Prideaux John Selby

Prideaux John Selby (born July 23, 1788 in Alnwick , † March 27, 1867 in Bamburgh ) was an English ornithologist , botanist and artist .

Selby's name is mainly associated with his work Illustrations of British Ornithology (1821–1834); it was the first publication in which the birds described were depicted in life size. He was also involved in the Illustrations of Ornithology (1825-1843) and published A History of British Forest-trees (1842). Together with William Jardine and George Johnston , he founded the " Magazine of Zoology and Botany " in 1837 . In 1827 he was elected a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Many of his published illustrations show specimens from his extensive collection. In addition to the above works, he was involved with the Jardines Naturalist's Library with the volumes on doves and parrots (1835, 1836), the latter containing drawings by Edward Lear . Selby's collections were sold in 1885 and thereby torn apart; the birds of South Africa collected by the zoologist Andrew Smith went to the Museum of the University of Cambridge .

John Selby was the eldest son of George Selby of Beal and Twizell, head of a branch of the influential English Selby family, widespread in Northumberland . Selby studied from 1806 at the University College of the University of Oxford . He left the university after some time without a degree and then lived in Twizell House, his family's residence in Addestone; his father died in 1804. Selby mostly looked after the estate and sold the Beal estate in 1850. He was married to Lewis Tabitha Mitford and had three daughters with her.

literature

William Selby Church: Selby, Prideaux John . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 51: Scoffin - Sheares. MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1897, pp 210 - 211 (English).

Web links

Commons : Prideaux John Selby - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Prideaux John Selby in the catalog of the German National Library
Prideaux John Selby Gallery

Individual evidence

^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 6, 2020 .

personal data
SURNAME	Selby, Prideaux John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English ornithologist, botanist and artist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 23, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH	Alnwick
DATE OF DEATH	March 27, 1867
Place of death	Bamburgh

[1] Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 6, 2020 .