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Photograph (Salted Paper Print) of John Fleming, by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, c.1843

Inventory Number 11893

Item type
Object
Provenance
Presented by Dr A. E. Gunther in 1986. Part of the collections of his father R. T. Gunther, founding Curator of the Museum, previously on loan to the Museum. R. T. Gunther purchased various Hartwell House manuscripts and books from the Hartwell House sales in 1939. The photograph was given to John Lee of Hartwell House by Sir David Brewster in 1851.
Other inscriptions
Manuscript caption on the album page: 'Dr. Fleming - Free Church, Edinburgh.'.
Physical material
Paper
Dimensions
Height: 185mm Width: 142mm
Inventory No
11893

Description

In MS Gunther 10, f.159v, bottom, Hartwell House commonplace book, volume 2. Salted paper print from a calotype negative of John Fleming, seated nearly three-quarter length, holding a book on his knee and resting his left elbow on a table, looking to right. Brown but faded and discoloured due to the adhesive, and also affected by the page opposite. Captioned (beneath, on the album page) 'Dr. Fleming - Free Church, Edinburgh.'. It belonged to Sir David Brewster, a friend of Fleming's, and was given to John Lee for his commonplace book along with two others on the same and facing pages. Brewster and his wife visited Hartwell House from October 18 to 21, 1851, and are among the visitors who sign f.156v of the volume.

John Fleming (1785-1857) was a leading Scottish naturalist and zoologist, author of an influential textbook, and professor at Aberdeen University, and afterwards from 1845 at the Free Church college in Edinburgh.

For fuller descriptive and historical commentary see narratives.

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