Townend Glover

Townend Glover (February 20, 1813 – September 7, 1883) was an American entomologist and the first appointed United States Entomologist to the newly formed United States Department of Agriculture in 1862. He has been described as one of the "finest illustrators" of insects in the United States.

Early life

Glover was born in Rio de Janeiro to Henry and Mary Townend Glover, both of whom died when he was just six weeks old.

United States Entomologist In 1854, Glover joined the Bureau of Agriculture of the United States Patent Office as an entomologist, and studied a wide range of topics, including sugarcane, citrus insect pests, plant diseases, soils, birds, mammals, reptiles, and Indian mounds, before joining the faculty at Maryland Agricultural College in 1859.

In 1878, Glover resigned his position at the USDA and moved to Baltimore where he lived with his adopted daughter. He died September 7, 1883.

Publications Much of Glover's illustrations were privately printed. He often distributed them broadly to entomologists across the globe. However, he struggled to find a publisher for his proposed book, and even refused to illustrate Insects Injurious to Vegetation by T. W. Harris. According to Dodge, 250 copies were printed, of which 50 were distributed widely and the rest were destroyed, though Mallis claims that only 15 author's proofs were published (though he wrongly states that they were published in 1887 after Glover had already died).