Sir Charles Lyell

A carte-de-visite portrait of Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875), one of the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism – the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation today. Lyell was a close and influential friend of Charles Darwin.

Photographed by Horatio Nelson King of Bath.