Naturalists
William Jardine was a Scottish naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, artist and publisher of works on zoology.
Jardine studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and was an excellent sportsman. Although his main passion was ornithology, he also studied ichthyology, botany and geology. Sir William Jardine was a prominent Scottish Victorian naturalist, author and publisher of 40 volumes of the popular Naturalist's Library (1833-43). Of these, 14 volumes were devoted to ornithology, 13 volumes to mammals, 7 volumes to entomology, and 6 volumes to ichthyology.
A series in four volumes, Illustrations on Ornithology, co-written with Prideaux John Selby, was published between 1825 and 1843. His book on burrows and fossil tracks, The Ichnology of Annandale, includes fossils from his ancestral estate. Jardine was a leading expert on salmon and trout in the British Isles. His outstanding knowledge of the species was profound that in 1860 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales. His research culminated in the best and most comprehensive monograph on these fish, "British Salmonids," with the remarkable illustrations by Jardine himself. William Jardine's private natural history museum and library are considered the finest in Britain.
Theophilus Johnson was a British artist, amateur naturalist and publisher.
He trained as a clerical worker and then started his own printing business. Johnson had a passion for the natural sciences and spent much time in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London. His drawings and books cover a wide range of topics, from molluscs to mammals, but his main interest was entomology.
Theophilus Johnson's publications on entomology depict the various species of moths found in the British Isles on beautifully colored watercolor sheets, and include illustrations of their larvae as well as the plants they feed on. During his lifetime he illustrated more than 46 volumes with original watercolors.