Vanity Fair Caricatures of the Royal Society Fellows: Problems of Visual Interpretation

The article examines visual representation of the images of famous scientists in the cartoons published in the British magazine, Vanity Fair. Founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles
and published from 1868 to 1914, it was very popular among its audience. In addition to
caricatures of statesmen, actors and artists, the magazine published the cartoons of
prominent scientists, making them the heroes of their time, increasing the awareness of
their discoveries in the collective consciousness, and helping to endow them with personal traits and to shape their images. The article describes and interprets the cartoons of
the Royal Society Fellows: Thomas Huxley, Charles Darwin, William Crookes, (Edwin)
Ray Lankester, Roderick Murchison, Richard Owen, William Ramsay, John Tyndall, and
William Thomson, Baron Kelvin. The iconological analysis of the caricatures confirms that
they not only conveyed likeness to their subjects but also reflected their scientific achievements as well as their moral, philosophical and political views. The Vanity Fair caricatures
were intended for general public, thus making information about scientists and their discoveries public, mainstream knowledge.