The Image of Restoration Science

This book is about a single image - John Evelyn's frontispiece to Thomas Sprat’s History of the Royal-Society of London (1667). Providing a full analysis of the image in its Royal Society setting and the wider world of early-modern science, the book first considers the overall iconography of the image and its message concerning Evelyn’s conception of the society’s role, before moving on to examine details included in the plate and their significance. It concludes by considering the print’s history after publication, including the extent to which Evelyn used copies to exemplify the combination of technological and artistic accomplishment to which he believed the society should aspire.