2-714-128 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Daniel Lambert, of Surprising Corpulency', 1821. Portrait of Daniel (1770-1809), keeper of Leicester gaol. In 1805, Lambert weighed 50 stone (320 kg), at the time the heaviest authenticated person in recorded history. After the gaol closed, poverty forced Lambert to put himself on exhibition in London to raise money. He charged spectators to meet him, and was able to return to Leicester where he bred sporting dogs. From "Wonderful Characters: Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation", Vol. I, by Henry Wilson. [J. Robins and Co. Albion Press, London, 1821]