Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of ApplegarthFRSFRSEFLSFSA (23 February 1800 – 21 November 1874) was a Scottish
naturalist.[2][3] He is known for his editing of a long series of natural history books, The Naturalist's Library.
Life and work
Jardine was born on 23 February 1800 at 28 North Hanover Street[5] in
Edinburgh, the son of Sir Alexander Jardine, 6th baronet of Applegarth and his wife, Jane Maule. He was educated in both
York and Edinburgh then studied medicine at
Edinburgh University.[6]
From 1817 to 1821 he lodged with
Rev Dr Andrew Grant at James Square, an arrangement made by his father. Grant was minister of St Andrew's Church on George Street.[7]
He was a co-founder of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, and contributed to the founding of the
Ray Society.[8] He was "keenly addicted to field-sports, and a master equally of the rod and the gun". While ornithology was his main passion, he also studied ichthyology, botany and geology. His book on fossil burrows and traces, the Ichnology of
Annandale, included fossils from his ancestral estate.[9][10] He was the first to coin the term ichnology, and this was the first book written on the subject.[11] His private natural history museum and library are said to have been the finest in Britain.[12]
Jardine made
natural history available to all levels of
Victorian society by editing the hugely popular forty volumes of The Naturalist's Library (1833–1843) issued and published by his brother in law, the Edinburgh printer and engraver,
William Home Lizars.[13] The series was divided into four main sections:
Ornithology (14 volumes),
Mammalia (13 volumes),
Entomology (7 volumes), and
Ichthyology (6 volumes); each prepared by a leading naturalist.
James Duncan wrote the insect volumes. The artists responsible for the illustrations included
Edward Lear.[14] The work was published in Edinburgh by
W. H. Lizars. The frontispiece is a portrait of
Pierre André Latreille.
His other publications included an edition of
Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne which re-established White's reputation, Illustrations of Ornithology (1825–1843), and an affordable edition of
Alexander Wilson's Birds of America.
Jardine described of a number of bird species, alone or in conjunction with his friend
Prideaux John Selby. He died on 21 November 1874 in
Sandown, Isle of Wight.
Jardine's daughter, Catherine Dorcas Maule Jardine, married
Hugh Edwin Strickland and produced many of the illustrations for Illustrations of Ornithology (identifiable by her initials, CDMS).
The Olympic rower Sir
Matthew Pinsent is a direct descendant of Jardine.[16]
Bibliography
Jardine wrote many books and edited the series and wrote many of the books for The Naturalist's Library. The books are listed below by publication date with those of The Naturalist's Library under a separate heading.
1825 to 1843, Illustrations of Ornithology, written with
Prideaux John Selby in four volumes:
Jardine edited the series of books that were published a part of The Naturalist's Library, and include (in the order in which they were published):[17]
Later supplements include the following titles: The Natural History of Man, Humming Birds Volume 3 and a single volume that collated the memoirs of "great naturalists".
^Finn Sarah. 2022. “Hand-Colored Zoological Illustrations for ‘All Classes’ of British Society: The Publishing History of The Naturalist's Library 1833-1843.” Dissertation. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.