a. A View from Merton College, Oxford, b. A View from Merton College, Oxford

Two views of members of Merton College. In plate ‘a’ a tall, slim man peers earnestly to the left. He wears academic robes over civilian dress, has a sharp featured face and an ill fitting brown toupet covering his bald crown. M. D. George has identified this figure as Samuel Kilner (1732-1815) Fellow of Merton, but this is unlikely as Dighton has caricatured a young man, and Kilner would have been 76 at the time this likeness was published. In plate ‘b’ a tall, skinny, stooped young man, wearing academic dress and mortar board, stands in profile to the right. He is Winchcombe Hartley, who matriculated in 1806 aged 18 and was one of the youngest Fellows of Merton from 1808-13. BM 11072, 11073.