Description

Edward Donovan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search For the American sprinter, see Edward S. Donovan. For the British Army officer, see Edward Westby Donovan. This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Illustration by Edward Donovan, c. 1802–1808 Edward Donovan (1768–1837) was an Anglo-Irish writer, natural history illustrator, and amateur zoologist. He did not travel, but collected, described and illustrated many species based on the collections of other naturalists. His many books were successful and remain as a reference to biology. He died penniless in 1837 leaving a large family destitute. Born in Cork, Ireland, Donovan was an avid collector of natural history specimens purchased mainly at auctions of specimens from voyages of exploration. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and the Wernerian Society which gave him access to the best collections and libraries in London. It was quite common for private collectors to open small public museums, and in 1807 he founded the London Museum and Institute of Natural History. This exhibited several hundred cases of world birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, molluscs, insects, corals and other invertebrates and botanical specimens and other exotica alongside his British collections. Donovan was, at first, the very successful author of a number of natural history titles, including The Natural History of British Birds (1792–97), The Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813), The Natural History of British Fishes (1802–08) and the two-volume Descriptive Excursions Through South Wales and Monmouthshire in the Year 1804, and the Four Preceding Summers (1805) and the short-lived Botanical Review, or the Beauties of Flora (London, 1789–90). He also wrote articles on conchology, entomology, etc., made drawings and arranged the natural history plates in Rees's Cyclopædia and undertook commissions for private albums of his botanical artwork. His best known works are An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of China (1798) and Insects of India, and the Islands in the Indian Seas (1800) and Insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite, and Other Islands in the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans (1805). Plate from An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of China Apart from occasional excursions in England and Wales, Donovan never left London. His Insects of New Holland is based on specimens collected by Joseph Banks and William Bayly, an astronomer on the second and third voyages of James Cook, specimens in the collection of Dru Drury and other private collections as well as his own museum. It is the first publication dealing exclusively with the insects of Australia. In the preface Donovan writes "There is perhaps, no extent of country in the world, that can boast a more copious or diversified assemblage of interesting objects in every department of natural history than New Holland and its contiguous island". Most of the plates depict butterflies together with exotic plants. Donovan often used thick paints, burnished highlights, albumen overglazes and metallic paints. These covered the engravings (from his own copper plates, Donovan personally undertook all steps of the illustration process for his books, the drawing, the etching and engraving and the hand colouring) which are not visible. At other times the fineness of his engraving and etching is apparent giving his illustrations the appearance of being watercolours. For An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of China he obtained specimens and information from George Macartney a British envoy to China. For Insects of India Donovan described and figured specimens in his own cabinet, that were originally collected by the late Duchess of Portland, Marmaduke Tunstall, a Governor Holford (many years resident in India), a Mr. Ellis, George Keate, a Mr. Yeats, and a Mr. Bailey. He also studied the collections of John Francillon, Dru Drury and Alexander Macleay. His patron was Joseph Banks. It is the first illustrated publication dealing with the entomology of India. The exact publication date, stated on the title page as being 1800, is also unclear as most plates are later; for example, the plate for Cicada indica is dated 1 February 1804. Many of the butterflies figured are from the Americas. In the works of Johan Christian Fabricius on which the Epitome was based "Indiis" confusingly refers to the West Indies or northern South America. Donovan's expensive purchases, his dealings with (according to him) unscrupulous book publishers, and the economic decline in England after the Napoleonic Wars, forced the closure of his museum in 1817 and the auction of his collection in 1818. He continued to publish, but his financial position worsened, and in 1833 he made a published plea for funds from his supporters to bring a lawsuit against the book dealers and publishers who had later financed his works. This was to no avail, and he died penniless in 1837 leaving a large family destitute.