Robert Henry Fernando Rippon

Robert Henry Fernando Rippon (c. 1836 – 16 January 1917) was an English zoologist, entomologist and illustrator. Born in Bocking, Essex very little of his early life is documented. His interested included poetry and music, with several piano compositions to his credit. Around 1876 he moved to London and took to illustration for a living. He produced several plates for Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin's Biologia Centrali-Americana. He was a close friend of John Obadiah Westwood, to whom he dedicated the first volume of his magnum opus on the birdwing butterflies. This illustrated monograph Icones Ornithopterorum (1898 to 1906) covered the birdwing butterflies. It was initially planned for 20 parts but later made up of 25 parts which were to be bound into two volumes. The second volume was dedicated to Lord Walter Rothschild. This work included 111 plates, all of which were illustrated and coloured by himself.

He had a daughter named Faithful and a son, Edrick Victor Rippon, who took an interest in molluscs and insects, living later in Toronto. After his death, his private collection of insects was bought by Lord Rhondda and donated to the National Museum of Wales; it included more than 105,000 specimens.

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