John Edward Sowerby was a British botanical illustrator and publisher born in Lambeth, London on 17 January 1825.
Background
Participant of the Sowerby family, he was eldest son of Charles Edward Sowerby and grandson of James Sowerby. John inherited a taste for botanical drawing, and in 1841 produced his first work—the plates for his father"s Illustrated Catalogue of British Plants.
Career
His life was thenceforth mainly spent in illustrating botanical works, in collaboration with Charles Johnson (1791–1880), and Charles Pierpoint Johnson, who contributed the text. His only independent work was An Illustrated Key to the Natural Orders of British Wild Flowers, published in 1865. He died on 28 January 1870 in London at Lavender Hill, Clapham.
She survived him, and, in recognition of the scientific value of his work, was granted a civil list pension.