William Henry Edwards (1822 - 1909)

William Henry Edwards

William Henry Edwards was an American amateur naturalist, entomologist, and businessman.

Edwards was a pioneer in the West Virginia coal industry, opening some of the earliest mines in the southern part of the state. He was also an accomplished naturalist and widely recognized as an authority on North American butterflies. As a businessman, he was involved in the coal industry, but the study of butterflies remained his passion.

During his lifetime he published some 250 scientific papers on scales, including a three-volume treatise, Butterflies of North America, which is highly regarded for its scholarship and the quality of its illustrations. Edwards paid great attention to the life stages of the insects in question, describing each stage in detail. The illustrations, on the other hand, were drawn by Mary Pirt, a talented Pennsylvania artist, and hand-colored by Lydia Brown.