Romantic Circles Gallery
Gallery Editors:
Theresa M. KelleyJacob Leveton
 This image, Plate 17 of Bell's illustrations, depicts the three small bones of the ear. Bell describes it as such:
The natural size of these bones is shown in Fig. 1 Plate 17, (the... c. 1830s |
 The poem’s narrator gazes upon the ruins of Pompeii and imagines what took place on the date of the eruption. The narrator describes a crowded street that is instantly engulfed in a cloud of ash... 1848 |
 With church spires rising above it in the very center of the background, Bartholmew Fair is in full swing, crowded with people and chaos. Overflowing the square—with the hospital on one side, a... Delineator: Rowlandson, Thomas 1808 |
 Two ships are portrayed in the center right of the image, a rowboat between them. The ship on the right is British, its flag displayed on the right side. It is more brightly colored and has more... 1783 |
 “Plate III” features four illustrations of rational recreations involving optics and illusions. Figure 1 illustrates the refraction of light through water in a vessel. Figure 2 diagrams alterations... 1774 |
 This image corresponded to the scene depicted in “A Balloon Prospect from above the Clouds,” which was to be inserted on the facing page. The intention was that this print could be used to provide a... 5 January 1786 |
 Depicting roughly 35 miles of the Eifel mountain range, this topographic map is color coded to indicate rock type. Volcanoes are depicted by sets of lines, each which culminates in a circle to... 1832 |
 This image depicts the ruins of Hadleigh Castle, near Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. The two remaining towers of the castle stand in the left register of the picture place, a scrawny tree between them. In the... Engraver: Lucas, David 1832 |
 Sir Joseph Banks’ journal entry depicts his and William Hooker’s arrival at Mount Helca’s main crater, Raud-Oldur. They stand in a green patch of vegetation to pitch their tents—one of the few areas... 1811 |
 Various ships are visible in the distance, and one ship in full sail sits directly beyond the coastal waters. Three poles emerge from the sea in the left foreground, indicating the shoreline; the... 1823 |
 This image depicts an icescape in fog. The immediate foreground features a prominent rock jutting out of the ground to the left, next to what appears to be a large vertebra. The center portion of the... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1836 |
 Within a rocky landscape is situated a large, cave-like dwelling constructed of leaves and branches. Six adult figures and two small children sit or squat around a smoky fire, while two additional... 1807 |
 1783 |
 Five pyramids and a stone-block building stand on a flat landscape, varied only by some small bushes and a few large rocks. The sky occupies a great portion of the picture: the clouds breaking at top... Delineator: Norman, Benjamin Moore 1843 |
 This foldout guide to the "Moving Diorama of Venice" is divided into three large panels showing a series of "highlight" views of Venice, as if seen from a passing gondola. Ignoring the distance that... 1841 |
 Dr. Syntax is in the center of the print, sitting on an overturned washtub and drawing in his sketchbook. In front of him to the left are a bevy of farm animals, including Syntax’s own donkey,... 1 May 1812 |
 Dr. Syntax visits the home of a Lord for dinner. Seated in large chairs around a large circular table are three other men, one of which is Sir John as the accompanying text names. They are all well... Delineator: Rowlandson, Thomas 1 May 1812 |
 A conventional edge-painting uses one of the edges of a closed book as a canvas—usually the edge furthest from the binding or spine (the fore-edge), but sometimes the top or bottom. They are... 1821 |
 A dandy has fainted and leans back in a chair with his limbs straight out, while three other dandies support him and a fourth closes a curtain. Beyond the curtain we can see a castrato opera singer... 11 1818 |
 The illustration in the bottom left corner of this image, Imitation and Approbation, features a caped man standing behind a table on a stage. In his hands he holds a skull marked by a... Delineator: Cruikshank, George 1 August 1826 |
 A jagged icy cliff on the left descends to a pool of water; beyond these immediate ice formations, a plain of ice or water extends to the far horizon, where more cliffs rise against building clouds.... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1828 |
 1824 |
 The ruins of Goodrich Castle sit perched on a hill near the center of the piece. Three boats full of people, ostensibly tourists, row down the river which bends sharply to the left. The central hill... 1785 |
 The empress of the moths, a saturnia pavonia minor, perches on a leaf. She is reading her visitor's book. The emperor, a male of the same species, sits on the branch facing her. To their left, in the... 1831 |
 Fielding’s "view" of the castle occurs at sunset, and is taken from the banks of a river flowing in the lower register of the painting. A large tree seems to grasp the right riverbank with its... 1816 |
 At the corner of Little Maddox Street and New Bond Street, a smirking and red-cheeked Lord Sandwich approaches from behind and fondles a young barrow woman selling carrots. The woman’s body is... Delineator: Gillray, James 3 December 1796 |
 1786 |
 A young man, seated with a long rifle on a rock, wears a dark jacket and light trousers. A horn is strung around his neck and a brimmed hat lies at his side. He is addressed by a woman with a large... 1807 |
 The Queen of Candy, the Candian king’s daughter, poses in a chair, legs crossed, against a mountainous landscape. Her elongated neck is covered with exotic, shell-like jewelry. Her hair is bound... Engraver: Woodman, Richard 10 January 1833 |
 The image is set in what appears to be a schoolroom. The master holds a stick above his head, preparing to give "strokes" to the young boy he grips by the elbow. The boy, dressed in a long coat and... 1829 |
 The central image, figure 9, depicts one half of an Egyptian pebble, the interior of which seems to contain the image of a small, white face. This large, oblong pebble is encircled by other, much... 1791 |
 Napoleon on his characteristic white horse is at the forefront of this image, which depicts the French army’s early attempt to cross the Alps. Other men, who are both on horseback and on foot,... 1828 |
 1826 |
 This scene is depicted from the low perspective of a river. In the right foreground, two trees extend their branches over the river. A structure with arched openings sits on the opposite bank; this... 1800 |
 c. 1791-94 |
 A phrenologist, identified as J. De Ville, places his right hand on the forehead of a young man who is kneeling at the center of the image. A well-dressed woman, probably the young man’s mother,... 4 February 1826 |
 Figures 1 and 2 depict two small hummingbirds, each of which appear to be either plummeting from a height or flying at a downward angle. The large bird below them, figure 4, is a Bird of Paradise,... 1791 |
 The pyramid at El Tajín is shown in three-quarter view. It is a step-pyramid with six levels and a staircase leading from the ground to the top platform. The sky is blank over a completely flat... 1804 |
 This picture shows Henry Kirke White as a boy, reading from a book held in the lap of an older woman. A cat sits near their feet. There are three other children to the woman's right, two of whom are... 1818 |
 This image portrays an icescape with distant mountains. The Arctic sun is low on the horizon, and smoke-like clouds extend in a widening mass from the far right of the image to the upper left corner... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1836 |
 The image depicts a hairless head, with numbers mapped upon the exposed skin and face, indicating the location of the organs. The corresponding text identifies which characteristic or faculty is... 1847 |
 The titular 9th, 10th, and 11th windows of the North Aisle of Westminster Abbey form the background of the print. In the foreground, a variety of people walk around and look at the monuments along... Delineator: White, John 11 October 1812 |
 Five wreaths of human hair have been looped through ribbons of various colors, which have in turn been stitched onto a page in a handmade booklet. The booklet, crafted out of sheets of light blue... |
 On this album page a wreath formed of cut-outs of flowers and leaves serves as a frame for a poem composed by the nineteenth-century playwright and humorist Douglas Jerrold and addressed to Annie... |
 1821 |
 A view of the ruins of Tintern Abbey. Editor: Knight, Charles 1845 |
 This chart provides the "average," "full," "large," "very large," "moderate," "small," and "very small" sizes of the organs measured in each phrenological category. 1847 |
 A bank of thick clouds hovers over the standing stones, with sunlight shining through to illuminate the center of the monument. A flock of sheep grazes in the foreground on the course grass, some... Engraver: Wallis, Robert 1829 |
 The image portrays a sea dark with swells—no whitecaps—interrupted by large, sharp-edged, wildly-shaped icebergs that have been carved out at their bases by the incessant motion of the waves. Two... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1828 |
 A man sits while a woman examines his head. The right side of the image shows a mapped skull placed on a table. 1826 |
