John Van Voorst (15 February 1804 – 1898) was an English publisher of

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

books. His publications were noted for their high quality, reasonable prices, and the frequent inclusion of superior illustrations by notable artists.

Biography

John Van Voorst was born in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

on 15 February 1804 to a family of Dutch descent. At the age of 16, he began a six-year apprenticeship in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

before returning to London to work for the publishers Longman, Green, Orme, Hurst & Co. He established his own publishing business in

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row is a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area call ...

in 1833. Initially, he focused on illustrated reprints, including Gray's ''Elegy in a Country Church-Yard'' and Goldsmith's ''Vicar of Wakefield'', but he soon specialized in natural history books,R.B. Williams, ''John Van Voorst: patron publisher of Victorian natural history''
The Private Library
ser.4, vol. 1, Spring 1988, 5-12. often illustrated, and was appointed bookseller to the Zoological Society in 1837. Some of his most notable publications included ''British Fishes'' (by Yarrell, 1835), ''British Quadrupeds'' (by

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

, 1836), and ''British Birds'' (by Yarrell, 1837). With the exception of Darwin, Van Voorst collaborated with most of the leading naturalists of his time, including

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 pap ...

Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English natural history, naturalist and populariser of natural science, prolific author, "Father of the Aquarium", scientific illustrator, lecturer, e ...

, George Johnston,

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainland ...

, Edward Newman, and

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...

. He also employed notable illustrators such as

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

William Mulready William Mulready (1 April 1786 – 7 July 1863) was an Irish genre painter living in London. He is best known for his romanticising depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the ...

Richard Westall Richard Westall (2 January 1765 – 4 December 1836) was an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary events, best known for his portraits of Byron. He was also Queen Victoria's drawing master. Biography We ...

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

, and

Copley Fielding Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (22 November 1787 – 3 March 1855), commonly called Copley Fielding, was an English painter born in Sowerby, near Halifax, and famous for his watercolour landscapes. At an early age Fielding became a pu ...

. By 1871, his catalog of active titles included 224 books and learned journals, most of which focused on natural history. Van Voorst published the journal ''

The Zoologist ''The Zoologist'' was a monthly natural history magazine established in 1843 by Edward Newman and published in London. Newman acted as editor-in-chief until his death in 1876, when he was succeeded, first by James Edmund Harting (1876–1896 ...

'' for more than forty years, from January 1843 until 1886. In addition to natural history works, he published children's books, including those of author and sanitary reformer Anne Bullar, who wrote anonymously. He retired in 1886, after which his assistants took over the business under the name Gurney and Jackson. He was a founding member of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the Society gained it ...

in 1839 and became a Fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

in 1853. Following his retirement, Van Voorst remained active until his death in London on 24 July 1898.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Voorst, John Publishers (people) from London British naturalists 1804 births 1898 deaths Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society People from Highgate 19th-century English businesspeople