Portraits and Images

The Society has a large collection of portraits and images collected throughout its 200 years' existence.

Portraits

The Society’s portrait collection comprises paintings (many on display within Burlington House), engravings, busts, photographs and other images (e.g. cartoons). Most are of Fellows or Foreign Members of the Society.

In addition there is a ‘Victorian & Edwardian Portrait Photograph Collection’ based on albums containing ‘carte de visite’ sized photographs which Fellows were asked to send to the Society. Many were taken by Maull & Co. whose studio was opposite the Society in Piccadilly, above Hatchard’s bookshop.

The Natural History Museum’s Picture Library holds copies of the Society’s major portraits. Enquiries regarding portraits of geologists not found in the NHM’s Picture Library should be directed to the Society, who will make digital images available to the NHMPL. A selection of portraits, which were originally published in Geoscientist, appears in From the Archives.

Images

The Society holds a number of original drawings, some of which were subsequently published in the ‘Transactions’ (now available online via the Lyell Collection).  Some of these images are held by the Natural History Museum’s Picture Library, but there is currently no online catalogue of this collection and enquiries should therefore be directed to the Library.