Dr Henry Moyes, Lecturer on Chemistry, Etc.

Category

Library Item

Item no

13518

Title

Dr Henry Moyes, lecturer on Chemistry, etc.

Description

A man wearing small round spectacles with dark lenses is standing behind a lectern, giving a speech in Edinburgh. He has white hair and is smartly dressed in a dark coat and white necktie. On his right side at the edge of the lectern is a lit candle in a candlestick.

Artist / maker

Kay, John

Date

1796

Size

12.5 x 8 cm

Type

Etching

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The accompanying text in the volume begins as follows:
"Dr Moyes was born in the year 1750 at Kirkaldy, in the county of Fife. What station in society his father held, and even what profession he followed, we are not told. It seems probable, however, that he was possessed of some property, because his son was sent to college and enjoyed the benefit of a liberal education. He lost his sight, when about three years old, by the small-pox, so that he hardly retained any recollection of having ever seen. Yet he stated that he remembered having once observed a water mill in motion, and that, even at that early age, his attention was attracted by the circumstance of the water flowing in one direction, while the wheel turned round in the opposite. This he represented as having staggered his infant mind before he could comprehend it. He was sent to school, but what was his progress there is unknown. From thence he was removed to the University, where, judging from his subsequent acquirements, it is to be presumed he made considerable progress."

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Lecterns

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Glasses

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Neckties

Clothing and dress > Garments > Coats

People > Education and communication > Scientists

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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