Charles Johnson Maynard (May 6, 1845 – October 15, 1929) was an American naturalist and ornithologist born in Newton, Massachusetts.

He founded his own company in Boston, Massachusetts, called C. J. Maynard & Co. in 1865, which published books and sold naturalist supplies.

[2] This first book was illustrated by the notable artist Edwin Lord Weeks and published by James R. Osgood & Co., formerly Ticknor and Fields.

[3] The book mentions other future leading figures in ornithology that he worked with such as William Brewster, Joel Asaph Allen, Henry Augustus Purdie and others.

[11] Maynard's work on the mud turtle was cited in Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man in 1872, leading to a brief correspondence.