Benjamin Wilkes

author

Benjamin Wilkes

d. 1749

An 18th-century London artist and naturalist, he turned a painter’s eye toward butterflies and moths and produced one of the period’s most admired illustrated studies of English insects. His work blends careful observation with vivid color, making early natural history feel surprisingly alive.

1 Audiobook

The English moths and butterflies : Together with the plants, flowers, and fruits whereon they feed, and are usually found.

The English moths and butterflies : Together with the plants, flowers, and fruits whereon they feed, and are usually found.

by Benjamin Wilkes

About the author

Best known for The English Moths and Butterflies, he worked in London as a painter before becoming deeply interested in insects. According to accounts of his life, seeing specimens at a meeting of the Aurelian Society helped convince him that nature itself could teach him more about color and form.

That shift in focus led him to study moths and butterflies closely and to publish a richly illustrated book showing the insects alongside the plants they feed on. The work was associated with Henry Baker, and it earned lasting attention for its combination of art and natural history.

Little is firmly known about his personal life, but he is generally recorded as having died around 1749, around the time his major work appeared. Even with the gaps in the record, he is remembered as one of those early figures who helped make scientific observation visually compelling for ordinary readers.