William Henry Edwards was an important entomologist in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Edwards was born in Hunter

Hunter (town), New York

Hunter is a town in Greene County, New York. The population was 2,732 at the 2010 census.The Town of Hunter contain two villages one named Hunter and the other called Tannersville. The town is on the County's south border.- History :...

, Greene County, New York. He is remembered for his trip to the Amazon

Amazon River

The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

 in 1846, that he recorded in his book A Voyage Up the River Amazon, with a residency at Pará (1847), that inspired Wallace and Bates to make their famous trip to the region. Edwards published the first major study of "The Butterflies of North America" (finished in 1897). He was an observer of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and a correspondent of Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

. He died at his home "Bellefleur

William H. & William S. Edwards House

William H. & William S. Edwards House, also known as Bellefleur, is a historic home located at Coalburg, Kanawha County, West Virginia. The main house was built in 1871, and consists of a large 2 1/2 story main block with a rambling rear wing. It is a frame house that features Italianate style...

" in Coalburg, West Virginia

Coalburg, West Virginia

Coalburg is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Coalburg is located along the south bank of the Kanawha River west of East Bank....

. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1990.

Works

His more prominent writings were " A Voyage up the River Amazon" (16mo, 256 pp. New York: 1847. New edition, 12mo, 8 + 210 pp. London, 1855) ; "The Butterflies of North America," series 1-5 (4to, illus. New York and Boston : 1868-1897); "Synopsis of North American Butterflies " (410, 5+52 pp. Philadelphia: 1872); "Catalogue of the Diurnal Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico " (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., Vol. 6, pp. 1-68) ; " Revised Catalogue of the Diurnal Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico " (8vo, pp. 95. Philadelphia : 1884); also over two hundred and fifty articles in various scientific journals.

Like many brilliant people, Edwards had his avocations and published a few works on matters other than entomology. Towards the end of his life he published one of the most persuasive, not to say passionate, monograph

Monograph

A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...

s to call into question the authorship of the accepted works of Shakespeare. Whatever one's views on the subject, the book remains worth reading for its interest and trenchancy. It is accessible online.
He also participated in the publication of his grandfather's memoirs, a document of some historical interest.

External links