Edited by Tim McLoughlin

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Letter from SOCIETY OF ARTS to JAMES BARRY, written 6 May 1805, at Adelphi, London

Source: MS James Barry Papers and Letters, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. [img] Addressee on the reverse: Ja^s James Barry Esq

Barry later used the invitation as paper on which to draft a new letter.

This printed invitation to a Committee meeting of the Society of Arts includes certain hand-written details; it is addressed by hand to Barry and is signed in person by the Secretary to the Society, Charles Taylor.1

Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce.
Adelphi the 6.^th of May 1805.

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you, that a
Committee of Polite Arts2 is appointed for
Friday3 next, at Seven o'Clock in the
Evening, precisely, to take into Consideration the
appointing the Time when the Candidates
for Bounties4 are to attend and other Matters5
at which Time the Favour of your Attendance is
requested.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,

Show/Hide other notes [why?]

1 ^
Charles Taylor] Charles Taylor (d.1816), a chemist from Manchester, succeeded as Secretary to the Society on the death of Samuel More in 1799; his portrait was printed facing the title-page of the Society's Transactions, 1817, vol. xxxv. [img]

2 ^
Committee of Polite Arts] The Society had six committees, reflecting the scope of its work: Polite Arts, Agriculture, Manufactures, Mechanics, Chemistry, Colonies and Trade; Polite Arts 'included painting, drawing, sculpture, die-sinking, designs for manufactures, and also, to a certain extent, literature' ( Henry Trueman Wood, A History of the Royal Society of Arts (London, 1913), p.236). 'Polite Arts' inserted by hand.

3 ^
Friday] Inserted by hand.

4 ^
Candidates for Bounties] The Society made an annual award of prizes, known as bounties or premiums; candidates were invited to join members at a meeting of the appropriate committee at which each candidate presented his work; this was discussed 'first in his presence, and then after his withdrawal'. The committee's verdict was presented 'at the next ordinary Wednesday meeting of the Society' (Wood, A History of the Royal Society of Arts, p. 237).

5 ^
other Matters] The words 'the appointing the Time...other Matters' are inserted by hand.