- William Waldorf Astor
William Waldorf Astor - Barry Cornwall
- Holman Hunt
Holman Hunt - Sir Walter Scott
- Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie - Robert Tristram Coffin, Poet
Robert Tristram Coffin, Poet - William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone - Charles Sprague
- Alton B. Parker
Alton B. Parker - Charles E. Duryea, about 1894
Of the numerous American automotive pioneers, perhaps among the best known are Charles and Frank Duryea. Beginning their work of automobile building in Springfield, Massachusetts, and after much rebuilding, they constructed their first successful vehicle in 1892 and 1893. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche - Charles Robert Leslie
- Head of Pierre Rene Choudieu
Head of Pierre Rene Choudieu - J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie - Henry VIII
Henry VIII - Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle - Napoleon
- Dr Arnold
- Felix Vallotton
Felix Vallotton - Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck - Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche - Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie - Josiah Wedgewood
Josiah Wedgewood More than once it has happened that the youngest of thirteen children has turned out a genius. It was so in the case of Sir Richard Arkwright, and it turned out to be so in the case of Josiah Wedgwood, the youngest of the thirteen children of Thomas Wedgwood, a Burslem potter, and of Mary Stringer, a kind-hearted but delicate, sensitive woman, the daughter of a nonconformist clergyman. The town of Burslem, in Staffordshire, where Wedgwood saw the light in 1730, was then anything but an attractive place. Drinking and cock-fighting were the common recreations; roads had scarcely any existence; the thatched hovels had dunghills before the doors, while the hollows from which the potter's clay was excavated were filled with stagnant water, and the atmosphere of the whole place was coarse and unwholesome, and a most unlikely nursery of genius. - Euclid
Euclid - Alice Cunningham Fletcher
This little girl was Alice Cunningham Fletcher. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1845. As she grew older, the thought came to her that if she felt so happy out in the open, how must the Indians feel who had lived a free out-of-door life for generations. Gradually she began to think that these people, whom the world called savages, must have learned something about how to live happily. Alice Fletcher resolved that, if ever there came a time when it was possible, she would go to the home of the Indians and try to discover their secrets. Meanwhile she studied all that books and museums could teach her of the story of the Red Men. At last, there did come a day when she decided to go and live among them. It meant leaving behind her, beloved libraries, fine concerts, beautiful pictures, and even a comfortable bed and easy chair. Miss Fletcher felt, however, that there was something that meant more than comfort to her. It was the doing of a definite piece of work that she believed would be useful to the world. Therefore, she left the friends with whom she could talk of books, pictures, and music, and went to live among the Dakota and Omaha Indians. From the door of her rude wigwam of buffalo skins, she could watch the little Indian children at play and see the everyday life of the older members of the tribe. - Albert Engstrom
Albert Engstrom - Caricature of Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith - Her Majesty Queen Victoria
The first portrait painted after her Coronation. The history as to how the first portrait of Her Majesty after her coronation was obtained is also full of interest. The Queen is represented in all her youthful beauty in the Royal box at Drury Lane Theatre, and it is the work of E. T. Parris, a fashionable portrait painter of those days. Parris was totally ignorant of the fact that when he agreed with Mr. Henry Graves, the well-known publisher, to paint "the portrait of a lady for fifty guineas," he would have to localise himself amongst the musical instruments of the orchestra of the National Theatre, and handle his pencil in the immediate neighbourhood of the big drum. Neither was he made aware as to the identity of his subject until the eventful night arrived. Bunn was the manager of Drury Lane at the time, and he flatly refused to accommodate Mr. Graves with two seats in the orchestra. But the solution of the difficulty was easy. Bunn was indebted to Grieve, the scenic artist, for a thousand pounds. Grieve was persuaded to threaten to issue a writ for the money unless the "order for two" was forthcoming. Bunn succumbed, and the publisher triumphed; and whilst the young Queen watched the performance, she was innocently sitting for her picture to Parris and Mr. Graves, who were cornered in the orchestra. Parris afterwards shut himself up in his studio, and never left it until he had finished his work. The price agreed upon was doubled, and the Queen signified her approval of the tact employed by purchasing a considerable number of the engravings. - Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Girl Who Loved Stories And Wrote Them - A Prussian King's Daughter
Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia was a princess of the German Kingdom of Prussia and composer. She was the eldest daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, and granddaughter of George I of Great Britain. In 1731, she married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. [Wikipedia] - Joseph Choate
Joseph Hodges Choate - Lord Armstrong
Armstrong, during the Crimean War, made an explosive apparatus for blowing up ships sunk at Sebastopol. This led him to turn his attention to improvements in ordnance. He invented a kind of breech-loading cannon, and soon had an order for several field-pieces after the same pattern. He began with guns throwing 6 lb. and 18 lb. shot and shells, and afterwards 32 lb. shells; and the results at the time were deemed almost incredible. He had both reduced the weight of the gun by one-half, reduced the charge of powder, and his gun sent the shell about three times farther. His success led to his offering to government all his past inventions, and any that he might in the future discover. A post was created for him, that of Chief Engineer of Rifled Ordnance for seven years provisionally. - Duke of Wellington made Chancellor of the University of Oxford
At his installation on June 10th he wore his Chancellor's robes of black silk and gold, and H. B. has given us a very graphic portrait of him on this occasion: and he was attended by the Marquis of Londonderry, Lord Montague, Lord Apsley, Lord Hill, Lord Mohun, Sir George Murray, Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir S. Acland, Sir Robert Inglis, and Sir Charles Wetherell. - Thackery
William Makepeace Thackery - J. Frank Duryea, about 1894
Of the numerous American automotive pioneers, perhaps among the best known are Charles and Frank Duryea. Beginning their work of automobile building in Springfield, Massachusetts, and after much rebuilding, they constructed their first successful vehicle in 1892 and 1893. - Captain James Cook
His choice fell upon James Cook, who was cordially recommended by Sir Hugh Palliser, and to him therefore the command of the Endeavour was given, whilst he was at the same time raised to the `rank` of ship's lieutenant. Cook was now forty years of age. This was his first appointment in the Royal Navy. The mission entrusted to him called for varied qualifications, rarely to be met with in a sailor. For, although the observation of the transit of Venus was the principal object of the voyage, it was by no means the only one. Cook was also to make a voyage of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. But the humbly born Yorkshire lad was destined to prove himself equal to his task. - Robert Browning
- Robert Burns
Robert Burns Caricature - Miss Sara Allgood
- Henry Morton Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley - Plato (from an ancient gem)
PLATO (B.C. 427 -374), whose name is so illustrious in philosophy has directly and indirectly largely influenced the course of intellectual development and scientific thought. Before Plato had become the disciple of Socrates, he had been a student of the philosophY of Heraclitus, one of whose prominent doctrines was that all things are in a state of ceaseless change, so that, for example, no one could ever be twice on the same river, inasmuch as the water is ever changing. About the age of twenty Plato became a disciple of Socrates, and continued so until the death of the latter, nine years afterwards. Plato then visited various countries, as Egypt, Persia, Sicily, and Italy. On returning to Athens he established his renowned school of philosophy amid the groves of Academus, near Athens; and this place has given a common title to schools of art, learning, and science throughout the world. Plato lived to an advanced age and left behind him many writings, now esteemed amongst the most precious legacies that antiquity has bequeathed to us. It was the practice of Socrates to constantly seek for definitions of justice, beauty, and so on, and this of course implied that he thought that in some things at least there was something permanent. Plato managed in his famous doctrine of Ideas to reconcile and combine the conflicting views of Heraclitus and of Socrates. This doctrine gave rise aftenvards to endless disputations, which for the most part diverted men's minds from the observation- of nature. - Henry Stanley - Age 50
Henry Stanley - 1891 - Mirabeau
Mirabeau, the brilliant but unprincipled orator - Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc - The Queen's first baby
Drawn and Etched by Her Majesty the Queen. [Queen Victoria] - Birthplace of Lamarck - Front View
Birthplace of Lamarck - Front View - Paganini
In a notice of his first concert, the Times says— "The personal appearance of Paganini is remarkable. He is a tall, thin man, with features rather emaciated, pale complexion, a sharp, aquiline nose, and a keen eye, the expression of which is greatly heightened when he is animated by his performance. His hair, which is dark, is worn long behind, and combed off the forehead and temples, in a manner which gives an air of great simplicity to his countenance. He seems to be about fifty years of age. "The enthusiasm which his performance excited last night among the audience certainly surpassed anything of the kind within these walls. Every tour de force and striking passage was not only applauded, but cheered by the whole audience, and some of the variations were encored. At the end of every performance, and especially after the last, the applause, cheering, and waving of handkerchiefs and hats, altogether presented a most extraordinary scene. Foreigners, who have been present at his concerts in several other parts of Europe, remarked that the applause bestowed, and the enthusiasm excited last night, were greater than they had ever witnessed before." - Helen Keller
The Deaf and Blind Girl Who Found Light and Happiness Through Knowledge On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born in the little Alabama town of Tuscumbia. For nineteen months she was just like any other happy, healthy baby girl. Then a severe illness took away her sight and hearing, and, because she was unable to hear her baby words, she soon forgot how to talk. One day when Helen was nearly seven years old, a new doll was put into her arms. Then, in her hand a lady made the letters d-o-l-l in the deaf alphabet. Helen did not know that things had names, but she was amused with this new game and imitated the letters for her mother. Helen’s new friend and teacher was Miss Anne Sullivan. She had come from the Perkins Institution for the Blind, in Boston, to teach this little girl. - Benjamin Franklin
American independence, the beginnings of which we have just been considering, was accomplished after a long struggle. Many brave men fought on the battle-field, and many who never shouldered a musket or drew a sword exerted a powerful influence for the good of the patriot cause. One of these men was Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Boston in 1706, the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen children. His father was a candle-maker and soap-boiler. Intending to make a clergyman of Benjamin, he sent him, at eight years of age, to a grammar-school, with the purpose of fitting him for college. The boy made rapid progress, but before the end of his first school-year his father took him out on account of the expense, and put him into a school where he would learn more practical subjects, such as writing and arithmetic. The last study proved very difficult for him. - Henry Stanley - Age 26
Henry Stanley - Age 26 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Jane Addams
The Girl Who Became a Neighbor To the Needy “Why do people live in such horrid little houses so close together, Father?” asked seven-year-old Jane on a trip to the city. Miss Addams believed that it is better to show people how to help themselves than to give them gifts of money. “It is hard to help people one does not know,” she reasoned, “and how can one really know people without seeing them very often?” True to the decision she had made as a child, she resolved to live among the poor and be a real neighbor to them. With the help of some friends, Miss Addams opened Hull-House, which is located in a tenement section of Chicago. Here, she established a day nursery where mothers who had to go out to work could leave their babies in good care. A kindergarten was organized for the young children in the neighborhood. - Daniel Webster
- Portrait of Fred Walker
Portrait of Fred Walker - Romain Rolland
Jean-Christophe, the dominant figure of the enormous work which Rolland was a score of years in writing, and nearly half a score in publishing, is gradually becoming a household name upon two continents. “Jean-Christophe” is the detailed life of a man from the cradle to the grave, a prose epic of suffering, a narrative of the evolution of musical genius, a pæan to music, and a critique of composers, the history of an epoch, a comparative study of the civilizations of France and Germany, an arraignment of society, a discussion of vexed problems, a treatise on ethics, a “barrel” of sermons, a storehouse of dissertations, and a blaze of aspirations. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Kepler
- Samuel Adams
- Malthus
Thomas Robert Malthus