Edward Wesley Janson

Edward Wesley Janson (14 March 1822 – 14 September 1891) was an English entomologist who specialised in beetles.

Edward Wesley Janson
Janson in 1863
Born	(1822-03-14)14 March 1822
Died	14 September 1891(1891-09-14) (aged 69)

The Janson family was of Dutch origin and Edward Wesley Janson's father was the London Agent of the Dutch Rhenish Railway Company.

A keen entomologist, Janson was elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of London in 1843. In 1850, he was appointed curator of the Society's collections, a post he held until 1863. He was then the Society's librarian until 1874.

Insect Collection Diptera. Box supplied by the Janson's natural history company

In 1852, he started a natural history business, Janson & Sons, selling books and specimens. He also became a publisher, first initiating the Journal of Entomology (published by Taylor and Francis in 14 parts from 1862-1866), then Cistula Entomologica (29 parts, from 1869–1885). He also published a volume of British Beetles in 1863, with illustrations from John Curtis' British Entomology.

Janson also assembled a collection of world click beetles (Elateridae), consisting of 25,000 specimens of which 1000 were original types.

The Janson company archive is conserved in the Natural History Museum in London.^[1]

His eldest son Edward, was also an entomologist.^[2]