Images Dated 5th August 2005

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1862

Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, 1862. Founded in 1772, the observatory is named after the physician John Radcliffe (1652-1714), a graduate of Oxford University who went on to become Royal Physician to William and Mary. It was built with funds bequeathed by him. This representation of the observatory is from the reverse of the medal of the Johnson Memorial Prize for the advance of astronomy and meteorology founded in 1862 in memory of the astronomer Manuel John Johnson (1805-1859) who was keeper at the observatory from 1839-1859

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Coal mining accident, Tynewydd Colliery, South Wales, April 1877 (c1885). Artist: William Heysham Overend

Coal mining accident, Tynewydd Colliery, South Wales, April 1877 (c1885). Volunteers digging through an obstruction to rescue colleagues trapped in flooded workings in the Tynewydd Colliery in the Rhondda Valley. They are working by the light of Davy safety lamps. 9 trapped miners were saved, 5 of them after being underground for 9 days, in a difficult and dangerous rescue operation. The drama enthralled the nation, and 25 of the rescuers were awarded the Albert Medal for their efforts, the first time it had been awarded for a rescue operation on land. From Heroes of Britain by Edwin Hodder. (London c1885)

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images

Crustacea and Reptiles, c1850. Artist: Robert Kent Thomas

Crustacea and Reptiles, c1850. The central image shows a lobster, crab, turtle, scallops, whelks and prawns, cowrie shells, lobster and crab pots and shrimping nets, set against an English seaside scene of cliffs and a beach, with people carring shrimping nets. Surrounding vignettes show (clockwise from top left): turtle soup served at the Lord Mayor of London's banquet; pearl fishing; catching turtles; a mother and daughter looking in an apothecary's window displaying leeches and toothpowder; making items from mother-of-pearl shell; making basketware crab pots; shrimping with nets; cowrie shells used as currency; an artist using sepia ink derived from cuttlefish; making items from tortoiseshell. From Graphic Illustrations of Animals and Their Utility to Man published by Thomas Varty. (London, c1850)

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images