The Dupont family: collectors, dealers and naturalists in nineteenth-century Paris

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mearns ◽  
Laurent Chevrier ◽  
Christophe Gouraud

In the early part of the nineteenth century the Dupont brothers ran separate natural history businesses in Paris. Relatively little is known about their early life but an investigation into the family history at Bayeux corrects Léonard Dupont's year of birth from 1795 to 1796. In 1818 Léonard joined Joseph Ritchie's expedition to North Africa to assist in collecting and preparing the discoveries but he did not get beyond Tripoli. After 15 months he came back to Paris with a small collection from Libya and Provence, and returned to Provence in 1821. While operating as a dealer-naturalist in Paris he published Traité de taxidermie (1823, 1827), developed a special interest in foreign birds and became well known for his anatomical models in coloured wax. Henry Dupont sold a range of natural history material and with his particular passion for beetles formed one of the finest collections in Europe; his best known publication is Monographie des Trachydérides (1836–1840). Because the brothers had overlapping interests and were rarely referred to by their forenames there has been confusion between them and the various eponyms that commemorate them. Although probably true, it would be an over-simplification to state that birds of this era named for Dupont refer to Léonard Dupont, insects to Henry Dupont, and molluscs to their mother.

Author(s):  
Laurence Talairach-Vielmas

In ‘Gruesome models: European Displays of Natural History and Anatomy and Nineteenth-Century Literature’ Laurence Talairach-Vielmas explores the process in which from the second half of the eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century, medical museums opened their doors throughout Europe and anatomical models circulated between Italy, Germany, France and England, serving to educate professional medical audiences and thrilling lay audiences keen on freaks and fairs. The chapter argues that the popularisation of anatomy and the circulation of anatomical models and modellers, exhibitions and anatomists throughout Europe was reflected in nineteenth-century literature, from Gothic novels to realistic narratives and even children’s fiction. Looking at the impact of the material culture of medicine upon the literary field, Talairach-Vielmas examines the relationship between literature and the European anatomical culture by exploring nineteenth-century narratives from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) in the first decades of the nineteenth-century to Charles Dickens’s fiction in the 1860s, analysing novels alongside travel guides and journal articles which demonstrate how the specific example of anatomy influenced the literary culture.


Author(s):  
Elena G. Batonimaeva ◽  

Introduction. In the modern Buryat society, the knowledge of one’s own history, roots, culture, and language is becoming increasingly important. There is also a growing interest in genealogical research as many have started to search for data about their ancestors and their family trees in various archives. To illustrate, one may mention an increasing number of requests made for materials on the lineage and pedigrees of Buryats kept in the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist, and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS. The aims of the present article are, firstly, to add to the data on the Khargana clan of Khori Buryats and, secondly, to investigate the background of Galsan-Zhinba Dylgirov (1816–1872?), an outstanding Buryat religious enlightener of the nineteenth century. The research is based on textological, comparative-historical and historical-biographical methods. Data. The article draws on the evidence contained in Dylgirov’s autobiography written in Tibetan in 1864-1872 and xylographed in the Tsugol Datsan. Dylgirov’s lineage is cited in the first chapter of the book and could be read only by few of those who were literate in Tibetan. Results. The lineage goes back to eight generations, including Dylgirov himself, and covers over 150 years. The origin of the family associates with the ancestor known as Shonoguleg who lived at the turn of the eighteenth century. Of particular interest are also legends and stories that supplement the family history. The examination of the lineage sheds light on the origin of the ethnonym Baatarzhan, a branch of the Khargana clan. Also, the family history contains new data on the Buryat self-governing administration before the first third of the nineteenth century. Clearly, the data of Dylgirov’s autobiography may be useful for further genealogical research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Warecki

Published accounts of the work of J.R. Dymond, a zoology professor at the University of Toronto, director of the Royal Ontario Museum, and a significant force for conservation in Ontario emphasize his contributions to the natural history movement, and his influence on scientific research and the protection of natural areas in provincial parks. Relatively little attention has been paid to his early life and the local environments that shaped his views of nature. This article uses the concept of “place” to explain how Dymond became a conservationist. His experiences in specific locations—a product of social relations and the landscapes themselves—gave those places meaning and shaped his values. Such environments included the family farm and surrounding countryside in southwestern Ontario’s Metcalfe Township, Strathroy Collegiate Institute, the University of Toronto and nearby natural areas, places in Ottawa, and various lakes in B.C. and Ontario.


2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Cleevely

Letters discovered in Normandy between Charles De Gerville (1769–1853), the French archaeologist and naturalist, and members of the Sowerby family concern his investigation of the strata, their fossils and the exchange of information, specimens and publications. Together with other archives at the Natural History Museum, London, the University of Bristol and the Bibliotheque Municipale de Cherbourg, they deal with his research during the early nineteenth century on the geology of the Cotentin (Cherbourg Peninsula). A brief resumé of James Sowerby's early botanical interests is mentioned as the likely link for this relationship. Sowerby's Mineral conchology is believed to have had a major role in influencing De Gerville's research, particularly through its support of John Farey's advocacy of William Smith's methods. These letters, together with references to published accounts about geology at that time, reveal the difficulties under which this research was conducted. An account of De Gerville's early life is given to explain his links with English contemporaries, mention his characteristic qualities, or foibles, and assess the value of his contribution to geology.


1986 ◽  
Vol 55 (02) ◽  
pp. 218-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M Fischer ◽  
P Cornu ◽  
C Sternberg ◽  
F Mériane ◽  
M D Dautzenberg ◽  
...  

SummaryA qualitative abnormality of antithrombin III (AT III) was found in the plasma of a 41-year old patient. The plasmatic AT III antigen concentration was 130% and the progressive anti-F IIa and anti-F Xa activities were normal (105% and 137%). The plasma heparin cofactor activity was less than 10%, when measured by F Ila or F Xa inhibition. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis of AT III in the presence of heparin revealed in the plasma an abnormal slow-moving peak. When tested by affinity chromatography on heparin Sepharose, this abnormal AT III did not bind to heparin. Among the investigated relatives, 5 subjects had normal AT III levels, whatever the test used, the nine others having reduced levels of antithrombin heparin cofactor activity (45-61%) but normal levels of immunoreactive AT III (97-122%). Consanguinity was found in the family history. We therefore considered our patient as homozygous for an AT III molecular abnormality affecting the binding site for heparin.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mathew

This paper explores the origins of the Calcutta journal of natural history (1841–1848) and the search from the 1830s for a permanent curator for the collections of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Edward Blyth (1810–1873) was appointed, even though John M'Clelland (or McClelland) (1805–1883), who founded the Calcutta journal of natural history, had acted as part-time curator of the collections for two years before Blyth's arrival in Calcutta. An analysis of the Society and the journal allows reconsideration of the significance of natural history in India in the mid-nineteenth century.


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