Edward Wesley Janson
English entomologist (1822–1891)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Wesley Janson (14 March 1822 – 14 September 1891) was an English entomologist who specialised in beetles.
Edward Wesley Janson | |
|---|---|
Janson in 1863 | |
| Born | 14 March 1822 |
| Died | 14 September 1891 (aged 69) |
The Janson family was of Dutch origin and Edward Wesley Janson's father was the London Agent of the Dutch Rhenish Railway Company.
A keen entomologist, Janson was elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of London in 1843. In 1850, he was appointed curator of the Society's collections, a post he held until 1863. He was then the Society's librarian until 1874.
In 1852, he started a natural history business, Janson & Sons, selling books and specimens. He also became a publisher, first initiating the Journal of Entomology (published by Taylor and Francis in 14 parts from 1862-1866), then Cistula Entomologica (29 parts, from 1869–1885). He also published a volume of British Beetles in 1863, with illustrations from John Curtis' British Entomology.
Janson also assembled a collection of world click beetles (Elateridae), consisting of 25,000 specimens of which 1000 were original types.
The Janson company archive is conserved in the Natural History Museum in London.[1]