George Edwards (naturalist)
George Edwards (born April 3, 1694 , † July 23, 1773 ) was an English naturalist and ornithologist , known as the "father of British ornithology ".
Life
Edwards was born in Stratford , Essex . After a seven-year apprenticeship with a London merchant (until 1716), he traveled extensively to mainland Europe , studied natural history and became known for his colored depictions of animals, especially birds. He had learned the technique of etching from the natural historian Mark Catesby . On the recommendation of Sir Hans Sloane , he became a Pedell (English Bedell ) of the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1733 . Edwards described himself as the Keeper of the College Library although there was officially no such position.
Around 1764 Edwards retired to Plaistow , where he died in 1773.
Publications
In 1743 he published the first volume of his A Natural History of Birds , the fourth volume of which appeared in 1751. Three supplementary volumes, entitled Gleanings of Natural History , were published between 1758 and 1764. Together, both works contain more than 600 etchings and descriptions of natural history subjects.
Linnaeus often used Edwards' first-time descriptions as the basis for the scientific naming of numerous bird species. A German translation of the Natural History of Birds was printed a few years after its publication by the Nuremberg illustrator Johann Michael Seligmann .
Other works by George Edwards are Essays of Natural History (1770) and Elements of Fossilogy: or, An Arrangement of Fossils, Into Classes, Orders, Genera, and Species; With Their Characters. (1776).
Awards
Edwards was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society for A Natural History of Birds in 1750 . The puff adder dogfish Haploblepharus edwardsii was named after Edwards, who first described this species.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Correspondence between George Edwards and Carl von Linné
- George Edwards: The Bedell and his Birds Online Exhibition Catalog of the Royal College of Physicians, London. (engl.)
- Animal Base SUB Göttingen Links to Digitisaten Natural History of Birds
- Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture Digitisate Natural History of Birds and Gleanings of Natural History .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Edwards, George |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English ornithologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1694 |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 23, 1773 |