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Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 – 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Early life and education Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He started studying botanical science when he was eighteen. In 1781 he enrolled in the medical course at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied chemistry under Joseph Black, natural history under John Walker, and botany under John Hope, an early teacher of Linnaean taxonomy. He moved to London in 1783 to continue his studies and became a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, who was offered the entire collection of books, manuscripts and specimens of the Swedish natural historian and botanist Carl Linnaeus following the death of his son Carolus Linnaeus the Younger. Banks declined the purchase, but Smith borrowed money from his father and bought the collection for the price of £1,000 in 1784. Smith was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1785. Academic caree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roscoea
''Roscoea'' is a genus of perennial plants of the family (biology), family Zingiberaceae (the ginger family). While most members of the ginger family are tropical, ''Roscoea'' species are native to cooler mountainous regions of the Himalayas, China and its southern neighbours. ''Roscoea'' flowers superficially resemble orchids, although they are not related. The flowers of ''Roscoea'' have a complicated structure, in which some of the showy coloured parts are not formed by petals, but by staminodes, sterile stamens which have evolved to resemble petals. Some species are grown as ornamental plants in gardens. Description ''Roscoea'' is found from Kashmir through the Himalayas to Vietnam, extending northwards into China. There are up to 22 recognized species, of which 8 are endemic to China. Typically they grow in grassland, in Scree, screes or on the edges of deciduous woodland at heights of , coming into growth at the start of the monsoon season. Species of ''Roscoea'' are sma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Sowerby
James Sowerby (21 March 1757 – 25 October 1822) was an English natural history, naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Contributions to published works, such as ''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'' or ''English Botany'', include his detailed and appealing plates. The use of vivid colour and accessible texts was intended to reach a widening audience in works of natural history. Biography James Sowerby was born in Lambeth, London, his parents were named John and Arabella. Having decided to become a painter of flowers his first venture was with William Curtis, whose ''Flora Londinensis'' he illustrated. Sowerby studied art at the Royal Academy and took an apprenticeship with Richard Wright. He married Anne Brettingham De Carle and they were to have four daughters and three sons: James De Carle Sowerby (1787–1871), George Brettingham Sowerby I (1788–1854) and Charles Edward Sowerby (1795–1842), the Sowerby family of naturalists. His sons and theirs were to contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Abbot (entomologist)
John Abbot (1751) was an American naturalist and artist. He was the first artist in the New World to create an extensive series of insect drawings and to show insects in all stages of development. In addition to more than 3,000 insect illustrations, he also produced drawings of birds and plants. To facilitate his work he collected a great number of insects and reared thousands more. He was considered one of the best insect illustrators of his era and his art and insect collections were sold to an eager market in London.Sorensen 2005Mallis 1971 Early life By his own recollection, Abbot was born in London on June 1, 1751 but parish records indicate his birthday on May 31. He was the eldest son of James Abbot, a successful attorney, and Ann (Clousinger) Abbot. He grew up in a fashionable London neighborhood of Bennet Street, St. James, and spent part of his time at his family's country house. He was tutored at home and showed an early interest in collecting and drawing. Abbot studied ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich City Council local authority area was estimated to be 144,000 in 2021, which was an increase from 143,135 in 2019. The wider Norwich List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area had a population of 213,166 at the 2011 census. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of Norwich, the city has one of the country's largest medieval cathedrals. For much of the second millennium, from medieval to just before Industrial Revolution, industrial times, Norwich was one of the most prosperous and largest towns of England; at one point, it was List of towns and cities in England by historical population, second only to London. Today, it is the largest settlement in East Anglia. Heritage and status Norwich claims to be the most complete medie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linnean Society Of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes. A product of the Age of Enlightenment, 18th-century enlightenment, the society is the oldest extant biological society in the world and is historically important as the venue for the first public presentation of the theory of evolution by natural selection on 1 July 1858. The patron of the society is Anne, Princess Royal. Honorary members include: King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Emeritus Emperor Akihito of Japan, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (both of the latter have active interests in natural history), and the eminent naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenboroug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Forbes Royle
John Forbes Royle (10 May 1798 – 2 January 1858), British Botany, botanist and teacher of materia medica (pharmacology), was born in Kanpur (then Cawnpore) in India in 1798. He was in charge of the botanical garden at Saharanpur and played a role in the development of economic botany in India. Early life John Forbes Royle was the only son of William Henry Royle and Isabella Forbes. While still a child, his father died and Royle studied under Sangster of Haddington before going to study at Edinburgh high school. He was influenced by Anthony Todd Thomson to take an interest in botany and natural history. This led him to give up a military career at Addiscombe and to choose to study medicine. He joined the service of the British East India Company, East India Company as assistant surgeon and went to Calcutta in 1819. He served with the Bengal army (at various times with the 17th and 87th Regiments, Native Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry) at Dum Dum and in parts of the North-Weste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Roscoe
William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast''. In his day he was also respected as a historian and art collector, as well as a botanist and miscellaneous writer. Early life He was born in Liverpool, where his father, a market gardener, kept a public house called the Bowling Green at Mount Pleasant. Roscoe left school at the age of twelve, having learned all that his schoolmaster could teach. He assisted his father in the work of the garden, but spent his leisure time on reading and study. Later, he wrote: :This mode of life gave health and vigour to my body, and amusement and instruction to my mind; and to this day I well remember the delicious sleep which succeeded my labours, from which I was again called at an early hour. If I were now asked whom I consid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Botany
English Botany was a significant botanical publication comprising 36 volumes, issued in 267 monthly parts between 1790 and 1814. Conceived, illustrated, edited, and published by James Sowerby, the work featured technical descriptions primarily provided by Sir James Edward Smith, founder of the Linnean Society. Initially reluctant to associate his name with the project due to Sowerby’s lower social status, Smith later insisted on being credited as the author after its widespread success. Despite this social dynamic, the two maintained a productive collaboration. The publication, commonly known as ''Sowerby’s Botany'', became the most comprehensive illustrated flora of Great Britain at the time, renowned for its detailed hand-coloured engravings and accessible commentary. The full title reads; ''English Botany or, Coloured Figures of British Plants, with their Essential Characters, Synonyms and Places of Growth''. The complete First Edition comprises 2,592 hand-coloured, finely d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Specimen Of The Botany Of New Holland
''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'', also known by its standard abbreviation ''Spec. Bot. New Holland'', was the first published book on the flora of Australia. Written by James Edward Smith and illustrated by James Sowerby, it was published by Sowerby in four parts between 1793 and 1795. It consists of 16 colour plates of paintings by Sowerby, mostly based on sketches by John White, and around 40 pages of accompanying text. It was presented as the first volume in a series, but no further volumes were released. Book The work began as a collaboration between Smith and George Shaw. Together they produced a two-part work entitled '' Zoology and Botany of New Holland'', with each part containing two zoology plates and two botany plates, along with accompanying text. These appeared in 1793, although the publications themselves indicate 1794. The collaboration then ended, and Shaw went on to independently produce his '' Zoology of New Holland''. Smith's contributions to ''Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sibthorp
John Sibthorp (28 October 1758 – 8 February 1796) was an English botanist. Education Sibthorp graduated from the University of Oxford in 1777 where he was an undergraduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. He subsequently studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and University of Montpellier. Career and research In 1784, he succeeded his father to the Sherardian chair. Leaving his professional duties to a deputy, he left England for Göttingen and Vienna, in preparation for a botanical tour of Greece (1786) and Cyprus (1787). Returning to England at the end of the following year, he took part in the foundation of the Linnean Society of London in 1788, and set to work on a Flora of Oxfordshire, which was published in 1794 as ''Flora Oxoniensis''. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in Mar 1788. He made a second journey to Greece, but developed consumption on the way home and died in Bath on 8 February 1796. He was buried at Bath Abbey, with a mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Graeca
''Flora Graeca'' is a publication of the plants of Greece in the late 18th century, resulting from a survey by John Sibthorp and Ferdinand Bauer. The botanical descriptions and illustrations became highly valued by the English audience; the finely crafted and illustrated work was of both scientific and horticultural interest. Sibthorp met the botanical illustrator Bauer in Vienna, where he had made a voyage to study a copy of Dioscorides' early botanical work, the renowned ''Vienna Dioscurides''. This was the first part of a journey, to identify medicinal plants used in Greece; Bauer was to join the expedition as the illustrator. They were to record and collect a large number of novel specimens; their publication introduced these to an English audience. From March 1786 to December 1787 they surveyed the plants and animals of the eastern Mediterranean, Sibthorp collecting and describing, Bauer making dried specimens and producing colour-coded sketches. Bauer's work, including ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Wood (botanist)
William Wood (29 May 1745 – 1 April 1808) was an English Unitarian minister and botanist who was involved in efforts to remedy the political and educational disabilities of Nonconformists under the Test Acts. Life Wood was born in Collingtree, near Northampton. His father was Benjamin Wood, who attended the services of Philip Doddridge. Wood was educated at Stephen Addington's school at Market Harborough, Leicestershire, then from 1761, studied for the ministry under David Jennings, Samuel Morton Savage, Andrew Kippis, and Abraham Rees.Wykes (2004) Wood's first sermon was preached at Debenham, Suffolk in 1766 and he became minister at Stamford, Lincolnshire the following year. He subsequently preached all over London. Wood and Rees were both ordained in Southwark. Wood served for a while in Ipswich as assistant to Thomas Scott before, in 1773, succeeding Joseph Priestley at Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds, on the recommendation of Priestley himself and Richard Price, the latt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
