Archimedes as an Advertising Symbol

Abstract

The Cover Design ARCHIMEDES AS AN ADVERTISING SYMBOL D.J. BRYDEN AND D.L. SIMMS The numbering of houses in the streets of London commenced during the latter half of the 18th century. Before that, traders relied on signs to identify their whereabouts. In the 1670s John Yarwell, sometime Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, adopted “Archimedes” as his business sign at premises in St. Paul’s Churchyard and from the 1690s in Ludgate Street. The sign was complemented by an attribute of the opticians’ trade, such as “Spec­ tacles” or “Golden Prospects.”1 Yarwell used the name and a sketch of Archimedes on his trade cards, handbills, and other advertisements. His earliest surviving ephemeron shows Archimedes viewing the heavens through a tele­ scope, clutching what may be a celestial globe in his right hand (fig. 1). All but two of his surviving trade cards used this sketch of Archimedes, but with different dates and associated graphics. For example, on adopting the sign “Archimedes and Three Golden Prospects,” he added three split-spectacle frames.2 Yarwell crossed swords with a younger rival, John Marshall, on a number of occasions, most sharply over Yarwell’s unfounded claim to Marshall’s invention of the new method of grinding lenses in batches.3 Marshall chose to trade from the “Archimedes and Spectacles in Ludgate Street, Near the West-End of St. Paul’s.” Later the “Specta­ cles” became “Golden,” and later still the number doubled. His graphics were more imaginative and elaborate than Yarwell’s. His last Mr. Bryden is keeper of the Department of Science, Technology and Working Life at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. Dr. Simms is retired from the United Kingdom Department of the Environment. 'A fuller account is given in D. J. Bryden and D. L. Simms, “Archimedes and the Opticians of London,” Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society (in press). The original is in the Pepys Collection, Magdalene College, Cambridge. We read the date as 1671; others prefer 1675. The exceptions are illustrated by R. S. Whipple, “John Yarwell, or the Story of a Trade Card,” Annals of Science 7 (1951): 62-69, plates 8 and 9. ’D.J. Bryden and D. L. Simms, “Spectacles Improved to Perfection and Approved of by the Royal Society,” Annals of Science 50, no. 1 (1993): 1-32.© 1993 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/93/3402-0005$01.00 387 388 D. J. Bryden and D. L. Simms Fig. 1.—An engraved graphic (outlined by Samuel Pepys), from a 1671 John Yarwell handbill. Set in opposing roundels at the foot of the frame are the letters Y/IM (derived from Yarwell’s name and the combination of his and his wife’s initials) and the date. At the head is a crown and beneath it the monogram ofCharles II. To left and right of the frame are the royal coat of arms and the arms ofthe City ofLondon, and in each corner are pairs of split spectacles. (Pepys Collection; courtesy of the Master and Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge.) surviving card is sumptuously engraved (fig. 2). An ornate border, surrounding blocks of text in English, French, and German, is decorated with a montage ofoptical instruments. Archimedes is at the head, more sharply drawn than in Yarwell’s material, flanked by figures of a man reading a book with the help of a large magnifier and a woman wearing a pair of bridge spectacles to aid her sewing. The Hanoverian arms surmounted by a crown mark Marshall’s appoint­ ment as optician to George I in or after 1715. His trade sign was then changed to “Archimedes and Kings Arms.” Yarwell might well have felt chagrin at Marshall’s tactics in appro­ priating the name “Archimedes,” which his advertising had made familiar to customers looking for spectacles and optical instruments. Ralph Sterrop, as Yarwell’s partner and successor, could legitimately claim the right. Sterrop and his successor Joseph Hurt retained the name, although Hurt (post-1736) changed the portrait. Ill ME UK THE 01 j)ES F S HOP ( SZ>////( ZZz/ZyZ/ZZZZ.ZZZzzZzV'/Z'( yZ'Z ''i H>ZtZ(///st...