The growth of the Fellowship

Unlike the Academies of Science in most other countries where they exist, the Royal Society is not restricted by the terms of its Charters in the number of candidates which may be admitted to the Fellowship. The selection and election of candidates is left to the absolute discretion of the President, Council and Fellows of the Society. The manner in which they have carried out this duty in the past is of special interest in studying the growth of the Society. From its foundation the Society was absolutely dependent upon its own resources, for it had neither a subvention from the State nor were its publications printed by an official printing press, advantages which other national academies have usually enjoyed. The subscriptions of its Fellows and occasional gifts and bequests were all that the Council could look to for meeting the growing expenses of the young Society. The development of an adequate membership was therefore imperative, and long engaged the Councils attention.