Caroline Lucretia Herschel
1 of 2 portraits of Caroline Lucretia Herschel
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Caroline Lucretia Herschel
by Joseph Brown, after George Müller
stipple engraving, 1840s
8 in. x 5 3/4 in. (203 mm x 145 mm) plate size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D9005
On display in Room 16 on Floor 3 at the National Portrait Gallery
Artistsback to top
- Joseph Brown (1809-1887), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 169 portraits.
- George Müller (active 1847), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This engraving was produced when Caroline Herschel was ninety-two by which time her nephew, John(1792-1871) was continuing the work of mapping binary stars.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Flavia Frigeri, Women At Work: 1900 to Now, 2023, p. 97
- Hart-Davis, Adam, Chain Reactions, 2000, p. 70
- Jordanova, Ludmilla, Defining Features: Scientific and Medical Portraits 1660-2000, 2000 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 14 April to 17 September 2000), p. 109
Events of 1840back to top
Current affairs
Victoria marries her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; he is given the title of Prince Consort.The Penny Black stamp is introduced by Rowland Hill; the first pre-paid, self-adhesive stamp, it marks the start of the modern postal system.
The start of the Irish potato famine, which by the time of its peak in 1851, had caused the deaths of one million, and contributed to the sharp rise of emigration from Ireland to England and America.
Art and science
Beau Brummel, the fashion leader responsible for sparking the culture of 'Dandyism', dies of syphilis.The first stone is laid on the new Houses of Parliament, based on the gothic designs by the architects Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. The old buildings had burned down in 1834, following a blaze caused by burning wooden tallies used by the Exchequer to calculate tax.
International
The Afghans surrender to Britain during the Afghan-British war (1839-42). The war was sparked by British fear over Russian influence in Afghanistan, with the British East India Company resolving to depose the Afghan leader, Dost Muhammad, who was insistent on Afghan independence, and restore the former leader Shoja Shah.The Maoris yield sovereignty of New Zealand under the Treaty of Waitangi.
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