Samuel March Phillipps to Faraday   4 July 1838

Whitehall July 4th 1838

Sir,

Addresses to the Queen, from Artists and others connected with the Fine Arts, praying, "that the Cartoons of Raphael may be removed from Hampton Court, and placed in the National Gallery", having been transmitted to Lord John Russell1 for presentation, His Lordship is desirous, previously to His submitting these Addresses to Her Majesty, to have the Opinion of the most eminent Chemists, as to the probable effect of the atmospheric Action of the Metropolis on works of this nature, more especially on the Cartoons, with reference to their present apparently decayed state.

I am therefore directed by Lord John Russell, to express His wish to be favoured with your Opinion, whether the exposure of the Cartoons to the atmospheric Air of the Metropolis is likely to be prejudicial to them2.

I am | Sir, | Your Obedient Servant | S.M. Phillipps

Michael Faraday Esq | D.C.L | &c &c &c | Royal Institution

1
Lord John Russell (1792-1878, DNB). Home Secretary, 1835-1839.
2
The cartoons were not moved until 1865 when they were placed in the South Kensington Museum and are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. See Thomson, W.G. (1973), 194.

Please cite as “Faraday1099,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday1099