Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet
Born 23 February 1800(1800-02-23)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died 21 November 1874(1874-11-21) (aged 74)
Sandown, Isle of Wight, England
Citizenship United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Nationality Scottish
Alma mater Edinburgh University
Known for Natural history
Painting by Sir William Jardine, 1833
Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegirth, Dumfriesshire (23 February 1800, Edinburgh to 21 November 1874, Sandown, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish naturalist.[1][2]
Jardine made natural history available to all levels of Victorian society by editing and issuing the hugely popular forty volumes of The Naturalist's Library (1833-1843). The 40 volumes is divided into four main sections: Ornithology (14 volumes), Mammalia (13 volumes), Entomology (7 volumes), and Ichthyology (6 volumes); each prepared by a leading naturalist. James Duncan wrote the insect volumes. The artists responsible for the illustrations included Edward Lear. The work was published in Edinburgh by W.H Lizars. The frontispiece is a portrait of Latreille
Jardine's other publications included an edition of Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne which re-established White's reputation, Illustrations of Ornithology (1825-43), and an affordable edition of Alexander Wilson's Birds of America.
Jardine was the author of a number of bird species, alone or in conjunction with his friend Prideaux John Selby