Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, Men of the Day No. 14

Signed 'Ape' — Carlo Pellegrini's chromolithograph of the Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison presents a rotund, elderly gentleman in profile, swathed in a caped greatcoat and grey top hat, leaning on a thin cane. The caption reads: 'A Faithful Friend, an eminent Savant, and the best possible of Presidents.' Pellegrini's characteristic exaggeration fixes on Murchison's heavy jowls and self-satisfied composure — the posture of institutional authority rather than field science. By 1870 Murchison had long presided over the Royal Geographical Society, championing imperial exploration across Africa and Central Asia. The plate flatters more than it bites, befitting a subject whose establishment credentials were beyond serious challenge.