James Sowerby, English Naturalist
James Sowerby (March 21, 1757 - October 25 1822) was a gifted English illustrator who studied at the Royal Academy, moving from portraits to studies of natural history. His illustrations, publication and publishing concerns embraced many of the emergent fields of science. Besides the renowned botanical works, he produced extensive volumes on mycology, conchology, mineralogy and a seminal work on his color system. In 1790, he began the 36 volume work on the botany of England that was published over the next 24 years, which contained 2592 hand-colored engravings and became known as Sowerby's Botany. An enormous number of plants were to receive their formal publication, but the authority for these came from the unattributed text written by James Edward Smith. The use of vivid color, drawing from specimens and research, and accessible texts were intended to reach a widening audience in works of natural history. He died in 1822 at the age of 65.
Size: 3000px × 3413px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 18th, 19th, botanical, botany, bw, century, conchology, drawings, england, english, european, famous, figure, historic, historical, history, illustrations, illustrator, important, james, male, man, men, mineralogy, mycology, natural, naturalist, notable, people, person, personalities, personality, photo, photograph, portrait, science, sepia, sower, sowerby, works
