Charlotte De Bernier Taylor


Charlotte De Bernier Scarbrough Taylor was an American entomologist.

Life

Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1806, daughter of William Scarbrough and Julia, Taylor was educated at Madam Binze's School in New York, after which she made a tour of Europe. On her return to Georgia in 1829, she married James Taylor, a wealthy merchant, with whom she had two daughters and one son, lived in Savannah as a person of means, raised the family and became involved in social affairs, scientific studies and writing.
Just before the start of the American Civil War, Taylor went to England to write a book about plantation life, but died of tuberculosis on the Isle of Man in 1861.

Works

During the 1830s, Taylor began to study insects seriously, publishing her findings in general literary magazines. She studied insects related to cotton growing for fifteen years before publishing in American magazines, notably Harper's New Monthly Magazine, in the 1850s. She also investigated insects related to wheat. She is thought to have published about 19 articles in all, including the following:
Taylor also wrote and illustrated a book published by Saunders, Otley, & Co. in 1859 titled Scenes In Southern Plantation Life.
Taylor used powerful magnifying glasses to study insects and illustrated her articles with intricate drawings, in which endeavour she was assisted by her daughters. She published a study on the silkworm and wrote about the natural history and anatomy of spiders. On her journey to England she made microscopic studies of sea water.
Taylor is recognized as having produced significant and accurate work that is of high quality. This work may not have been recognized due to the fact that she published in popular magazines and wrote in entertaining literary style.