Abelard (called Charles Kemble)

1 portrait of Charles Kemble

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Abelard (called Charles Kemble)

Published by Thomas Watson
mezzotint, 1776
9 1/2 in. x 6 3/4 in. (240 mm x 171 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D3393

Sitterback to top

  • Charles Kemble (1775-1854), Actor, theatre manager and playwright. Sitter associated with 31 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Thomas Watson (1750-1781), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 58 portraits.

Events of 1776back to top

Current affairs

Tahitian visitor to London Omai returns home with Captain James Cook on his third voyage. During his two-year stay he inspired a play and was painted by Joshua Reynolds.
Member of Parliament David Hartley unsuccessfully introduces a motion to the House of Commons calling for the abolition of the slave trade.

Art and science

Edward Gibbon produces the first volume of his monumental The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Artist John Constable is born.
Scottish economist Adam Smith analyses the nature and causes of prosperity in his magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.

International

American War of Independence: George Washington raises a new American flag on Prospect Hill, Boston. In an anonymous pamphlet entitled Common Sense, English immigrant Thomas Paine is the first to argue that the American colonies should be independent. Declaration of American Independence on 4 July.

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