About William Swainson
William Swainson FLS, FRS, was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Swainson became the first illustrator and naturalist to use lithography, which was a relatively cheap means of reproduction and did not require an engraver. In 1819, William Sharp Macleay published his ideas of the Quinarian system of biological classification, and Swainson soon became a noted and outspoken proponent.
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