Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 54 9 Dec 2020
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Commemorative Medals, The Royal Institution, A Member's silver ticket or pass to the German naturalist and traveller, Alexander von Humboldt round silver ticket or pass, to Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), naturalist, geologist and traveller, ROYAL INSTITUTION 1819, rev. naming in engraved italics in 2 lines, M. le Baron de Humbolt [sic] F.R.S., 32mm (Withers 2680), nearly extremely fine
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Freiherr (Baron) von Humboldt was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt and with him accompanied the allied Sovereigns to London in 1814. However, he first visited England with fellow naturalist George Forster (FRS 1777), whom he had met at Göttingen. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1815 and Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in April the same year. He was to win the Royal Society's coveted Copley medal 37 years later in 1852. In 1818 he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. For much of the period 1805-1827 he resided in Paris. He later held high position in the Prussian court and between 1830-1848 he undertook a number of diplomatic missions.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(300-500 GBP)
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Freiherr (Baron) von Humboldt was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt and with him accompanied the allied Sovereigns to London in 1814. However, he first visited England with fellow naturalist George Forster (FRS 1777), whom he had met at Göttingen. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1815 and Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in April the same year. He was to win the Royal Society's coveted Copley medal 37 years later in 1852. In 1818 he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. For much of the period 1805-1827 he resided in Paris. He later held high position in the Prussian court and between 1830-1848 he undertook a number of diplomatic missions.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(300-500 GBP)