Frank Blake Webster (June 16, 1850–November 6, 1922) was an influential

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

publisher,

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

and natural history dealer in the late 19th century.

Biography

Frank Blake Webster was born in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

on June 16, 1850. He graduated from the Highland Military Academy at

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

in 1867. Following this, he worked as a clerical worker, but he studied ornithology, taxidermy, and collected natural history specimen in the afternoons and evening. By 1874, the collecting of specimen of natural history became so popular that a naturalists' supply depot was opened in Pawtucket under the name A. L. Ellis & Co. with Webster as a leading member of the company. In 1884, Webster quit his clerical work to focus on natural history full time, including the dealing of specimen. He bought the well-known ''Ornithologist and Oologist'' from publisher Joseph Marshall Wade, where it became the popular counterpart to the more scientific ''Auk'', published by the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

. The journal folded during the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

. In 1888, Webster erected his Museum and Naturalists' Supply Depot in

Hyde Park, Massachusetts Hyde Park is the southernmost neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Situated 7.9 miles south of downtown Boston, it is home to a diverse range of people, housing types and social groups. It is an urban location with suburban chara ...

. The following year, in Boston, Massachusetts, Webster and several ornithologists inaugurated the short-lived League of Massachusetts Ornithologists with Webster as president and

Charles Johnson Maynard Charles Johnson Maynard (May 6, 1845 – October 15, 1929) was an American naturalist and ornithologist born in Newton, Massachusetts. He was a collector, a taxidermist, and an expert on the vocal organs of birds. In addition to birds, he also s ...

as vice president, as a populist rival to the purely scientific ornithologists in the state. In 1897,

Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presen ...

approached Webster to organize a collecting trip on the Galapagos Islands. Webster gathered taxidermists and naturalists, including

Rollo Beck Rollo Howard Beck (26 August 1870 – 22 November 1950) was an American ornithologist, bird collector for museums, and explorer. Beck's petrel and three taxa of reptiles are named after him, including a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise, ''Chelon ...

, to collect

Galápagos tortoise The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (''Chelonoidis niger'') is a species of very large tortoise in the genus ''Chelonoidis'' (which also contains three smaller species from mainland South America). It comprises 15 subspecies (13 ...

s and land birds. Webster, however, would state in the states, but the expedition is still called the Webster-Harris expedition by scholars. However, Webster's group discovered the

flightless cormorant The flightless cormorant (''Nannopterum harrisi''), also known as the Galapagos cormorant, is a cormorant endemic to the Galapagos Islands, and an example of the highly unusual fauna there. It is unique in that it is the only known cormorant t ...

, which Rothschild named after taxidermist Charles Miller Harris, a member of the expedition. Webster died November 6, 1922 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.Preble, EA. "Death of Frank Blake Webster". Journal of Mammalogy , Vol 3, 1922

References

External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Frank Blake American publishers (people) 1850 births 1922 deaths