by Robert Stewart, after John Townsend
mezzotint, published 1776
14 in. x 10 in. (355 mm x 254 mm) plate size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Sitterback to top
- James Ferguson (1710-1776), Astronomer, instrument maker and scientific lecturer; miniature painter. Sitter in 3 portraits.
Artistsback to top
Events of 1776back to top
Current affairsTahitian 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 scienceEdward 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.
InternationalAmerican 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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