“Plate 57” features seven illustrations to accompany Chapters XV, XVI, and XVII of Book III in A Compleat System of Opticks; these chapters describe the science behind a variety of optical and image-making machines. Figure 635 is a type of portable camera obscura for drawing made by a Mr. Scarlet, who had a shop near St.
Recreations in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy is an example of the popularization of rational recreations texts in the Romantic period, particularly for use in the home. It explains how to create optical instruments and understand their effects on recreational scientific experiments.
Illustrations of Natural Philosophy highlights the continued amateur interest in investigations of the natural sciences during the Romantic period. The camera obscura is positioned in the lower right corner, near two illustrations of the human eye, as well as the magic lantern and the “Endless Gallery” optical illusion.
Dora — Dorothy Wordsworth, daughter of WW and MW (1804–1847)
DW — Dorothy Wordsworth (1755–1855)
John — John Wordsworth, eldest son of WW and MW (1803–1875)
MW — Mary Wordsworth, née Hutchinson, wife of WW (1770–1859)
SH — Sara Hutchinson, sister of MW (1775–1835)
STC — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet and friend (1772–1834)
