William Edmund Image FRCS DL JP (1807 - 26 September 1903)[1][2] was a surgeon and early philatelist. In 1880 he served as High Sheriff of Suffolk.[2]
Image was born in Norwich but took his medical degree in France where he lived in the house of the French surgeon M. Dupuytren. On returning to England he started work as a General Practitioner in Bury St. Edmunds, eventually becoming an acknowledged expert in forensic medicine and poisoning cases. Two wives pre-deceased him. In retirement he became a Justice of the Peace.[2]
Image began collecting in 1859 and built a very strong collection which he sold to Thomas Tapling in 1882 for £3000. Image's collection was more complete than Tapling's, who at first intended to sell his own collection, but who in the end decided to retain both.[1] The Tapling Collection now forms part of the British Library Philatelic Collections.
In 1886, Image donated a collection of philatelic literature to The Philatelic Society, London, now The Royal Philatelic Society, London which was one of the cornerstones of that organisation's library.[1] He had joined the society on 10 April 1869.[3]