John Abbot

This article is about the entomologist and ornithologist John Abbot; for others, see John Abbott (disambiguation) .

John Abbot

John Abbot (born May 31 or June 1, 1751 in London , † December 1840 or January 1841 in Bulloch County in the US state of Georgia ) was a British entomologist and ornithologist . Its official botanical author's abbreviation is " Abbot ".

Life

Abbot was the eldest son of James Abbot and Ann Clousinger. His father furthered his interest in entomology and the arts. He later learned the profession of copperplate engraver from Jacob Bonneau (1741–1786) . As he showed himself talented as an engraver, some members of the Royal Society around Dru Drury convinced him to go to Virginia and study and collect the species there. He then stayed in Virginia from 1773 to 1775 and then moved to Georgia.

He made thousands of illustrations of insects and some of birds . Most of these are now in the Natural History Museum , the British Museum, and Harvard University . Some other parts of the graphics collection are located at Johns Hopkins University , the University of South Carolina , Emory University, and the Alexander Turnbull Library . After a few auctions, others are also privately owned. He sent his collected birds and insects to Europe, with some losses at sea discouraging him. Nevertheless, he continued to collect and paint until at least 1835.

The only publication under his own name is the book The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia , published in 1797 , the main author of which was James Edward Smith . It contains 104 stitches that were made from drawings by John Abbot. The original drawings are now at Johns Hopkins University. Most of the observations described in the book are from Abbot.

Between 1829 and 1837, the French entomologist Jean Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval (1799–1879) published together with the wealthy American naturalist John Eatton Le Conte (1784–1860) the book Histoire Générale et Iconographie, with 78 hand-colored engravings based on Abbot's drawings des Lépidoptères et des Chenilles de l'Amérique Septentrionale . Those drawings are now in the University of South Carolina.

literature

Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor , on Virginia Snakeroot, Aristolochia serpentaria , hand-colored engraving (1797)

• Arnold Mallis (1971). American Entomologists . Rutgers University Press (New Brunswick): xvii + 549 p.
• Calhoun, J. (2004). Histoire Générale et Iconographie des Lépidoptères et des Chenilles de l'Amérique septentrionale by Boisduval and Le Conte (1829- [1837]): original drawings used for the engraved plates and the true identities of four figured taxa . Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 58: 143-168.
• Calhoun, J. (2006). A glimpse into a 'flora et entomologia': The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia by JE Smith & J. Abbot (1797) . Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 60: 1-37.
• Calhoun, J. (2006). John Abbot's "lost" drawings for John E. Le Conte in the American Philosophical Society Library, Philadelphia. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 60: 211-217.
• Keir B. Sterling, Richard P. Harmond, George A. Cevasco & Lorne F. Hammond (dir.) (1997). Biographical dictionary of American and Canadian naturalists and environmentalists . Greenwood Press (Westport): xix + 937 p.
• Gilbert, P. (1998). John Abbot: birds, butterflies and other wonders . Merell Holberton (London): 128 p.
• Rogers-Price, V. (1983). John Abbot in Georgia: the vision of a naturalist artist (1751-ca.1840) . Madison-Morgan Cultural Center (Madison, Georgia): 149 p.
• Rogers-Price, V. (1997). John Abbot's birds of Georgia: selected drawings from the Houghton Library Harvard University . Beehive Press (Savannah): xlii + 26 pl.

Web links

Commons : Lepidopterous Insects in Georgia by Abbot  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Browse The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia at Botanicus.org