author
Gerald C. (Gerald Cecil) Dudgeon
1867–1930
Known for writing a practical early-20th-century guide to West Africa’s crops and forest resources, this British naturalist also left a trail in entomology through his work on butterflies. His surviving sketchbook and scientific records suggest a writer who observed the natural world closely and wrote from direct experience.
1 Audiobook
The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa
by Gerald C. (Gerald Cecil) Dudgeon
About the author
Gerald Cecil Dudgeon (1867–1930) was a British writer and researcher whose work connected natural history with agriculture. Records describe him as an ecologist, agriculturist, and entomologist, and he is especially associated with British West Africa.
He is best remembered in the book world for The Agricultural and Forest Products of British West Africa, a handbook published in the early 20th century and later issued in a second edition in 1922. The book reflects a practical, survey-style approach, bringing together information on crops, forest products, and the economic uses of plants in the region.
Beyond that book, Dudgeon also worked on butterflies and related natural history subjects. A Wellcome Collection record notes a sketchbook of his watercolour drawings of West African butterflies, along with a list of butterflies seen in Northern Nigeria, which gives a vivid sense of his field interests as well as his scientific eye.