Smith, James Edward (1759–1828)

English botanist and owner of Linnaeus's library and collection of specimens who founded the Linnaean Society. He studied Linnaeus's collections and translated some of his work.

Born in Norwich, Smith's father encouraged him to study medicine, despite his preference for botany. In 1781, he went to Edinburgh University, and in 1783, he went to London to study anatomy. In London he met Joseph Banks and through him was able to purchase Linnaeus's specimens, herbarium, library, and manuscripts for £1,000. He studied the collection, reorganized it, and translated some of Linnaeus's work, including Reflections on the Study of Nature 1785, Dissertation on the Sexes of Plants 1786, and Flora Laponica.

In 1821, he published a collection of Linnaeus's correspondence and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society 1785 and knighted 1818. He instructed the queen and princesses in botany. In 1788, he founded the Linnaean Society. Smith was the first president of the Society until his death 1828, when the society was annoyed to have to pay £3,000 for the Linnaean Collection.