William Curtis (11 January 1746 – 7 July 1799) was an English botanist and

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

, who was born at

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England, near the source of the River Wey. It had a population of 17,816 at the 2011 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aolton ...

, site of the Curtis Museum. Curtis began as an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

, before turning his attention to botany and other natural history. The publications he prepared reached a wider audience than early works on the subject had intended. At the age of 25 he produced ''Instructions for collecting and preserving insects; particularly moths and butterflies''. Curtis was demonstrator of plants and Praefectus Horti at the

Chelsea Physic Garden The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the s ...

from 1771 to 1777. He established his own London Botanic Garden at

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area ex ...

in 1779, moving to Brompton in 1789. He published ''

Flora Londinensis ''Flora Londinensis'' is a folio sized book that described the flora found in the London region of the mid 18th century. The ''Flora'' was published by William Curtis in six large volumes. The descriptions of the plants included hand-coloured ...

'' (6 volumes, 1777–1798), a pioneering work in that it devoted itself to urban nature. Financial success was not found, but he went on the publish '' The Botanical Magazine'' in 1787, a work that would also feature hand coloured plates by artists such as James Sowerby and Sydenham Edwards. (William Kilburn is often erroneously cited as having contributed plates to ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Though he did provide illustrations to ''Flora Londinensis'', his association with Curtis seems to have ended by 1777, 10 years before the first publication of the ''Botanical Magazine'') Curtis was to gain wealth from the ventures into publishing, short sales on ''Londinensis'' were offset by over 3,000 copies of the magazine. Curtis said they had each brought 'pudding or praise'. The genus '' Curtisia'' is named in his honour. His publication was continued as the esteemed botanical publication, ''

Curtis's Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

''. The noted natural history illustrators, James Sowerby and Sydenham Edwards both found a start with the eminent magazine. He was buried in the churchyard at St. Mary's Church, Battersea where he is commemorated in a stained glass window, as many of his samples were collected from the churchyard there. His headstone, now lost, had the epitaph

While living herbs shall spring profusely wild,
or gardens cherish all that's blithe and gay,
So long thy works shall please, dear Nature's child,
So long thy mem'ry suffer no decay.

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Curtis when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the '' Inte ...

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* * *
Vol. 2Vol. 3Vol. 4
at Project Gutenberg {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, William Botanists with author abbreviations 1746 births 1799 deaths Bryologists 18th-century British botanists English lepidopterists English mycologists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People from Alton, Hampshire

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