Throughout its first two decades in print, the leading journal in the History of Science, Isis, published numerous portraits of scientists, facsimiles of medallions depicting scientists, and advertisements concerning the construction of commemorative statues in honor of scientists, some recently deceased, others long passed.
This paper—a component of a broader history of image use within the History of Science—explores practices of portrait collecting, publication, and dissemination within Isis and among its contributors, and examines the crucial role these images played in the establishment of professional networks and scholarly habits in the early years of the discipline.