LTNNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. I 5 



the beginning of the centnry. In 1804 ho I'.ad an exhibition of 

 his botanical paintings in a gallery in New Bond Street, one of 

 the catalogues of which is to be found in the Library of the 

 British Museum, He describes this picture as " A whole length 

 of Linnfeus, aged only thirty-two, in his Lapland dress. By 

 Hoffman. An original picture." And in a footnote he adds, 

 " This was painted for Gronovius in Holland, and is the only 

 original picture of Linnseus in England." As the original 

 portrait painted for Count ClifFort is at Hartekamp in the 

 possession of bis representative, A. H. ClifFort, Thornton's 

 picture was probably a replica painted for Gronovius. The costly 

 ])ublications of Thornton do not appear to have brought in the 

 revenue which he anticipated. With the view of obtaining a 

 good price for the botanical paintings, including the portrait of 

 Linnfeus, and the remainders of his various works, he obtained 

 an Act of Parliament (21 May, 1811) permitting him to dispose of 

 the whole by way of lottery. I have failed to discover whether 

 the lottery ever came off, or what has become of the portrait of 

 Linnaeus. 



Thornton's picture was engraved in mezzotint by Henry 

 Kingsbury, and published by him in April 1795. One of the 

 scarce impressions from the original plate is in the possession of 

 the Society. The different volumes of the works of Linnaeus are 

 lettered on the back, the plant in his hand is labelled " Linnfea 

 Gronov." and the margin of the drum has this inscription engraved 

 on it : " Carolus Linnaeus a Lapponia Redux ^tat. 30, Anno 1737. 

 Mart. Hoffman fecit." In 1805 this plate was republished by 

 Thornton ; some impressions preserve the name of the engraver, 

 while in others it has been erased from the bottom of the plate, 

 and " Dunkerton sculpt." subt^tituted, though the name of the 

 engraver still remains on the plinth of the pedestal where 

 Kingsbury originally engraved it, in addition to the usual signa- 

 ture at the bottom of the plate. Dunkerton has touched up the 

 plate, and somewhat modified it, especially in the form and defini- 

 tion of the eyes, and he has given a more distinct curve in the 

 outline of the nose. 



The original painting from Hartekamp, and two impressions 

 of this engraving, formed part of the Linnaean Exhibition at 

 Amsterdam in 1878, held in connection with the Zoological Society 

 of that city. The catalogue describes these engravings as repro- 

 ductions of the Hartekamp picture. 



Lizars reproduced Kingsbury's engraving, as a three quarter 

 portrait, on a small plate for Jardine's ' Naturalist's Library,' 

 and his engraving was badly copied by Winkler for the German 

 translation of Jardine's work. 



The Zoological Society of Amsterdam possess a three quarter's 

 length oil painting after the Hartekamp picture, prepared for the 

 Society and presented by H. Hollander, Jr., in 1852. The 

 copyist has used some liberty, having got rid of the constrained 



