Charles Davies Sherborn

Charles Davies Sherborn (born June 30, 1861 in Chelsea (London) , † June 22, 1942 ) was a British zoologist and taxonomist.

He was the eldest son of engraver Charles William Sherborn and had to leave school at the age of 14 to work. He collected shells, fossils and stones and worked in a bookstore and then for a tailor near the Museum of Practical Geology. He worked for the Natural History Museum from 1888 , most of the time unpaid. At first he was entrusted with the preparation of fossils, whereby he was paid by the number of pieces. He was not married (but engaged for 10 years) and lived in very modest financial circumstances, although he had inherited a country estate from a relative, which he never moved. For many years it was regarded as a reliable contact point in the library for information on zoological literature and taxonomy.

In 43 years Sherborn created the extensive Index Animalium , the directory of all recent or fossil animal species described between 1758 and 1850, including literature references for the first description. The starting point in 1758 was chosen after the publication of the definitive 10th edition of the Systema naturae by Carl von Linné . It comprises 9,000 pages in 11 volumes and 440,000 names. The work is a standard work to this day. Initially, the model was the Index Kewensis for flowering plants. Despite the efforts of the British Association for the Advancement of Science , funding for Sherborn's work was meager and at first he could only devote himself to working on the index during the night.

Around 400 books and publications come from him. He also arranged the scientific estate of Richard Owen , the founder of the Natural History Museum , and contributed to Owens' grandson Richard S. Owen's biography.

From 1936 until his death he was the first president of the Society for the History of Natural History. He was an honorary doctorate from Oxford University .

He collected books and antiques.

Fonts

Index animalium sive index nominum quae from ad MDCCLVIII generibus et speciebus animalium imposita sunt. Sectio prima a kalendis Ianuariis, MDCCLVIII usque ad finem Decembris, MDCCC. - pp. i-lix [= 1-59], 1-1195. Cantabrigae. Cambridge University Press, 1902 (first volume of 11, last 1933)
with Arthur Smith Woodward : A catalog of British fossil vertebrata, London 1890

literature

Derek Sherborn: An Inspector Recalls: Saving Our Heritage, The Book Guild Ltd. 2003, ISBN 1-85776-564-8 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Sherborn, Charles Davies
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British zoologist and taxonomist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 30, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chelsea (London)
DATE OF DEATH	June 22, 1942