Edward Donovan - Biography

Biography

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 Natural History 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 Natural History of British Birds (1792–97), Natural History of British Insects (1792–1813), 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 An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of India (1800), an image from which (and other early entomological works) may be seen on and Insects of New Holland' (1805).

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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 handcolouring) 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.

The source of the specimens in Insects of India is less clear. 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 Feb 1, 1804.

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 bookdealers and publishers who had later financed his works. This was to no avail, and he died penniless in 1837 leaving a large family destitute.