Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePhotograph15 June 2018

Wooden cabinet housing Bentham's auto-icon

BabelStone · 15 June 2018

A 2018 photograph of the tall wooden cabinet at University College London that houses the auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham. It shows how his memorial is displayed today.

Shows the cabinet where Bentham's auto-icon, his preserved body, is kept, which makes it part of how his memory is presented.

Ask Jeremy Bentham about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
A tall dark wooden cabinet with two panelled doors, a brass central lock plate, and the name JEREMY BENTHAM carved in gold letters across the top. A wall panel with a diagram stands to the left, and a wooden door is visible on the right.
BabelStone, Wooden cabinet housing the auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham, UCL, 15 June 2018.

About this source

What it is

This photograph, taken by BabelStone on 15 June 2018, shows the wooden cabinet that holds Jeremy Bentham's auto-icon in the South Cloisters of the UCL main building. The name JEREMY BENTHAM is carved in gold letters across the top, and the doors have a brass central lock plate. The auto-icon was touring the USA when the photo was taken, so the cabinet stands empty of it.

Why it matters

The auto-icon is a memorial of Bentham's body, which is described in the record as a model made of his own bones. The photograph is a modern view, not a historic image, but it shows how Bentham's memory is still displayed at University College London.

Look closer

  • What does the carved name and the cabinet's design tell you about how the display wants visitors to see Bentham?
  • Why might a museum keep a memorial case like this, and what does it leave out?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jeremy Bentham on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Jeremy Bentham sources

Meet the AI Jeremy Bentham →
Title page of An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Text reads: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS AND LEGISLATION, printed in the year 1780 and now first published, by Jeremy Bentham, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire. London: printed for T. Payne and Son, at the Mews Gate, MDCCLXXXIX.Book

Primary source

An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Jeremy Bentham · 1789 (printed 1780)

Title page of Jeremy Bentham's 'Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House' (1791), showing the title, subtitle listing penitentiary houses and schools, author 'By Jeremy Bentham, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire', and imprint 'Dublin, Printed; London, reprinted; and sold by T. Payne, at the Mews Gate. 1791'.Book

Primary source

Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House

Jeremy Bentham · 1791 (letters written 1787)

Wooden cabinet case with gold lettering reading JEREMY BENTHAM, its doors open, containing a seated figure dressed in black coat, white cravat, grey trousers and a straw hat, with a wax head. The display is in a tiled hallway.Artifact

Primary source

Auto-icon of Jeremy Bentham

Thomas Southwood Smith · 1832

Dark blue cloth book cover with a white rectangular library label on the left spine area reading Trinity College Library, with a barcode and number 31761 02710574 1 printed vertically.Book

Primary source

A Fragment on Government

Jeremy Bentham · 1776

Full-length oil portrait of an elderly man with long white hair, seated in a carved wooden armchair in a dark brown fur-trimmed robe over a white shirt. A table at left holds leather-bound books, an inkwell, papers, and a rolled document against a dark background.Painting

Primary source

Jeremy Bentham

Henry William Pickersgill · c. 1829

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Jeremy Bentham now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions