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By: Thomas Sopwith (geologist and mining engineer)
Date: Probably 1840 or after
Format: Lithograph
Description: William Buckland is dressed for glacial research. He stands on glacial striations.
It is hard to see at the resolution above, but Buckland is carrying a bundle labelled "Maps of Ancient Glaciers". The ground he is standing on says "Prodigious Glacial Scratches". The label under Buckland reads, "The Rectilinear Course of these Grooves corresponds with the motions of an IMMENSE BODY the momentum of which does not allow it to change its course upon Slight Resistances.". The rocks at Buckland's feet are labelled "Specimen No. 1 Scratched by a Glacier Thirty three Thousand Three hundred & Thirty Three Years before The Creation" and "Scratched by a cart Wheel on Waterloo Bridge the day before yesterday". The scratches are in fact identical. The artist signature says "Scratched by Thomas Sopwith". According to Pemberton (2010), Sopwith has drawn Buckland as being in Wales. The sign clearly says something, but it is illegible at this resolution.
Louis Agassiz had begun promoting his theory of a great ice age in the late 1830s, and William Buckland quickly became an enthusiastic proponent. In 1840, Agassiz and Buckland toured Scotland looking for evidence of glaciation. For De la Beche's take on glacial theory, see "The Irregularities of Sol Visited Upon his System".
According to a reader Rob Gray on the Geological Society of London blog [blog.geolsoc.org.uk], Sopwith had a professional artist sketch the face, which certainly makes sense comparing the rendition of the face compared to the boots.
BUCKLAND, loquitur 1
Say, when and whence, and how, huge Mister Boulder,
And by what wondrous force has thou been rolled here?
Has some strong torrent driven thee from afar,
Or hast thou ridden on an icy car?
Which, from its native rock once torn like thee,
Has floundered many a mile throughout the sea,
And stranded thee at last upon this earth,
So distant from thy primal place of birth;
And having done its office with due care,
Was changed to vapour, and was mixed in air.
BOULDER, respondit 2
Thou great idolater of stocks and stones,
Of fossil shells, and plants, and buried bones;
Thou wise Professor, who wert ever curious
To learn the true, and to reject the spurious,
Know that in ancient days an icy band
Encompassed around the frozen land,
Until a red-hot comet, wandering near,
The strong attraction of this rolling sphere,
Struck on the mountain summit, from whence torn
I here was on a massive iceberg borne,
And many a rock, indented with sharp force,
And still seen striae, shew my ancient course;
And if you doubt it, go with friend Agassiz
And view the signs in Scotland and Swiss passes
1: "loquitur": speaks
2: "respondit" responds
Glacial striations, by the way, are well-noted among the most elite scientific circles as being "pretty awesome":
The digitized version of the lithograph used here has obviously been crudely altered to remove a flat gray background. However, it has the highest resolution and clearest text of the versions I have found online, which is why it has been used. An unmodified image of the lithograph is included below.
For more on Buckland, see his entry on the biography page.
For more on Agassiz, see his page.
Sources & further discussion:
Pemberton, S. G. (2010). History of Ichnology: The Reverend William Buckland (1784–1856) and the Fugitive Poets. Ichnos, 17(4), 246-263. Link [tandfonline.com]
Ted Nield. (Aug 21, 2014). "A new version of Sopwith’s Buckland portrait?" on the The Geological Society of London blog. Link [blog.geolsoc.org.uk]
For a description of the British reaction to glacial theory, Boylan, P. J. (1998). Lyell and the dilemma of Quaternary glaciation. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 143(1), 145-159. Link [sp.lyellcollection.org]
Images yoinked from:
The Wellcome Collection [wellcomecollection.org]
Clary, R. M. (2017). Controversies in the history of geology and their educational importance for facilitating understanding of the nature of science. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 442(1), 189-198. Link [sp.lyellcollection.org]
Louis Agassiz had begun promoting his theory of a great ice age in the late 1830s, and William Buckland quickly became an enthusiastic proponent. In 1840, Agassiz and Buckland toured Scotland looking for evidence of glaciation. For De la Beche's take on glacial theory, see "The Irregularities of Sol Visited Upon his System".
According to a reader Rob Gray on the Geological Society of London blog [blog.geolsoc.org.uk], Sopwith had a professional artist sketch the face, which certainly makes sense comparing the rendition of the face compared to the boots.
Many sources say that Buckland is simply dressed in field gear, but I wonder if part of the joke is that he is dressed in heavy winter clothes while investigating glaciers that are no longer present.
Pemberton (2010) reproduces a poem by Buckland's close friend Philip Duncan, in which Buckland questions a glacial erratic about its origins:
Pemberton (2010) reproduces a poem by Buckland's close friend Philip Duncan, in which Buckland questions a glacial erratic about its origins:
BUCKLAND, loquitur 1
Say, when and whence, and how, huge Mister Boulder,
And by what wondrous force has thou been rolled here?
Has some strong torrent driven thee from afar,
Or hast thou ridden on an icy car?
Which, from its native rock once torn like thee,
Has floundered many a mile throughout the sea,
And stranded thee at last upon this earth,
So distant from thy primal place of birth;
And having done its office with due care,
Was changed to vapour, and was mixed in air.
BOULDER, respondit 2
Thou great idolater of stocks and stones,
Of fossil shells, and plants, and buried bones;
Thou wise Professor, who wert ever curious
To learn the true, and to reject the spurious,
Know that in ancient days an icy band
Encompassed around the frozen land,
Until a red-hot comet, wandering near,
The strong attraction of this rolling sphere,
Struck on the mountain summit, from whence torn
I here was on a massive iceberg borne,
And many a rock, indented with sharp force,
And still seen striae, shew my ancient course;
And if you doubt it, go with friend Agassiz
And view the signs in Scotland and Swiss passes
1: "loquitur": speaks
2: "respondit" responds
Glacial striations, by the way, are well-noted among the most elite scientific circles as being "pretty awesome":
 |
| Overlapping sets of glacial striations on smoothed puddingstone(!) Behind a mall in Eastern Massachusetts. Photo from the curator's own collection. |
For more on Buckland, see his entry on the biography page.
For more on Agassiz, see his page.
Other versions:
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| Unaltered copy of Costume (lower res) From Clary (2017) Click image to view larger |
Sources & further discussion:
Pemberton, S. G. (2010). History of Ichnology: The Reverend William Buckland (1784–1856) and the Fugitive Poets. Ichnos, 17(4), 246-263. Link [tandfonline.com]
Ted Nield. (Aug 21, 2014). "A new version of Sopwith’s Buckland portrait?" on the The Geological Society of London blog. Link [blog.geolsoc.org.uk]
For a description of the British reaction to glacial theory, Boylan, P. J. (1998). Lyell and the dilemma of Quaternary glaciation. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 143(1), 145-159. Link [sp.lyellcollection.org]
Images yoinked from:
The Wellcome Collection [wellcomecollection.org]
Clary, R. M. (2017). Controversies in the history of geology and their educational importance for facilitating understanding of the nature of science. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 442(1), 189-198. Link [sp.lyellcollection.org]
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