Part 24

But the memoir the perusal of which will afford the greatest interest to engineers is that of Trevithick. Without pretending to anything like a life worthy of the genius of this extraordinary man, it is, notwithstanding, the most complete biographical notice which has yet been published of him. We trust the book may be extensively read, as it affords interesting information, in an easily accessible shape, of men, the memory of whose deeds is too liable to pass away.

ENGRAVING OF

THE DISTINGUISHED MEN OF SCIENCE OF GREAT BRITAIN, LIVING A.D., 1807-8.

This Great Historical Engraving represents, assembled at the Royal Institution, authentic Portraits of the following illustrious men:--WATT, RENNIE, TELFORD, MYLNE, JESSOP, CHAPMAN, MURDOCK, the first to introduce gas into practical use; RUMFORD, HUDDART, BOULTON, BRUNEL, WATSON, BENTHAM, MAUDSLAY, DALTON, CAVENDISH, SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, WOLLASTON, HATCHET, HENRY, ALLEN, HOWARD, SMITH, the father of English Geology; CROMPTON, inventor of the Spinning Mule: CARTWRIGHT, TENNANT, RONALDS, the first to successfully pass an electric telegraph message through a long distance; CHARLES EARL STANHOPE, TREVITHICK, NASMYTH, MILLER of Dalswinton, and SYMINGTON, the inventors and constructors of the first practical Steam Boat; PROFESSOR THOMSON, of Glasgow; TROUGHTON, DONKIN, CONGREVE, HERSCHEL, MASKELYNE, BAILY, FRODSHAM, LESLIE, PLAYFAIR, RUTHERFORD, DOLLOND, BROWN, the botanist; GILBERT and BANKS, the Presidents of the Royal Society at that epoch of time; CAPTAIN KATER, celebrated for his pendulum experiments; DR. THOMAS YOUNG, and JENNER the benefactor of mankind.

Engraved in the best style of Stipple and Mezzotinto by WM. WALKER and GEORGE ZOBEL. From an original drawing in Chiaroscuro. Designed by GILBERT; drawn by J. F. SKILL and W. WALKER.

PUBLISHED BY W. WALKER & SON, 64, MARGARET STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, LONDON, W.

Size of the Engraving, without Margin, Forty-one by Twenty and a half Inches.

Plain Impressions, £5 : 5. Proofs, with Title and Autographs, £8 : 8. Artist Proof, with or without Autographs, £10 : 10.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

TIMES.

An Engraving before us comprises the portraits of 50 distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain who were living in 1807-8, and who are here represented as assembled in the Upper Library of the Royal Institution ... we can easily conceive, as the preface to an accompanying volume of biographies informs us, that the collection and combination of these portraits occupied five years,--for some of them, at this distance of time, must have been discoverable with very great difficulty. Thus we have among them portraits of some of the inventors of whom we know very little in proportion to their acknowledged capacities, such for example as Trevithick the friend of Robert Stephenson, and Murdock the Achates of James Watt and introducer of gas ... there can be little doubt that the 50 physiognomies are derived from authentic originals in every case, great diligence having been employed in searching for such in the hands of their representatives ... as we said, this engraving must not be regarded only as a work of art, but as a collection of portraits of special interest, some of which are not attainable in any other form; while, as a whole, they are an appropriate monument of our greatest scientific epoch.

DAILY TELEGRAPH.

We may fairly commence the following remarks with unqualified praise of a work of art, which is intended to honour the distinguished men of science who were living in Great Britain early in the present century, and who, with one surviving exception, having passed into a deathless fame, are yet remembered by philosophers equally great, who were their contemporaries. Mr. Wm. Walker, with the assistance of Mr. Zobel, has produced a really great historical engraving from a design by Mr. Gilbert, representing an assemblage of fifty eminent chemists, engineers, astronomers, naturalists, electricians and mechanical inventors, grouped in the library of the Royal Institution. The scene is thoroughly appropriate, for these men were living in the years 1807-8, while the Royal Institution itself dates from 1800, having been founded to promote the application of science to practical uses. The period marked by the pictorial gathering in question, belonged to an era as complete and brilliant as any that British science has yet passed through. A glance round the circle of intensely thoughtful faces composing this great portrait group will revive many a page of instructive and ennobling history. We see in the centre, seated round a table, James Watt, Sir Isambard Brunel, John Dalton, &c.... Such men were our fathers--patient, indomitable, calmly and wisely bold, modestly self-reliant; ever watching, ever toiling, ever adding to the store of knowledge that was to benefit not them alone but the great human race. Such men are their sons who carry on the appointed work of improvement and civilization. To such men do we point as examples for our children. Their sterling qualities may be best summed up in the words of Lord Jeffrey, written of that same John Playfair to whom we have already referred. Their's was the understanding "at once penetrating and vigilant, but more distinguished, perhaps, for the caution and sureness of its march than for the brilliancy or rapidity of its movements: and guided and adorned through all its progress by the most genuine enthusiasm for all that is grand, and the justest taste for all that is beautiful."

ATHENÆUM.

Messrs. Walker and Son have published a large engraving of fifty-one distinguished men of science, alive in 1807-8, grouped together in the library of the Royal Institution. This engraving, which is a beautiful production, is described as designed by Gilbert, &c.... It is accompanied by a book, the frontispiece of which is a reduced copy of the engraving, for reference, &c.

ONCE A WEEK.

An earnest artist named William Walker, not being wholly absorbed in the pursuit of gain, but working with enthusiasm on his own perceptions of what is great in humanity and fitting in a nation, has for many years devoted himself to the task of gathering and grouping together the great men who were living in the early part of the present century.... This is of a verity a picture of great men--men whose instinct it was to work for the world and fight against misery: some of them wealthy and some of them poor; with visions perchance of wealth to come, but still working for the world's welfare as the only path through which to ensure their own,--the race of path-finders who are ever setting copies for the English nation to work by, and thus gain more results by the development of national energy. Accompanying the picture, which contains upwards of fifty portraits, some full figures, and some more or less hidden, but all admirably grouped, there is a volume, by Mr. Walker's son, giving a brief memoir of the salient points of each individual history; this also is well executed, and it forms a useful book of reference for those who would know more than the picture can tell.... Grateful are we to men like Mr. Walker, who has thus gathered together in groups the world's workers, with their images and superscriptions, that men may know their benefactors, and render to their memory that justice which was too rarely accorded to their lives. So, all honour to the work of both the father and the son, the picture and the book, in teaching the men of the present what they owe to men of the past.

MECHANICS' MAGAZINE.

Perhaps no class of men have deserved more of their country and of mankind than the great inventors and discoverers in astronomy, chemistry, engineering and other departments of science; yet very little is known of many of them in proportion to the acknowledged good which has resulted from their labours. We possess works of art commemorating the achievements of heroes in the field, and of statesmen in parliament, but until now no work of any magnitude has ever been executed in honour of men whose doings have laid the foundation of our commercial prosperity. We are, however, able to state that this can no longer be said, as Mr. Walker, of 64, Margaret-street, Cavendish-square, has, after an extended period of labour, produced an engraving which must remain an enduring record of our greatest era in science--the early part of the present century. At that epoch of time, steam, under the hands of Watt, Symington, and Trevithick, was commencing its marvellous career; astronomy and chemistry began to reveal their long-hidden secrets; while the discovery of vaccination, by Jenner, had already rescued thousands from death to enjoy the blessings left as a legacy by many a silent worker in science.... We may fairly state that we have never seen so large a body of men arranged in a group, where it is necessary that all should, in a measure, present their faces turned towards the spectator, so free from that stiffness which is the general fault of works of this class. For this, great praise is due to John Gilbert, by whom the original picture (drawn by J. F. Skill and W. Walker) was designed. The engraving has been executed by W. Walker and George Zobel; while in order to render the work complete, a series of memoirs have been drawn up by Mr. W. Walker, Jun., and furnished with a short introduction by Mr. Robert Hunt, F.R.S., keeper of the Mining Records. We can only now say of the book, that while many of the memoirs are necessarily brief, one, that of Trevithick, contains the most information yet published regarding that eminent engineer.

BUILDING NEWS.

We are glad to be able to inform our readers, that a large engraving has just been completed by Mr. Walker, of 64, Margaret-street, Cavendish-square, in honour of the men of science who have done so much towards the establishment of our present commercial prosperity. This work, which may well be called historical, represents fifty-one illustrious men, living in the early part of the present century, assembled in the Upper Library of the Royal Institution. The picture is divided into three groups, and comprises authentic portraits of our greatest inventors and discoverers in astronomy, chemistry, engineering machinery, and other departments of science.... The grouping of so large a number of figures must have been a difficult task; this has, however, been successfully accomplished by John Gilbert, the designer of the original picture, who, by a skilful combination of various attitudes, has given both grace and ease to the figures represented. The engraving has been executed by William Walker and George Zobel, and the greatest care seems to have been taken to secure faithful and authentic likenesses. The work is rendered complete by a series of well-written memoirs, compiled to accompany the engraving. This book is also published separately, and we should think there would be many who would buy the memoirs although unable to purchase the engraving.

W. DAVY & SON, PRINTERS, 8 GILBERT STREET, W.

FOOTNOTES:

The portable observatories used in this expedition were constructed by Smeaton the engineer.--Wild's History of the Roy. Soc. vol. 2, p. 37.

Mr. Samuel Bentham had amongst his other contrivances for shaping wood, described one in his patent of 1793, for shaping the shells of blocks, but with a singular degree of candour and generosity, he at once acknowledged the superiority of Brunel's machinery.--Smiles's Industrial Biography. London, 1863.

Quarterly Review, October, 1858.

For Maudslay's connection with this lock, see Maudslay.

In the dedication of the 'Synopsis Plantarum Orbis Novi,' Roberto Brownio, Britanniarum Gloriæ atque Ornamento, totam Botanices Scientiam ingenio mirifico complectenti.