THE ROYAL SOCIETY 



CELEBRATION OF THE 250iH ANNIVERSARY 



ON the 15th of July 1662 a Charter granted by King Charles II 

 passed the Great Seal incorporating, under the name of ' The 

 Royal Society ', a company of eminent and enthusiastic men who 

 for some years had been prosecuting the study of Natural Science, 

 or, as it was then termed, Experimental Philosophy. This date 

 has accordingly been reckoned to be that of the birth of the 

 Society as an organized association. The approach of the 250th 

 return of the day suggested that the event was one which might 

 appropriately be marked by some special form of commemoration. 

 Hence, early in the year 1911 the President and Council of the 

 Society determined to make it the occasion of a Celebration 

 which should be held at a time as near as might be found 

 convenient to that of the Society's birthday on 15th July 

 1912. 



As an appropriate permanent memorial of the occasion two 

 volumes were undertaken to be prepared and published (1) a new 

 edition of the ' Record ' of the Society and (2) a facsimile repro- 

 duction of the pages of signatures of the Fellows in the Charter- 

 book, from that of the Royal Founder down to those entered in 

 the summer of 1912. 



The ' Record ', as revised, re-arranged, and enlarged, is intended 

 to give an account of the foundation and early history of the 

 Society with the text of all its Charters, its Statutes with their 

 variations down to the present time, the Society's various Trusts, 

 lists of its Benefactors, its Presidents and Officers and its Medal- 

 lists and Lecturers, with an account of its Library, Portraits, 

 Busts, and Medals, likewise full details regarding the existing 

 Committees and the various work of the Society. The Chrono- 



