'' Jardine was born on 23 February 1800 at 28 North Hanover Street in
Edinburgh, the son of Sir Alexander Jardine, 6th baronet of Applegarth and his wife, Jane Maule. He was educated in both
York and Edinburgh then studied medicine at
Edinburgh University. From 1817 to 1821 he lodged with
Rev Dr Andrew Grant at James Square, an arrangement made by his father. Grant was minister of St Andrew's Church on George Street. In his early years, aged only 25, he was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Sir
David Brewster. He was "keenly addicted to field-sports, and a master equally of the rod and the gun". While ornithology was his main passion, he also studied ichthyology, botany and geology. His book on fossil burrows and traces, the
Ichnology of Annandale, included fossils from his ancestral estate. He was the first to coin the term
ichnology, and this was the first book written on the subject. His private natural history museum and library are said to have been the finest in Britain. Jardine made
natural history available to all levels of
Victorian society by editing the hugely popular forty volumes of The Naturalist's Library (1833–1843) issued and published by his brother in law, the Edinburgh printer and engraver,
William Home Lizars. The series was divided into four main sections:
Ornithology (14 volumes),
Mammalia (13 volumes),
Entomology (7 volumes), and
Ichthyology (6 volumes); each prepared by a leading naturalist.
James Duncan wrote the insect volumes. The artists responsible for the illustrations included
Edward Lear. The work was published in Edinburgh by
W. H. Lizars. The frontispiece is a portrait of
Pierre André Latreille. His other publications included an edition of
Gilbert White's
Natural History of Selborne which re-established White's reputation,
Illustrations of Ornithology (1825–1843), and an affordable edition of
Alexander Wilson's
Birds of America. Jardine described of a number of bird species, alone or in conjunction with his friend
Prideaux John Selby. He died on 21 November 1874 in
Sandown, Isle of Wight. ==Family and descendants==