190
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. iv. SEPT. 2, 1911.
EDWARDS'S DRAWINGS OF BIRDS:
SIR HANS SLOANE.
(US. iv. 150.)
GEORGE EDWARDS (1694-1773) was a well- known naturalist, the author of ' A Natural History of Uncommon Birds and of some Rare and Undescribed Animals. In Pour Parts.' This was succeeded by ' Gleanings of Natural History. In Three Parts.' The facts of Edwards's life have hitherto been taken from Kippis, vol. v. ; ' The Annual Register, 1776,' pp. 55-9 ; Nichols's ' Literary Anecdotes' (1812), vol. v., pp. 317-26 (in which the matter is almost identical with that in ' The Annual Register ' ) ; and Robson the bookseller's slight ' Memoirs of Edwards,' 1776. The ' D.N.B.' contains a brief unsigned notice of Edwards which is good as far as it goes, but inadequate, and in some points inaccurate, as will be seen below.
Edwards was born 3 April, 1694, at Stratford, Essex, or, as he himself says, at West Ham. No biographer has hitherto taken the trouble to go to Edwards's book itself for details of his life. His ' Natural History of Birds ' is interspersed (in prefaces, appendixes, and introductions) with naive, charming, and modest details of his life and methods of work. In vol. ii. pp. 120-21, he gives an account of his early life :
" My Peregrinations must begin with my Being, which happened in the Parish of West Ham in Essex, about the Year 1694, where for some years I passed my Childhood, and I think in the Beginning of the 17 th Century I was placed as a Boarder in the House of the Reverend Mr. Hewit, then a Schoolmaster of some Note, at Leighton-Stone in Essex, where I continued some Time. I was afterwards sent to Brentwood in Essex, a little farther from Home, where I was under the Tuition of the Reverend Mr. Ashpool for some Years, wherehaving gone through the ordinary School Education, and becoming of a proper Age, I was designed by my Parents for Business, and placed for a reasonable Time with a Master of Writing and Accounts, in order to fit me for a trading Life.
" In Trade there could not be found a Reverend Master to place me with ; but I was placed with the Son of a Levite, Mr. John Dod, of Fenchurch- Street, London, an exceeding strict Christian of pur established Church, and a finished Scholar P the Greek and Latin Languages, tho' a Man
T , rade - From him and his Family I found verv good and genteel Usage for seven years. I cannot ?v P J?^ fck> 5 i 2? oue Even t which fell out about the Middle of the Time I was in Mr. Dod's HouSe. One Dr. Nicholas, an eminent Physician, who
lived in Covent Garden, happened to die, and he
being a Relation of Mr. Dod's, his Books, which
amounted to a great Bulk, were stowed in a spare
Room adjoining to my Bed-Chamber in Mr.
Dod's House, and I being fond of looking into
Books, and having a free access to them, spent
my Evenings, and often the greatest Part of my
Nights, in turning over these Books, and reading
such parts of them as suited best with my Genius :
This Practice I followed for two or three Years
in the latter Part of my Time with Mr. Dod,
which I believe gave me a very disadvantageous
Turn of Mind, for I could not think of confining
myself to Business, which probably would have
raised my Fortune in the World. My Head was
filled with a confused Mixture of Voyages, Travels,
Astronomy, Experimental Philosophy, Natural
History, Painting, Sculpture, and many other
Things, which gave me an Inclination to visit
Foreign Parts, in order to convince my Senses of
some Things, which yet had been only conceived
by the Mind : So in the Year 1716, regardless
of Gain, I laid aside all Thoughts of confining
myself to Business."
Edwards's travels began with a month spent in Holland in 1718, after which he visited Norway. He travelled through Prance in 1719-20, clad as a vagrant. On coming home he made sketches of animals, and sold them advantageously. He made further travels to Holland in 1731 ; and in 1733 was appointed librarian to the Royal College of Physicians. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society about 1751, and made F.S.A. 13 February, 1752. He died of cancer at Plaistow in Essex 23 July, 1773, and is buried in West Ham Church- yard. His epitaph is printed in Robson's ' Memoirs,' p. 26, and is as follows :
Here lies interred
The Body of Geo. Edwards, Esq ; F.R.S. Who departed this Life the 23d Day of July, 1773,
Aged 81 Years; Formerly Librarian To the Royal College of Physicians
In which Capacity, As well as in private Life,
He was universally
And deservedly esteemed.
His Natural History of Birds
Will remain
A lasting Monument of his knowledge And ingenuity.
Edwards's book was designed to be in four parts, but three subsequent volumes ap- peared as ' Gleanings ' (vide supra), and the whole work is complete in seven sections. The book was issued and sold by himself.
Vol. I., 1743, contains illustrations of 61 birds and 2 quadrupeds. It is dedicated to the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians.
Vol. II., 1747, has 61 birds and 2 quadrupeds. It is dedicated to Sir Hans Sloane, upon whose recommendation Edwards had obtained the libra- rianship of the Royal College of Physicians.
