A meeting of the Royal Society at Somerset House

A meeting of Fellows of the Royal Society at Somerset House (the home of the Royal Society from 1780-1857). The interior view shows an ornate candle-lit room, the walls lined with portraits of Fellows. The attendees sit on benches facing the President of the Royal Society who conducts proceedings, the Royal Society mace rests on a table in the centre of the room. A voting box is being handed around. Engraved by Henry Melville after a drawing by Frederick William Fairholt, produced as a plate for London interiors: A Grand National Exhibition, by J. Mead (London, 1844).