William Curtis | |
|---|---|
 Portrait fromCurtis's Botanical Magazine | |
| Born | (1746-01-11)11 January 1746 |
| Died | 7 July 1799(1799-07-07) (aged 53) |
| Known for | Curtis's Botanical Magazine,Flora Londinensis |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany Entomology |
| Institutions | Chelsea Physic Garden, London |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Curtis |
William Curtis (11 January 1746 – 7 July 1799) was an Englishbotanist andentomologist, who was born atAlton, Hampshire, site of theCurtis Museum.
Curtis began as anapothecary, before turning his attention to botany and other natural history. The publications he prepared reached a wider audience than early works on the subject had intended.[1] At the age of 25 he producedInstructions for collecting and preserving insects; particularly moths and butterflies.[2]
Curtis was demonstrator of plants and Praefectus Horti at theChelsea Physic Garden from 1771 to 1777. He established his own London Botanic Garden atLambeth in 1779, moving toBrompton in 1789. HepublishedFlora Londinensis (6 volumes, 1777–1798), a pioneering work in that it devoted itself to urban nature. Financial success was not found, but he went on the publishThe Botanical Magazine in 1787, a work that would also feature hand coloured plates by artists such asJames Sowerby andSydenham Edwards. (William Kilburn is often erroneously cited as having contributed plates toCurtis's Botanical Magazine. Though he did provide illustrations toFlora Londinensis, his association with Curtis seems to have ended by 1777, 10 years before the first publication of theBotanical Magazine)[3]
Curtis was to gain wealth from the ventures into publishing, short sales onLondinensis were offset by over 3,000 copies of the magazine. Curtis said they had each brought 'pudding or praise'.
Curtis might be the editor of anexsiccata-like seriesHortus siccus gramineus, followed up by the seriesHortus siccus gramineus or a collection of dried specimens of British grasses with their Latin and English names... (1802-1806), distributed by William Salisbury.[4]
The genusCurtisia is named in his honour. His publication was continued as the esteemed botanical publication,Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The noted natural history illustrators,James Sowerby andSydenham Edwards both found a start with the eminent magazine.
He was buried in the churchyard atSt. Mary's Church, Battersea at a location he chose himself, where he is commemorated in a stained glass window, as many of his samples were collected from the churchyard there.[5] His headstone, now only partially remaining, had the epitaph:
While living herbs shall spring profusely wild,
Or gardens cherish all that's blithe and gay,
So long thy works shall please, dear Nature's child,
So long thy mem'ry suffer no decay.[6]
The epitaph, although lost from the grave is included in the stained glass window by John Hayward. The window design includes a chaplet of flowers from Curtis's Flora Londinensis.
This botanist is denoted by theauthor abbreviationCurtis whenciting abotanical name.[7]
The scope of natural history changed dramatically in 18th century England under the influence of published works directed at amateurs.
St Mary's Modern Stained Glass
Flora Londinensis is one of the most beautiful and important botanical publications of the eighteenth century.
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