John Edwards was an English botanist, painter, designer and illustrator, noted for his serial publication, The British Herbal.

After living in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 until about 1778, he moved to Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, and exhibited with the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 and the Society of Artists

Society of Artists

The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established Paris salons....

, of which he was a member. Edward also produced textile designs, especially for calico. He published The British Herbal Containing One Hundred Plates of The most beautiful and scarce Flowers and Useful Medicinal Plants in monthly parts between 1769 and 1770, covering exotic and British flowers, using text gathered from various sources, and his own hand-coloured engraved plates.

A Collection of Flowers Drawn after Nature & Disposed in an Ornamental & Picturesque Manner, was his next publishing venture. The imprint dates of the plates show that he had started the project in 1783, completing 79 plates through the 1780s and 1790s. Edwards designed, etched and coloured all the plates himself, thus having complete control of the operation.