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The picture, reconstructed from contemporary prints, represents the meeting in June 1849, at which the suggestion was made to the Prince which led to the inauguration by the Society of Arts of the Great Exhibition of 1851. By Miss Anna Zinkeisen, RDI.

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

Part of a pack of ten, all with slightly different designs. Developed from an original Christmas card design sold by the RSA in 1991

The Society signed the building agreement with Robert and James Adam on 21st March 1772, and the foundation stone of the House was laid (at its west end) exactly a week later. The work was finished 'most justly and faithfully' to the specifications in April 1774 and the Society took occupation during the following June. The building with pilatered facade which close the view at the end of John Street still survives virtually unchanged. Adelphi Terrace (on the extreme right of the picture) was demolished in 1936. In the group appearing in the left foreground Robert Adam is displaying his design for the front elevation of the House to Members of the Society, whilst his brother James, also carrying plans, points toward the site. 56,700 copies sold.

The view of the painting as a whole is taken from somewhere near the site of the present Waterloo Bridge and shows the Royal Terrace just after completion. The Terrace was the major portion of the Adam Brothers' Adelphi scheme, which involved the reclamation of this part of the river and the construction also of John Street, Adam Street and Robert Street, which was not yet built when the picture was painted. A number of members of the Society of Arts had Adelphi addresses at this period, including Robert and James Adam and David Garrick. The Terrace was demolished in 1936 to make way for the building then inscribed Adelphi, arrogating the name of an entire district. Of the true Adelphi only the Society's own premises, Robert Street and some houses in Adam Street survive. Reproduced by permission of the Museum of London. 34,000 copies sold

William Shipley is shown selling winter fuel to the poor at summer prices in a street called the Drapery, in the centre of the town, where he had lodgings and a studio for his professional work as an artist and drawing master from 1747 until 1753. He is being assisted in his calculations by some of the richer Northampton residents who had, after some years' canvass, agreed to subscribe to his fund. The success of his scheme to defeat the Northampton fuel profiteers made Shipley persevere with his plan to raise a national fund for rewarding useful inventions and artistic excellence and in 1753 he came to London with the express purpose of founding a Society of Arts. 28,200 copies sold.

Founder and first Secretary of the Society. Minature presented to the Society in 1786, the inscription beneath is based on that of an original copper-plate engraving of the minature executed by Hincks himself. 11,800 copies sold.

During the 1920's the Society mounted a campaign for the preservation of ancient cottages. It was supported by the then Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, by Thomas Hardy and by many other prominent men of the day. Considerable funds were raised and amongst those buildings which the Society was successful in saving were the three Thomas a Becket cottages near Worthing, Sussex, the group known as Arlington Row at Bilbury in Gloucestershire and some 30 half timbered cottages near Shrewsbury. The major achievement of the campaign was the purchase in 1929 of West Wycombe, which though picturesque, was then in a very poor and neglected condition and about to be put up for sale in sixty lots. In the course of a few years the village was put into good order and in February 1934 the Society formally handed it over to the National Trust for permanent preservation. A plaque commemorating this achievement, reproduced on the back of the card, is affixed to the archway leading into the courtyard of the former Black Boy Inn in West Wycombe. 67,972 copies sold.