & W.: pencil and wash, 50%in x 25fin (1283mm x 647mm). An imaginary group portrait entltled 'The Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain living in 1807-08;

Assembled in the Library of the Royal Institution'.

The picture does not represent a meeting of, or in the Royal Institution, but is an arti; ficial, composed, 'Historical engraving'. and is clearly modelled on Rehberg.

Herschel is seen seated at the extreme left,

Sir John Gilbert was responsible for the composition,

the figures were drawn by John Skill, and the group was completed by Elizabeth and William Walker. Location: N12

The National Portrait Gallery, London.77

1862 Walker, W. & Zobel, G. after Gilbert, Skill, Walker 6 Walker, mezeotint, 20kin x 4l%in (514mm x 1054nml). An engraved version ofNllwhich

wa8 published by W. Walker h Sons, 64 Margaret Street,

Cavendish Square, W. Location: The National Portrait Gallery, London.7*

The British Museum, London.

Science Museum Library, London. 01

1819 Artaud, William (fi Half length to left.

1776-1822), oil on canvas,

762mm x 635mm.

Herschel at the age of 81 is shown in a plain jacket wearing the

ribbon of the Royal Guelphic Order.

The painting was commissioned by J.F.W. Herschel

through LIertie Greatheed of Guye's Cliffe, Warwickshire, a close and long standing friend of William Herschel, and who had himself recently been painted by Artaud. of 19 November 1818.7g

In a letter

Greatheed reports that Artaud will undertake the portrait

I...

with

great pleasure, and go down to Slough for the purpose.

His terms are 15 guineas for a

head... 30 for a half length, & 60 for a full length'.

He was not however free to begin

until Christmas.

In the event the portrait was begun sooner, Herschel sitting to Artaud

in London on 16 December, and another visit was noted on 21 June 1819." Caroline saw the portrait then presumably finished.

On 12 August

According to notes made later by

J.F.W. Herschel's daughter Isabella, the portrait had the Herschel symbol

1

in the

top left corner (it is not now visible), and was retouched, varnished and cleaned at Oxford in 1906 by Miss M.A. Smith.81 Location:

In a private collection.

88

02

A. J. Turner

1819 or 1820 ? Studio of William Artaud, oil on canvas, 762mm x 635mm. ordered for herself by Caroline Herschel.

An exact replica of number 01,

In a letter to Mrs. John Herschel she explained

'seeing my Brother's Portrait at Mr. Artaut's when finished and finding I could have a copy of the same for 16 guineas (a great sum for one

to

spare)

-

but I did spare it - For,

it was to be my companion in Hanover - the only spot on earth where I hoped to find comfort in the family of my jungest [sic] brother - . . . I sent my portrait... But when I came the Portrait was in a room where I had no access, and after poor Dietrich's death, Madam Herschel says she was charged not to let it go out of her hands. this letterB2

By the time of

however, the portrait had passed into the possession of Dr. Groskopf from

whom Caroline borrowed it in 1835 and had twenty-five lithographic copies made.831n an earlier letter Caroline remarked that her portrait 'hangs in Mrs. H's drawing room where a set of old women play cards under it on her Club day and I can get to look at it but by favour'.84

In July 1883 it was still in the possession of Frau Grosskopf being seen by

Rose and Francesca Herschel. 86

At a later undetermined date the portrait returned to the

possession of the Herschel family in England being presented to the Royal Astronomical Society by the Rev. J.C.W. Herschel Bt. in November 1938. Location: 03

The Royal Astronomical Society, London.

1820 William Artaud, oil on canvas, (762mm x 635mm). signed 'W. Artaud pinxit 1820'. An exact replica of 01 commissioned by Bertie Greatheed and hung at Guye's Cliffe near 86 Leamington where in 1893 it was reported as being in the library although by then the house had passed by descent to Lord Algemon Cliff in 1933

87

Percy.

The painting was still at Guye's

but on 18 March 1947 it was offered for sale at Christie's (lot 158),

being then in the possession of Cyril Andrade an antiques dealer of Henley-on-Thames. Bought in for five guineas at Christies, the portrait once more disappeared from view until purchased from a now unknown source by Mr. Jack King, of Wantage.

The portrait was then

sold to Colin Franklin, Culham whence it passed to Messrs. Zeitlin 6 ver Brugge, Los Angeles antiquarian booksellers by whom it was sold to the National Maritime Museum in 1979. Location: 04

The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

1835 [J. Gie\re] B8.

After Artaud, Lithograph. (508mm x 375mm).

Twenty five lithographs were prepared to Caroline's order of Artaud's portrait and the copies given away.

Among the recipients were Jacob Struve (1755-1841);

Schumacher (1780-1850); (17>8-1840);

John Herschel (1792-1871);

Cambridge (1774-1850); Location: 05

Chas. Frederich Gauss (1777-1855);

Heinrich Christoph

Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers

Johan Franz Encke (1791-1865);

The Duke of

Mary Somerville (1780-1872) 5 copies.s'

Historisches Museum, Hanover.

1900 Photograph of the Lithograph by J.

Giiere (N4) of the portrait by Artaud used to illustrate

a New Year Greetings card sent from A.S. Herschel to Mlle D. Klumpke 1 January 1901 107mm x 78s~~. Dorothy Klumpke,

an

American employed at the Paris Observatory where she concentrated on

nebulae, was also a noteable suffragette and pioneer of women's liberation and emancipation She later married Isaac Roberts, noted for his work in the field of celestial photography. Location:

Observatoire de Paris, donation de

Mmme

Isaac Robert.

89

Portraits of William Herschel

06

c. 1900 The Autotype Company, after Artaud 165mm x 113mm.

One of a number of autotype copies

of 01 prepared to the order of Sir Nevile and Lady Lubbock. Presented by them to the Astronomer Royal, W. Christie 5 July 1900, official acknowledgement, 9 August 1900.go Location: 07

Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux, Sussex.

1913 F. Leist after Artaud, oil on canvas,

762mm x 55Ymm.

Copy of number Nl signed on the

back 'COPY BY FRED LEIST 237 KINGS RD. CHELSEA 1913'. Presented by the Royal Astronomical Society to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 13 June lY39.91 Location:

Pl

Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux, Sussex.

1828 Grievedon, H.

no details known.

Half length to left.

Location not known. P2

Not known. Motte, C. after

H. Grievedon, lithograph approx. 13318 in x 103/8 in (335mm x 275mm),

inscribed 'H. Grievedon 1828', 'Litho C. Motte

’ WT. HGRSCHEL'.

Half length to left. Location:

National Portrait Gallery, London.

Holden [15] Ql

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.

.

Not known. Painting by an unknown artist on a black laquer snuff box, diameter 3% ins. (95mm). Location not kncwn.g2

Kl

Not known. Seal, head and shoulders profile to left, possibly based on the Flaxman/Wedgwood series, but an extremely poor likeness.

Dimensions not known.

Reproduced on the title page of John Browning, A Plea for Reflectors being a description of the new astronomical Telescopes with silvered glass specula and instructions for adjusting them, 6th edition, London, 1876, where it is said to have belonged to R.W.S. Lutwidge, F.R.A.S. Sl

Pre-1848 'By a Lady', no details known. This portrait was mentioned by Caroline Herschel as belonged to General Komarzwsky, and was according to her 'a perfect likeness'.g3

Tl

No other details are known.

1880-81 Coutel, A.G.M. oil on wood.

Three quarter length to right.

Herschel is

shown elegantly and warmly dressed in the corner of a window through which can be seen the night sky and the outlines of the forty feet telescope.

In his right hand he holds a pair

of dividers, while his left rests on a celestial globe indicating with his middle finger the word.Uranus.

A poor likeness which was painted after such engravings of Herschel as

were then available in the Paris Observatory.g4

The portrait is one of a series of pain?,

tings of eminent astronomers painted by various artists for the Paris Observatory Museum. The other astronomers depicted were Arago, Bradley, Cassini, Copernicus, Delambre, Galileo, Huygens, Kepler, Lalande, Laplace, Mechin, Newton, Picard, Tycho Brahe.g5 Location:

l'observatoire de Paris, East Tower.

A. J. Turner

Ul

1897 i?cor

El N.G. Bronze medal, diameter 3in (76 mm).

Obverse. Profile portrait of Herschel to right perhaps based on the Wedgwood portrait medallions (see Cl-C5 & N3 above).

'WILLIAM HERSCHEL' is marked around the portrait in Bans serrif

letters (as are all the other inscriptions), with below MDCCXXVIII. MDCCCXXII'. &ersf ema e figure (?Urania) holding an armillary sphere in her left hand stands on an earth against a background of stars, Saturn, and a lunar crescent. Inscribed around 'ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL.SOCIETY.JACKSON-GWILT

GIFT [CorEI N.C. MDCCCXCVII'.

A series of these medals were produced for presentation, the name of the recipient with the year of presentation being marked on the edge. Location: Private collection. Vl

1980/81 Judith Craig, bronze bust, dimensions not revealed. The bust, which is based on the Flaxman/Wedgwood sculptor.

image, was made by Mme Tussaud's staff

It was unveiled by Miss Caroline Herschel, great- great- grand daughter of the

subject on 21 April 1981. Location: Wl

The London Planetarium.g6

No date. A. Diethe, coloured Ilthograph, 148mm x 103mm. Whole length to right showing Herschel working at a table with his wife offering a drink from the right. Location:

In the background are bookshelves and working objects.

The Wellcome Institute of the History of Medxcine.g7

4~ NOTES 1

Berliner Jahrbuch, 1784, p.211.

Quoted from Edward S. Holden, Sir William Herschel: His

Life and Works, London, 1881, p.55. 2

Herschel's contributions to the Philosophical Transactions are conveniently assembled by J.L.E. Dreyer ted), The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel, Collected and edited under the Direction of a joint Conrmittee of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society, with a Biographical Introduction, 2 vols, London, 1912.

3

A short list of published portraits was compiled by Hnlden (op tit, pp.232-3), and was also included in Edward S. Holden & Charles S. Hastings,

'A Synopsis of the Scientific

Writings of Sir William Herschel', Annual Keport of the Smithsonian Institution for 1880, Washington D.C., 1881 pp.509-622, p.519.

Reference will be made to this list where

appropriate at the end of each entry in the present survey.

General biographical notes

on artists have usually been omitted since most of the artists concerned are represented in the standard biographical dictionaries of E. Benezeit, Dictionaire Critique et Documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs Dessinateurs et Graveurs..., 10 ~01s. Paris, 1976; Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, new edition ed. G.C. Williamson, 5 vols, London, 1925;

or Ulrich Thieme 6 Felix Becker, Allgemeine Lexicon der Bildenden Kunstler

van dor Antike bis zur Gegenwort, 37 ~01s. Leipzig 1910-50. 4

Robin Reilly 6 George Savage, Wedgwood the Portrait Medallions, London, 1973 p.191.

In a

letter to John Herschel, 1 September 1840. 5 6

British Library, Egerton MS 3761 f 67.r. Ibid. f 71~.

Eliza Meteyard, The Wedgwood Handbook, London, 1875 p.190 states that Flaxman

modelled Herschel and Dr. Buchan in 1781.

Portraits of William Herschel

Constance Lubbock, The Herschel Chronicle:

91

the Life-story of William Herschel and his

Sister Caroline Herschel, Cambridge, 1933, p.182. See below numbers C2-C4. Reproduced in Reilly & Savage, op tit, (n.4), 191, and in Robin Reilly, Wedgwood Portrait Medallions, an Introduction, London, 1973, No.54.

No information is available in the

Wedgwood archives on the quantities of Herschel medallions produced in either green or blue, nor on their cost or manner of distribution.

In the Oven Book for 1785 however

there are entries showing that '14 blue & white heads' were fired on the 5 and 12 March, and '12 Green heads' on 19 and 26 March. medallions.

These are the only entries extant for Herschel

Since these twenty six medallions produced in 1785 were probably identical

with those of 1783, perhaps produced to a special order, they are not separately listed. This example was presented by Sir William J. Herschel in 1907, and is inscribed on the back in ink, 'From the life',

I am indebted to Mrs. L. Miller, Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston for information about the date when this border was used. The European Magazine and London Review Containing the Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manners 6 Amusements of the Age, by the Philological Society of London, vii, 1785, l-3 Portraits and views from the European Magazine were also sold in lots made up to the customer's order by Lupton Reefe, 13 Cornhill, or John Letts jr. 32, Cornhill.

These lots

were made up from 'the overpluss' impressions of upwards of nine hundred and fifty plates'. The prices were: 600, f2.105;

100, 10s;

50, 6s;

25, 3shd.

13

Freeman O'Donaghue, Catalogue of British Engraved Portraits..., 5 vols, London, 1908-22,

14

Renate Burgess, Portraits of Doctors and Scientists in the Wellcome Institute of the History

15

Reproduced in Bolletino de1 Centro Internazionale A Beltrama di Storia dello Spazio e de1

ii, 516 no.6.

of Medicine, a Catalogue, London, 1973, no.1379.1.

m,

2, 1984, p.179.

16

Ibid., p.180.

17

Note by Sir George Scharf to his pencil sketch of the portrait D8 besow.

18

Lubbock, p.182.

19

B.M. Egerton MS 3762 f 62v. Caroline is clearly confused in her memories since in this letter she hisdates the portrait and ascribes it to Bond. 102v) she ascribes it to Abbott.

In a later letter however (f

Unfortunately in a further account of these matters which

remains in the possession of her family, Caroline ascribes a portrait to Bond 'A young Artist who died soon after'... in 1782-3, saying that she had seen it when nearly finished and that it was 'reckoned to be an excellent likeness'.

From this portrait by Bond she

says that silhouettes were made at the order of Sir William Watson, some of which he gave to the Herschels to give to their friends. in the bedroom at Slough.' this remark.

'There used to be one framed over the chimney

In the absence of further evidence it is difficult to interpret

There seem to be three possibilities.

First that a young artist called Bond,

otherwise unknown because of his early death, accompanied Abbott being perhaps a pupil of his.

Second, Caroline's remark about an early death is to be ignored, in which case Bond

may perhaps be identified with William Bond portraitjst and engraver who later became president of the newly formed Society of Engravers in 1803, and exhibited up to 1836.

Since

he.engraved a portrait of Abbott (Thiema-Becker, ii, 278), there was clearly some contact between them.

Third, Caroline has conf~lsed Bond with Mather Brown who painted Herschel

soon after (see below number Jl) and who was indeed fairly young at this time. however.die uiltil 1831.

He did not

At present only the possible existence of a portrait by Bond can

be noted here, and the definite existence of some silhouettes (see below number El).

92

20

A. J. Turner

Maureen Hill, National Portrait Gallery, Concise Catalogue, London, 1970, p.124.

For a

remarkable ghost story concerning the portrait and a detailed description see R.J.B. Walker, Regency Portraits 1790,1830, London, 1984.

See also A.J. Turner, Science and Music in

Eighteenth Century Bath, Bath, 1977, ~.114 and plate on p.70. duced in W.D. Hackman, Apples to Atoms:

The portrait is also repro-

Portraits of Scientists from Newton to Rutherford,

London, 1986, pp 29-31. 21

Virgil, Aeneid, III: 515.

'He observed all the stars gliding through the silent sky'. The

reference is to Palinurus, the helmsman of the Trojans, watching the weather and stars to determine when the Trojans could set sail. 22

O'Donaghue, ii. 516. No.5. who however gives the artist as Paul Sandby without explanation.

23

Burgess, 1379.3

24

Observatoire de Paris, Exposition Le Verrier et son Temos: Catalogue, Paris, 1946, No.81,

25

Eldest daughter of Sir John Herschel.

p.12. She was married to General Sir Alexander Gordon.

and was a lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria 1855-91.

A photograph of her with her

father is preserved in the Paris Observatory. 26 27

Note 7 above. Reproduced and discussed in Daphne Foskett, 'Miniaturists and Silhouettists in Bath', Apollo, XCVII (no.141, November) 1973, pp.59-64.

For Ford (1801-1870) see Ibid A

Dictionary of British Miniature Painters (2 vols.), London, 1972, i, 275. 28

Reproduced in Holden z.cit -

29

O'Donaghue, vi, 217 No.8.

30

Now preserved in the Paris Observatory.

31

Isidore Spielman, The Royal Pavilion (Royal Commission: Paris International Exhibition,

as frontispiece.

1900), London, 1900, pp 45-6, 48, where however the portrait is inaccurately ascribed to Prince Hoare.

A process block of the illustration having entered the collection of the

Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum, it was duly catalogued by O'Donaghue vi, 217, No.9, following Spielman's attribution to Hoare.

This however is a ghost and

should be deleted. 32

See note 19 above.

33

O'Donaghue iv, 516, No.7.

34

1760 - post 1833.

For his life see Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-

1851, London, (1951) p.100. 35

Algernon Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts, a complete Dictionary of Contributors -_ and their Work from its formation in 1769 to 1904, 8 ~01s. London, 1905-6 (reprinted edition

36

For his life see Terence Hodgkinson,

in 4 vols. Bath & Wakefield 1970), ii, 52.

Museum Year Book, 1969 pp 152-160.

'John Loch6 Portrait Sculptor'.

Victoria & Albert

Caroline writing in 1840 gives his address as 13

Poland Street, St. James [sic] . Since the medium of the bust exhibited at the Royal Academy is not specified it is possible that it was the plaster cast G2. If so then these two entries should be conflated. 37

Gunnis p.241;

38

Caroline Herschel to John Herschel, 1 September 1840.

39

Letter from Miss Jay to Lady Herschel, July 1841 in a private collection.

40

B.M. Egerton Ms 3762 f 62~.

Graves, iii, p.79, No.653. British Library Egerton ms 3762 f62v

Presumably this was Charles Augustus (1758-1828) a noted

patron of arts and letters. Nothing is now known of the location of this bust which has apparently not remained at Weimar. 41

Lbid

42

Caroline Herschel to Margaret Herschel 5 May 1842. B.M. Egerton ms 3762 ff lOOr-101r.

43

z,

2 June 1842. The letter includes the puzzling remark 'but I never knew any other

but the white and the mask....'

Portraits

44

of William Herschel

93

Sotheby 6 Co., Catalogue of Valuable Printed Books, Autograph Letters, Historical Documents, etc... and the Library, Papers and Scientific Apparatus of Sir William, Caroline, & Sir John Herschel..., March 3-4, London, 1958, lot 466, p.79.

45

Hill, op cit. p.124.

46

Watson to Wedgwood, RAS MS Letters W.

47

Reilly A Savage, op.cit. p.192;

48

B.M. Egerton Ms. 3762 f6Zr and floor.

Reilly, op cit., No.53. Given that Caroline was writing so long after the

event, it is not impossible that she has confused this silhouette with that of 1785:

Two

silhouettes however are not unlikely. 49

Graves i, 95, No.630.

50

Zeitlin 6 Ver Brugge, Catalogue 203, Los Angeles, April, 1963 pp.20-21.

51

For Coffin see Gunnis, p.110.

For Russell's career see G.C. Williamson, John Russell R.A., London. 1894.

For his lunar

mapping, W.F. Ryan, 'John Russell R.A. and early Lunar Mapping', The Smithsonian Journal of History, I, 1966 pp.27-48.

For Herschel's loan of a telescope to Russell Royal

Astronomical Society Mss Herschel Corr. Russell to Herschel 12 April 1799. 52

The plate was prepared forandpublished

in Knight's The Gallery of Portraits with Memoirs.

17 vols.), London, 1833-37, v.105-10. 53

This is a proof copy, the plate mark measuring 293nrm x 202rmn.

54

Burgess 1379.4

>5

O'Donoghue, ii. 576, No.4.

56

Note in the hand either of Mrs. John Herschel or Constance Lubbock attached to the back of Russell's portrait of Herschel.

Jannssen is probably Christian Albrecht Jensen (1792-1870)

the Danish portrait painter whose portrait of Sir John Herschel cc.18431 is now in the Royal Society, London (Gillian Hammill, 'The Society's Portraits and Busts', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 24, 1969, p.161, and information from R.J.B. Walker).

Other possibilities are Karl Emanuel Janssen Cs.1&46-74),

a Swedish painter who

worked in Dusseldorf for part of his life, or the portrait painter Fritz Janssen of 57, Bedford Gardens, Campden Hill. London. He however is not known to have exhibited before 1883.

See J. Johnson & A. Greutzer, The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940, Wood-

bridge, 1976, p.274. 57

Reproduced in A.J. Turner. 'Sectron 34 Herschel Collection', An Inventory of the Navigation and Astronomy Collections in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, (3 ~01s.). Greenwich nd [19731.

58

See L.L. Ardern, John Benjamin Dancer Instrument Maker, Optician and the Originator of Microphotography, Western Group.

(Library Association.

Reference, special and information section North

Occasional Papers 2), London, 1960, who gives a list of extant micro-

photographs by Dancer. 59

Offered for sale by Tesseract, and listed in their Early 19, Winter 1987-88, Hastings-on-Hudson,

Scientific --

Instruments. Catalogue

1987, No.8.

60

Exposition Le Verrier No.84 p.12.

61

g,

62

Joyce Hemlow, The Journals and Letters of Fanney Burney (Madame D'Arblay), iv, Oxfora,1973,

No.82 p.12.

p.222. 63 64

Graves, ii. 306. Caroline Herschel to J.F. W. Herschel, 23 April, 1835, B.M. Egerton Ms. 3762 F8r. Presumably by 'copy' Caroline means likeness since Rehbern's nicture was taken from life.

65

O'Donoghue, Op tit, iii, 516 No.1.

No details of the publication of the print by Colnaghi

are available, all records of publishing at Cockspur street having been dispersed. Information from Miss Griselda Grimond, P & D Colnaghi 6 Co. Ltd. 66

Burgess 1379.5

67

Exposition Le Verrier, No.83 p.12.

94

A. J. Turner

68

Burgess 1379.7

69

Bolletino... p.180

70

O'Donoghue, op tit ii, 516, No.3.

Smeeton's The Unique was an unpaginated assemblage of

miscellaneous portraits of famous men with short biographies added,

They are arranged

in no particular order, this being considered a virtue by the publisher.

The portrait

of Herschel also appears in volume 2 of the enlarged second edition (1824), but is omitted from the third (Philadelphia) edition of 1830. 71

Ibid No.2. The copy is trimmed at the bottom and lacks the publisher's name.

72

Burgess 1379.6.

73

For further details see A.J. Turner, Science and Music in Eighteenth Century Bath, Bath, A mirror cast in Tassie's compound is preserved in the Science Museum,

1977, No.81 p.128. London. 74

Listed in John M. Gray, James and William Tassie, a Biographical and Critical Sketch with a Catalogue of the portrait Medallions of modem p.116.

Personages, Edinburgh, 1874, No.189,

In 1894 the medallion was in the possession of Mrs. Shadford Walker, and was

reproduced as frontispiece to the Transactions of the Optical being then in the possession of Professor F.J. Cheshire.

Society, xxvi, 4, 1924/5,

A plaster copy 54mm is in the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, No.511. 75

Burgess, 1379. 9

76

Bolletino... p.180.

77

Hill, 1075.

For a detailed study of the work eee Archibald Glow,

William Walker's"Distinguished 78

Men of Science"',

'A Re-examination of

Annals of Science, 11, 1956, pp.183-93.

Hill 1075a.

79

Royal Society Ms. H.S. 9. 123.

80

Mrs. John Herschel, Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel, London, 1876 pp 129-30 Lubbock, op tit, p.355.

al

Isabella Herschel,

82

Nd, but probably February 1840. B.M. Egerton Me 3762 f 54~.

'Genealogies' No.14.

Ms notes in private ownership.

a3

Ibid

a4

3 March 1829. B.M. Egerton Ms 3761, p Y9v.

a5

Genealogies,

86

C.J. Ribton-Turner, Shakespeare's Land, Being a Description of Central and Southern

(note 79) No.15.

Warwickshire, Leamington, 1893 pp 14-17 which also provides a general account of the house 87

Lubbock, op cit., 355 n.1.

88

Note on a photograph of this engraving used as a new year card in 1901 by A.S. Herschel.

89

All the evidence for this entry is contained in Caroline's letters of 23 April 1835 and

See below number 05.

29 June 1836.

B.M. Egerton ms 3762 ff 8v and 13x7.

90

Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives File E2: receipts for presents.

91

Royal Greenwich Observatory:

Inventory of Instruments and moveable property 1933.

(Later addition in ms). 92

Sold at Sotheby's 14 November 1966, lot 56 in the sale of that date.

93

British Library ms Egerton 3762 f 102~.

94

Rapports de l'observatoire de Paris, 1881 p.15. I owe this reference to Mile J.Alexandre.

95

The portraits are divided between the east and west towers, the French astronomers being together in the west tower, the foreign astronomers in the east tower. Exposition Le Verrier No.80, p.12.

96

Illustrated in The Times, 22 April 1981.

97

Burgess 1379.10.