Henry Creswicke Rawlinson was born in 1810 in Oxfordshire. He sailed to India 1827, to take up a cadetship in the East India Company's army. In 1833 he was sent to Persia with other British officers to organise and train the Persian army. It was during his duty in Persia that he first saw the great trilingual cuneiform inscription at Behistun (Bisitun) and began his work on cuneiform decipherment. In 1839 the British military officers were withdrawn as a result of a change in Persian foreign policy.
In 1841, Rawlinson joined the British military contingent in Afghanistan, where he was stationed at Kandahar as political agent (consul). When the Afghans rose against the British, he was required to organise the defence of Kandahar, which he did successfully. In 1842, on his return from Afghanistan, much of his property, including most of his papers, was lost when a river boat caught fire on the river Sutlej. In 1843, Rawlinson was posted to Baghdad as political agent, where he spent the rest of his East India Company career, and resumed work on cuneiform inscriptions. He returned to England from 1849-1851 on sick leave. But in 1851 he was entrusted by the Trustees of the British Museum with supervision of the archaeological excavations at Nimrud after A H Layard abandoned archaeology for a career in politics and diplomacy. He also conducted excavations on his own account in other places.
In 1855 he was relieved of his post at Baghdad and returned to England permanently. Almost immediately the Trustees of the British Museum applied to the Government for a special grant to fund the publication of lithographic reproductions of the cuneiform inscriptions in their collections under Rawlinson's editorship. In 1856 he was appointed a Crown Director of the East India Company. he also received a baronetcy. In 1858 he became MP for Reigate, but resigned after a few months to take up a seat on the newly-formed Council for India.
In 1859 Rawlinson was appointed Ambassador to Tehran, which involved his resigning his seat on the Council for India. He resigned from this position in 1860. in September 1862 he married Louisa Caroline Harcourt Seymour and in 1865 became MP for Frome. He held the seat until 1868 when he rejoined the Council for India, a post which he held to the end of his life.
His wife Louisa died in 1889 which seemed to have deeply affected Rawlinson. Concern for his father's well-being led to their son, Henry Seymour, resigning his post in India to continue his military career in England. Rawlinson died at the beginning of 1895.
The Wyvern Bindery is a small bindery situated on Hoxton Street, London, dedicated to preserving high standards of craftsmanship. Using traditional skills, they aim to produce quality work tailor made to our client's specific requirements for design, budget and deadline. It moved to the Hoxton Street premises in 2020 having previously been situated on Clerkenwell Road.
The ALM London was a government funded body acting as a strategic adviser for archives, libraries and museums in London.
Deirdre Mulley was educated at UCW Aberystwyth, The University of Edinburgh, Gateshead Technical College and the Courtauld Institute followed by a studentship at the Tate Gallery. She has previously run the studio at The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, and a conservation advisory service for South Eastern Museums Service. She is a PACR Accredited Conservator, by Icon, the professional body for conservation in the UK. Deirdre Mulley has extensive experience in assisting a diverse range of private collectors, museums, art galleries, historic homes, churches and other institutions in ensuring their collections will be conserved for future generations. (Information taken from her website: https://www.mulley.adrianbe.com/.)
Camberwell College of Arts is now part of the University of Arts, London. It was established as the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1898, and adopted its present name in 1989.
Simon Fenwick is a consultant archivist and freelance editor and writer.
Michael Faraday was an English physicist and chemist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Faraday had only a basic school education and at the age of 14, became an apprentice to George Riebau, a bookbinder and bookseller. During his seven-year apprenticeship Faraday read many books, including Isaac Watts's The Improvement of the Mind and held discussions with his peers in the City Philosophical Society, where he attended lectures. He also developed an interest in science, especially in electricity. Faraday was particularly inspired by the book Conversations on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.
In 1812, at the age of 20 and at the end of his apprenticeship, Faraday attended lectures by the eminent English chemist Humphry Davy of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society, and John Tatum, founder of the City Philosophical Society. Faraday subsequently sent Davy a 300-page book based on notes he had taken during these lectures. In 1813, when Davy damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride, he employed Faraday as an assistant. and as a Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution.
In June 1832, the University of Oxford granted Faraday an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree. During his lifetime, he was offered a knighthood in recognition for his services to science, which he turned down on religious grounds. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824, he twice refused to become President. He became the first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution in 1833. He continued his research but after retirement in 1858 Faraday lived at his house at Hampton Court and died there on 25 August 1867, aged 75.