Caption:
'John Elwes. The Remarkable Miser', 1821. Portrait of English MP John Elwes (also John Meggot or Meggott, 1714-1789). "Elwes the Miser" was a noted eccentric, and may have been the inspiration for the character of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". 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]