Wikidata:WikiProject PCC Wikidata Pilot/Smithsonian Libraries/Projects/Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology Portraits
Background to the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology Portraits PCC Wikidata Project
editSource pages:
Wikipedia list of the Dibner Library portraits
Scientific Identity: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology
Items will be created, or, where already existing, enhanced, for the sitters, artists, engravers, etc. featured in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology's Scientific Identity website.
The list will be supplemented later by additional portraits which were omitted from the website for various reasons (not digitized at the time, acquired later, etc.).
Purpose: To identify and create or enhance, where appropriate, Wikidata items for the subjects of the portraits (mostly scientists), the creator of the artworks (individual and/or corporate), and the artworks themselves. This information will eventually be captured for the Smithsonian Institution's internal Wikibase project, and could form the basis for an improved website featuring the Scientific Identity project.
Timeline
edit- October-December 2020: Matching the scientists in the collection to their Wikidata items
- 643 items (scientists) linked to the project property Q103505599 as of 29 December 2020
- January-May 2021: Matching the artists (engravers, illustrators, publishers of prints etc.) to their Wikidata items or creating new ones
- Spring through Summer 2021: Enhancing the scientists' Wikidata items to the extended level and adding references
Notes on further work to be done
editScientists in need of both Wikidata items and English Wikipedia articles:
- Clarence John Blake (Wikidata item done: Q101541661)
- Francis Howard Carr (Wikidata item done: Q101541786)
- Edward William Voelcker (Wikidata item done: Q102047118)
- Zanino Volta (information to identify/disambiguate this sitter is lacking, and will need to wait until the Dibner Library has reopened for on-site research)
Scientists with Wikidata items in need of English Wikipedia articles:
- Jacques Barrelier Q726962
- François Barrême Q929921
- Christian Wilhelm Buettner Q1082316
- Octave Callandreau Q3348827
- George Costard Q18534803
- William Davis (Mathematician) Q18559910
- Nicolas Deyeux Q3340258
- Wilhelm Friedrich Eisenlohr Q105483
- John Evans (astrologer) Q21296968
- John Wakefield Francis Q92694811
- Benjamin Gaillon Q513612
- Emanuel König Q1334699
- Claude-Hugues Lelièvre Q31516618
- Samuel M'Clellan Q94134807
- Daniel Melanderhjelm Q5983613
- Johann Friedrich Penther Q107504
- Balthazar Georges Sage Q2881573
- Christoph Schorer Q1085810
- Friedrich Siemens Q87276
- Leonhard Christoph Sturm Q99183
- Daniel Turner Q18810647
- Thomas Tyrer Q21556688
- Johannes Zeisold Q19965571
Problems
edit- SIL entry for scientist/sitter John Barclay (1758-1826; Q6220644) is matched with the wrong portrait of a much earlier (17th century?) sitter, with caption "Ioannes Barclaius / Jean Barclay, Academie des Sciences, de Larmessin sculp.", probably the humanist writer John Barclay (1582-1616; Q1699269)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter John Evans has the portrait for the Welsh astrologer (Q21296968) who lived from 1595-1659, but gives dates for a different person, the Welsh Divine John Evans (Q6232005)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Jean Bernoulli has garbled artist name "H.J. Fernisry" but is most likely the Swiss artist Heinrich Pfenninger (1749-1815; Q15431010)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Claude Louis Berthollet (1748-1822) has artist "Agostino Marchi, fl. 1468-1477[!]"; artist is most likely Antonio Marchi (19th century; Q83434605)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Jons Jakob Berzelius has garbled artist information: "Attributed to Suendr. And H.J. Backer (Lithographic company)" which probably should be read as "steendr. van H.J. Backer [lithograph by H.J. Backer]," for Hilmar Johannes Backer (Q18516569); also the "original artist" [or publisher of image?] is given as "Hendrik von den Huevel, fl. 18th C."; it is probably P.H. van den Heuvell; I created a new WD item for him but could find almost no biographical info other than that he was a publisher in Leiden (Q104587186)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Nathaniel Bowditch has typo in engraver's name: "J. Gorss" should be "J. Gross"; could not find an item for an artist by this name in WD during right time period & internet search turned up little biographical info except another engraving at LOC by same artist, with heading "Gross, J., active 1834"
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Thomas Britton has a typo in the name of the print artist: it's Charles Grignion, not Gringion (Q5078451)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Robert Bunson has a typo in the name of the artist: it's Joh. [=Johann] Marx (Q56745237), not Job Marx, which is what it looks like because of the flowery font.
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Christison has typos in engraver name (apparently should be C. Cook Q104708152, not G. Cook) and original artist name is Moffat, most likely John Moffat (Q52384550, not Moffet, as spelled in website)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Chladni has typo for print artist: it should be Friedrich Wilhelm Bollinger Q16739387, not J.W. Bollinger
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Condorcet has typo for print artist: should be Lemercier, not Lemercuer
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Condorcet has typo for engraver: should be L. Portman Q34454951, not Pertman
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Thomas Graham has photograph attributed to "Claudet" (misspelled Cloudet in Scientific Identity website); unclear whether the portrait is by Antoine Claudet (Q2853823) or his son, Henry Claudet (Q52503834)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Daguerre suggests one of the artists might be "T. Coit", but the image doesn't have that name; only legible name is Pobuda's Q104512259; the other is illegible
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Jean-Baptiste Dumas has garbled name for illustrator Desmaisons; should be Émile Desmaisons Q37036956, but appears in Dibner site as Emililen Desmaisons
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Leonhard Euler has typo in date of birth for artist J. Thornthwaite (Q52385188); should be ca. 1740, not 1840
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Goethe, a portrait dated 1832, has engraving/illustration attributed to Charlotte Amalia Schwerdgeburth (who died in 1831 Q52149467); but the portrait itself is signed "C.A. Schwerdgeburth" so might actually be by Carl August Schwerdgeburth (Q1036898) instead, who lived 1785-1878
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Fourcroy has typo in name of engraver: should be Pierre-Michel Alix (Q2060281), not Alip
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Robert Fulton has wrong birth/death dates for the artist Benjamin West (Q313498, 1738-1820); has confused the artist with the astronomer of the same name (Q4889371; 1730-1813)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Henri Gautier has typo in death date of the engraver Étienne-Jehandier Desrochers (Q3592223); it should be 1741, not 1641
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac has the wrong death date for the engraver Charles W. Sharpe (Q57979966), his dates are 1818-1899, so not "d. 1875(76)"
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Gilbert Davies has the wrong first name for the painter Henry Howard (Q352364), so not Howard Howard
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Pope Gregory XIII on Scientific Identity website has the artist listed as "Eiulsius"; but in image gallery it's clearly E. Hulsius (Q19753310)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Thomas Hobbes has a misspelled artist name, it should be Dobson, not Dobsen (for William Dobson, Q58303)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Joseph Dalton Hooker has garbled artist name: it should be William Rothenstein, not Rothstein (for Q2580416)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Joseph Louis Lagrange has the wrong Robert Hart as engraver: it should be the British engraver (Q104834436), not the later American artist Robert Gorsuch ["Garsuch"] Hart
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Justus Liebig has the wrong engraver ("Carl-Georg Barth, 1860-1939"); it should be Karl Barth, 1787-1853 (Q1036952)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Justus Liebig has the wrong engraver ("C. Hevera Kirmse"); it should be G. Heuer & Kirmse X. A. (Q99235071)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Carl Linne has the wrong engraver ("Christian Barth, 1842-1892"); it should be Karl Barth, 1787-1853 (Q1036952)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter John Lubbock has the wrong engraver ("Taustin"); it should be Faustin Betbeder (Q5438291)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis has the wrong painter ("R. Tourmere"); it should be Robert Tournières (Q3436426)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Daniel Melanderhjelm has the wrong engraver ("Oskar Bottjer, b. ca. 1865"); it should be Gottlieb Boettger (Q55903089)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Eilhard Mitscherlich has the wrong artist ("Hippolyte Lallemand, fl. early 19th C."); it should be Conrad L'Allemand (Q1126889)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter James Nasmyth has a typographical error in the artist name; it should be Paul Adolphe Rajon (not "Rajan"; Q3370428)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Johann Georg Palitszch has the wrong artist ("Friedrich Zimmermann, 1823-1884"); it should be Friedrich August Zimmermann, 1805-1876 (Q21033205)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Samuel Parkes has a garbled artist name ("Henry Fisher Caxton"); it should be Henry Fisher, 1781-1837 (VIAF 125080301; UK NPG mp121571), publisher in London & Liverpool, proprietor of the Caxton Press [WD entry to be created]
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Marc-Auguste Pictet has a garbled printer's name ("Taltegrain"); it should be Imprimerie Tattegrain (active circa 1821) [WD item to be created]
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Pope Pius II has a garbled artist's name ("Engraving by Bruehlse"); it should be Bruehl [or Brühl] sc. Lips. (active circa late 15th/early 16th century?); needs more research to identify
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Giambattista della Porta has a garbled artist's name ("Engraving by Pietro Beccnei, 1755-1829"); it should be Pietro Becceni (Q56707777)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Giovanni Battista Vega [also misspelled as "Giovannie Battista Venturi"] has a garbled artist's name ("Mathias Pfenniger"); it should be Matthias Pfenninger (Q19661773)
- SIL entry for scientist/sitter Ferdinand, Graf von Zeppelin has typo in photographer's name: it should be Franz Grainer [not Granier], Q99488
Data Modeling and WDQS (SPARQL)
editItem Label, Description, and Aliases (applicable for all items)
edit| Property | Value | Usage note |
|---|---|---|
| Label | ||
| Description | ||
| Alias |
Properties Related to the Portraits' Sitters
editCore properties:
edit| Property | Value | Usage Note |
|---|---|---|
| instance of (P31) | human | required |
| occupation (P106) | ||
| sex or gender (P21) | ||
| date of birth (P569) | ||
| date of death (P570) | ||
| family name (P734) | ||
| given name (P735) | ||
| Library of Congress Authority ID (LCCN) (P244) | optionally: named as (P1810) alternate names (P4970) | |
| VIAF ID (P214) | ||
| ISNI (P213) | ||
| FAST ID (P2163) | ||
| on focus list of Wikimedia Project (P5008) | Use Q103505599 |
Extended properties:
editProperties Related to the Artists
editCore properties:
editExtended properties:
edit| Property | Value | Usage Note |
|---|---|---|
| birth name (P1477) | ||
| name in native language (P1559) | ||
| place of birth (P19) | ||
| place of death (P20) | ||
| educated at (P69) | ||
| country of citizenship (P27) | ||
| field of work (P101) | ||
| genre (P136) | ||
| notable work (P800) | ||
| movement (P135) | ||
| has works in the collection (P6379) | Q1609326 for Smithsonian Libraries |
Properties related to the Artworks
editCore properties:
| Property | Value | Usage Note |
|---|---|---|
| instance of (P31) | ||
| inception (P571) | ||
| location (P276) | ||
| title (P1476) | ||
| main subject (P921) | use for the sitter | |
| creator (P170) |
Extended properties:
| Property | Value | Usage Note |
|---|---|---|
| genre (P136) | Q134307 for portrait | |
| country of origin (P495) | ||
| depicts (P180) | to list depicted items other than the sitter | |
| materials used (P186) |
Project Year-end report (Oct 2020-Sep 2021)
editThe purpose of participating in the PCC Wikidata Pilot Project was to identify the existing Wikidata items (and to create new ones, where needed) for the sitters, primarily scientists and those in related technical fields, and for the illustrators, engravers, photographers and other visual artists and publishing firms who created the portraits in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology’s collection. Although most of the sitters already had existing, well-described Wikidata items, as well as Wikipedia articles, quite a few of the artists needed items created or significantly enhanced with further statements and references. While identifying the relevant Wikidata items, I was able to review the data in the Scientific Identity website and in the Smithsonian Libraries’ Image Gallery for the portraits and their sitters, and I made notes about errors and confusions I found in the Libraries’ data in these two online resources. I tagged the Wikidata items that I matched to the Dibner’s portrait collection with the WikiProject PCC Wikidata Pilot/Smithsonian Libraries Dibner Library portraits (Q103505599), for property on focus list of Wikimedia project (P5008). The use of this property made it easy to create a spreadsheet of the pertinent items and export them via QuickStatements to the Smithsonian Libraries’ Wikibase instance, where the items can be customized for the perceived needs of the portrait collection, as well as the planned web presentation which will be built from the Wikibase data. In addition, the use of the “on focus list of Wikimedia Project” property has facilitated the creation of various SPARQL queries, with the return of 1246 (as of 2021-09-28 https://w.wiki/398C) items linked to the property in Wikidata.