FLO4568731: Portrait of actor Joseph Vernon, in the role of Thurio, in the play Les Deux Gentilshommes de Verone by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The character is dressed in stockings, wearing a cape with a large lace collar, playing lute. Vernon began in 1750 and continued his career until 1781, but was considered a second-rank actor. Drawing by James Roberts, engraving published in “” Bell's Shakespeare””, John Bell, 1776, London, England. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4568785: Portrait of actress Charlotte Ann Twistleton (nee Wattell) in 1798, at the height of her glory. She met her husband Thomas, Lord de Say and Sele, in a private theatre and began her career on the professional stage in 1793. Against the family's will, she worked at Covent Garden where she had a relationship with Mr. Stein, who led her to divorce in 1798. She continued her career in theatre, then her trace was lost in America in the 1800s. Engraving by Ridley, based on a painting by W.Naish, in The Monthly Mirror, published in Covent Garden, London, 1796. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4569087: Diving bell with two divers on board, circa 1820. An improved version of Edmond Halley's diving bell, this hermetically sealed diving chamber was supplied by air through a copper pipe from the surface. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from Friedrich Johann Bertuch's Bilderbuch fur Kinder (Picture Book for Children), Weimar, 1823. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4569374: Pink and crimson everblooming roses, Rosa semperflorens. Handcoloured copperplate engraving from an illustration drawn from nature by Stark from Bertuch's “” Bilderbuch fur Kinder”” (Picture Book for Children), Weimar, 1790-1830. Friedrich Johann Bertuch (1747-1822) was a German publisher and man of arts most famous for his 12-volume encyclopedia for children illustrated with 1,200 engraved plates on natural history, science, costume, mythology, etc. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4569620: Broad leaved pitcairnia, Pitcairnia bifrons, native to South and Central America. Handcoloured stipple engraving on copper by Barrois from a botanical illustration by Pancrace Bessa from Mordant de Launay's “Herbier General de l'Amateur,” Audot, Paris, 1820. The Herbier was published from 1810 to 1827 and edited by Mordant de Launay and Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. Bessa (1772-1830s), along with Redoute and Turpin, is considered one of the greatest English botanical artists of the 19th century. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4569624: Fiddlehead jatropha, Jatropha pandurifolia. Handcoloured stipple engraving on copper by Guyard Pater from a botanical illustration by Pancrace Bessa from Mordant de Launay's “Herbier General de l'Amateur,” Audot, Paris, 1820. The Herbier was published from 1810 to 1827 and edited by Mordant de Launay and Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. Bessa (1772-1830s), along with Redoute and Turpin, is considered one of the greatest English botanical artists of the 19th century. / Bridgeman Images
FLO4569680: Pickerel weed, Pontederia cordata, native to North America. Handcoloured stipple engraving on copper by Barrois from a botanical illustration by Pancrace Bessa from Mordant de Launay's “Herbier General de l'Amateur,” Audot, Paris, 1820. The Herbier was published from 1810 to 1827 and edited by Mordant de Launay and Loiseleur-Deslongchamps. Bessa (1772-1830s), along with Redoute and Turpin, is considered one of the greatest English botanical artists of the 19th century. / Bridgeman Images