William Hamilton Gibson

William Hamilton Gibson
William Hamilton Gibson
Born	October 5, 1850; Sandy Hook, Connecticut
Died	July 16, 1896 (aged 45); Washington, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Known for	drawings
	Scientific career
Fields	Natural history
Author abbrev. (botany)	W.H.Gibson
Signature

William Hamilton Gibson (October 5, 1850 – July 16, 1896) was an American illustrator, author and naturalist.

Biography

Gibson was born in

Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and made it necessary for him to earn his own living. From the life insurance business, in Brooklyn, he soon turned to the study of natural history and illustration, he had sketched flowers and insects when he was only eight years old, had long been interested in botany and entomology, and had acquired great skill in making faux flowers. His first drawings, of a technical character, were published in 1870.^[3]

He rapidly became an expert illustrator and a remarkably able wood-engraver, while he also drew on stone with great success. He drew for The American Agriculturist, Hearth and Home, and Appletons

Harper's Monthly magazine, where his illustrations first gained popularity.^[2]

He died of

H. K. Bush-Brown.^[2] He was an expert photographer, and his drawings had a nearly photographic and almost microscopic accuracy of detail which slightly lessened their artistic value, as a poetic and sometimes humorous quality somewhat detracted from their scientific worth. Gibson was perfectly at home in black-and-white, but rarely (and feebly) used colors. He was a popular writer and lecturer on natural history.^[3]

Works

Gibson illustrated S. A. Drake's In the Heart of the White Mountains, C. D. Warner's New South, and E. P. Roe's Nature's Serial Story; and his own books, The Complete American Trapper (1876; revised, 1880, as Camp Life in the Woods); Pastoral Days: or, Memories of a New England Year (1880); Highways and Byways (1882); Happy Hunting Grounds (1886); Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine (1890); Sharp Eyes: a Rambler's Calendar (1891); Our Edible Mushrooms and Toadstools (1895); Eye Spy: Afield with Nature among Flowers and Animate Things (1897); and My Studio Neighbours (1898).^[3]

The standard author abbreviation W.H.Gibson is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.^[4]

References

^ Adams, John Coleman (1901). William Hamilton Gibson: Artist—Naturalist—Author. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
^ ^a ^b ^c Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1906). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. IV. Boston: American Biographical Society. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chisholm 1911, p. 944.
^ International Plant Names Index. W.H.Gibson.

Attribution:

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gibson, William Hamilton". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 944.

External links

[1] Adams, John Coleman (1901). William Hamilton Gibson: Artist—Naturalist—Author. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

[Twentieth-2] Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1906). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. IV. Boston: American Biographical Society. Retrieved March 28, 2022 – via Internet Archive.

[FOOTNOTEChisholm1911944-3] Chisholm 1911, p. 944.

[4] International Plant Names Index. W.H.Gibson.

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Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	Germany Italy Israel United States Netherlands
Academics	International Plant Names Index
Artists	Scientific illustrators Musée d'Orsay ULAN
Other	SNAC IdRef