Language Gallery

Birstall, W Yorkshire - Unveiling statue of Joseph Priestly

Birstall, W Yorkshire - Unveiling the statue of Joseph Priestly on 12th October 1912 - at this point the unveiling party had adjourned to the Temperance Hall. Following the tragic assassination of the MP Jo Cox on 16th June 2016 (almost within sight of this statue), thousands of flowers were placed around it in remembrance. Priestly (1733-1804) was a 18th-century English theologian, dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and Liberal political theorist who supported the French Revolution and campaigned for the legal and civic rights of Dissenters. In Jo Cox's humanitarian campaigning can almost been seen a distant echo of Priestly, making the recent spontaneous memorial very apt indeed. Date: 1912

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

Plague doctor, 18th century

Plague doctor. 18th-century artwork of the costume worn by a plague doctor, or any doctor dealing with quarantined patients. The costume's bronze mask contained herbs and reduced exposure to bad air, as did gloves, an oiled undergarment and cloak. This costume is from Marseilles, France, and dates from 1720. This artwork is based on one from De La Peste observe en Egypte (1840) by the French physician Antoine Barthelemy Clot (1793-1868)

© SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Development of the English alphabet

Development of the English alphabet. The Old Greek alphabet derived from Phoenician and was in use by 900-800 BC. A western variant, known as the Euboean or Cumae alphabet, was used between the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The Etruscans adopted it and spread writing within the Italic peninsula, leading to the development of the Latin alphabet by the Romans. Uncial was used by Latin and Greek scribes (4th and 8th centuries AD) and was written in capitals, as other alphabets. Minuscule cursive (lower case) script developed from rapidly written versions of uncial, incorporating the linking of letters in the 4th century AD. Table from The Story of the Alphabet (Edward Clodd, 1900)

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY