#OA2
1849
Lithograph on Indian paper ca. 33.5 x 24 cm (13.5 x 9.5 inches), with large margins, blind stamp of Ipswich Museum on the lower margin. T. H. Maguire 1849 [signed on stone lower right.]; M. & N. Hanhart, Lith. Printers. With some edge wear, otherwise a very good lithograph.
Large lithographed portrait of noted geologist and geographer Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871), shown with a hammer and eye-glass on a chord around his neck. "Murchison named and described the Silurian system and travelled extensively throughout Europe and Russia studying geological structures. He was one of the founders and a president of the Royal Geographical Society, director-general of the British Geological Survey and director of the Royal School of Mines and the Museum of Practical Geology"(Wikipedia).
"Thomas Herbert Maguire was an English artist and engraver, noted for his portraits of prominent figures. The well-known series of 60 scientific portraits by Maguire was privately commissioned by George Ransome, F.L.S., of Ipswich, in connection with the foundation of the Ipswich Museum (Portraits of the Honorary Members of the Ipswich Museum. Portfolio of 60 lithographs by T.H. Maguire. George Ransome, Ipswich, 1846-1852).
They were executed cumulatively between 1847 and 1852, as the Museum obtained fresh scientific sponsors. Some were made by the artist from life, and others from photographic portraits or (in the case of the Revd William Kirby) from an oil portrait. The exact total of this series is slightly above 60 because some (e.g. Edwin Lankester) were re-drawn. Copies of the lithographs were given to subscribing members of the Museum, and a bound portfolio copy of the series was presented by Professor J.S. Henslow to H.R.H. Prince Albert when he inspected the Museum on the occasion of the 1851 Ipswich Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. George Ransome resigned his position as founding Secretary of the Museum in 1852 and the cumulative series was then discontinued" (Wikipedia).
