Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts or RSA, is a London-based organization. It was founded in 1754 by William Shipley as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, was granted a Royal Charter in 1847 and gained the right to use the term Royal in its name in 1908. Its founding mission was to embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve manufactures and extend commerce, and it stimulated invention by offering prizes and medals. Its members, called Fellows from 1914, have been elected from around the world, and the society has been known by names such as the Premium Society and the Society of Arts and Sciences. In this atlas it appears as the society that awarded the toolmaker Joseph Clement its gold medal in 1818, its gold Isis medal in 1827 and a silver medal the next year.