ii s. iv. SEPT. 2, mi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
191
. Vol. III., 1750, 59 birds. Dedicated, like
Vol. I., to the President and Fellows of the Royal
College of Physicians.
Vol IV., 1751, 39 birds and 16 serpents, fishes, and insects. Dedicated " To God." The'D.N.B.' states that the whole work was dedicated *' to God," but this is an error.
Vol. V., 1758, 70 birds, fishes, and insects. Dedicated to the Trustees of the British Museum. At the end of this volume is a facsimile engraving of Edwards's book-plate.
Vol. VI., 1760, 50 birds. Dedicated to John Stewart, Earl of Bute.
Vol. VII., 1763, 85 birds. Dedicated to Earl Ferrers.
The position of Edwards as a naturalist and an artist is high. He worthily succeeded John Ray and Francis Willughby as an authority on natural history. Linnaeus and Thomas Pennant were his friends ; and Swainson praised his work highly. Lowndes and Brunet speak well of his book, the publication of which stimulated ornitholo- gical research all over Europe. It was repro- duced at Nuremberg and at Amsterdam. There was a second London edition in 1805, but it is inferior. Peter Brown's ' Illustra- tions of Zoology,' 50 coloured plates, London, 1776, was designed as a supplement to Edwards's book. The descriptions in this were mostly written by Pennant. The true position of Edwards in the world of natural history is best determined by study- ing Alfred Newton's ' Dictionary of Birds,' 1896, Introduction, pp. 9-10. Edwards's ' Birds ' was reviewed in Gent. Mag., vol. xx. pp. 81, 175, 264. See also Monthly Review, vol. xxix. p. 221.
Edwards drew his birds from life, as will be seen from the following extract from ' Birds,' vol. i., Preface, p. xvi :
" It is time to say something, by way of Apology, for the following Descriptions of Birds. I have been collecting for more than Twenty Years, and have been for a good part of the Time employ 'd by many curious Gentlemen in London to draw such rare foreign Birds as they were possess 'd of, and never neglected to take Draughts of them with their Permission, for my own Collection ; and having stored up some hun- dreds, I shewed them from time to time to curious Gentlemen who favour' d me \vith their Visits, and in looking them over several of them have told me, that there were many amongst them that had not been figured or described by any Author, and that it would be worth my while to publish them ; but I was backward in resolving to do it, because I knew not so much of many of the Birds, as to know from what Country they came, which is very material hi Natural History. They answer' d that as I had taken the Draughts from Nature, and that it could be well attested, and the like Birds might perhaps never be met with again, it was better to preserve the Figures without knowing their Countries than not at all. I have not had the Advantage of being in the Countries
out of Europe where any of the Birds I have
described are found, as some present Writers
of Natural History have ; but I have taken all
the pains in my Power to make my Descriptions
as perfect as the nature of the thing will admit
of."
In all, Edwards did about 900 sketches, and the original drawings for the book were sold to Lord Bute before Edwards's death. The Zoological Society appear to have some of Edwards's sketches ; and reference should be made to the Catalogue of Natural History Books at South Kensington. The B.M. copy of Edwards's book is a special one, coloured by the author, and presented by him to Dr. Birch. The volumes bear the inscription in Edwards's handwriting: "Rev. Dr. Birch Present from his oblig^ humble servant the author, April 26, 1758 " (this is the date in vol. i.).
Four years before his death Edwards disposed of the quires and plates of his book to Robson, the bookseller in New Bond Street, as will be seen from the following letter, in which should be noticed Edwards's extreme anxiety to maintain a high standard of colouring :
College of Physicians, Warwick Lane,
May 1 st , 1769. To the Nobility, Gentry, and Curious hi general.
Having this day sold and delivered to Mr. James Robson, Bookseller, in New Bond Street, all the remaining copies of my Natural History, in seven volumes quarto, coloured under my own immediate inspection, together with all my copper-plates, letter-press, and every article in my possession relative to it, I have thought it a duty incumbent upon me, in justice to the public as well as to the purchaser, to declare, that all future publications of the said Natural History are the sole right and property of Mr. Robson : and that my labours may be handed down to posterity, with integrity, truth, and exactness, I have delivered into his hands a complete set of the plates, highly coloured by myself, as a standard to those Artists who may be employed in colouring them for the future.
As the remainder of my life will be spent chiefly in retirement, I beg leave to return my most grateful acknowledgments to the nobility, gentry, and public in general, for all their favours and generous support during the tedious Period of all my publications ; and I am, with the greatest truth and respect,
their faithful, and obliged humble servant, GEORGE EDWARDS.
He left a copy of Willughby's ' Orni- thology,' with MS. notes and many curious observations.
Robson speaks of his personality as follows :
" Mr. Edwards was of a middle stature, rather inclined to corpulence : of a liberal disposition
