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Tue 28 May

Jean COCTEAU (Maisons-Laffitte 1889 - Milly-la-Forêt 1963). Autograph manuscript of the poem ''Cherchez Apollon'', 12 p. in-4 (275 x 215 mm) including title page, with TWO ORIGINAL DRAWINGS on two separate pages, (the first, second and fifth with ink stains). Several pages show splits, folds, tears, stains and weakened edges. The poem comprises 18 stanzas of 4 lines each, with numerous erasures and corrections in ink and pencil. This first draft of a major poem by Cocteau, composed in late 1931 or early 1932, presents numerous variants with the published text, the first four stanzas with changes in almost every line, the fifth and sixth significantly different, the seventh to tenth fairly close to the published version, the eleventh very different. The twelfth stanza does not appear in this manuscript, and the following stanzas are close to the published text, albeit with some unpublished variants. Cf. Pléiade, Cocteau p. 617, Cf. also N.R.F. Poésie/Gallimard, pp. 145-147 and page 223. Printed in Barcelona on September 15, 2015. The manuscript shows the author's creative process, often under the influence of opium. The poem was dedicated to Nathalie PALEY (Madame Lucien Lelong (1905-1981), a beautiful, elegant young woman of the world whom Cocteau had met at a performance of Le Sang d'un poète, with whom he is said to have had a love affair in the spring of 1932. Attached to the manuscript: Jean PAULAN (Nîmes 1884 - Neuilly-sur-Seine 1968). French writer, literary critic and publisher. Editor and manager of La Nouvelle Revue française. - Autograph letter signed "J. P." Paris mardi s.d. (1932), one page in-8 on N.R.F. letterhead, 43 rue de Beaune Paris (VIIe). Small paper losses, outside text. To inform her of the enthusiasm of readers who have just discovered the poem: "Pour Cherchez Apollon, je n'entends qu'éloge et enthousiasme. Lothe, Benda, Gide, Supervielle. People sometimes want to recite it to me (I already knew that). I am yours affectionately, dear Jean. - L.a.s. "J. P." Paris mardi s.d. (1932), one page in-8 on N.RF. letterhead. Paris (VIIe). Small chips, folds and tears. Concerning the desired rectification of a verse: "I find your verse very good as it is... ". - Bon à tirer of the manuscript, consisting of 4 printed pages in-8°, recto-verso, standing on a single yellow sheet. The text, printed by F. Paillart in Abbeville (Somme), features numerous handwritten corrections by the author in black ink. Bon à tirer dated May 5, 1933. Exhibition: - Center Pompidou, "COCTEAU", November 25, 2003 to January 5, 2004, listed under number 107 C and described as "Jean Cocteau, Cherchez Apollon, manuscrit avec achevé d'imprimé". Provenance: - French private collection Erotica Monsieur X Expert: Mario MORDENTEThis lot is only accessible if you are logged in, and if your age matches your ID.

Estim. 500 - 600 EUR

Tue 28 May

Archives of Joseph-Marie de GERANDO (1772-1842), Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior and member of the Institut, Baron d'Empire, linguist, pedagogue and philanthropist. Set of 5 autograph letters signed, addressed by name or implicitly to Gérando: - François de Neufchâteau (1750-1828), President of the Conservative Senate. Letter on the letterhead of the Conservative Senate, dated 7 Nivôse, Year 14 (December 28, 1805), addressed to Joseph-Marie de Gérando, concerning Doctor Alphonse-Louis Leroy, who wishes to be attached to the poor lunatics of Charenton. "He has so much spirit that he must be very capable of restoring it to those who have lost it". - Ferdinando Paër (1771-1839), Italian opera composer. Letter apologizing for not being able to attend a social gathering due to a "dreadful cold", dated Paris, April 9, 1836. - Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), economist, founder of Saint-Simonism, philosopher of industrialism, thinker of French industrial society. "Our society, Sir, aims to encourage industry, and I am busy with a work whose subject has some connection with its work." Letter dated Paris, Arsenal des poudres et salpêtre, August 6, 1815. - Pierre Hyacinthe Azaïs (1766-1845), French philosopher. Letter to send a work in which the author believes "he has taken some important steps towards knowledge of the mysteries of human intelligence". Letter dated Paris, August 16, 1806 - Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740-1826), Protestant pastor of the Evangelical Church, pietist and apostle of social progress. Letter addressed to Baron de Gérando, recommending Pastor Louis Gaussen de Satigny for the position of Professor at the Montauban Faculty of Theology, and Pastor François Bonnard for the position of Dean at the same Faculty. Letter dated Waldbach, Ban de la Roche (Waldersbach, Vosges), December 31, 1818. The five pieces are framed together between two glasses.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Tue 28 May

Prestigiosa Collezione di biglietti da visita del '700 '800 - Extraordinary collection of business cards from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. All made with printed engravings, woodcuts on vintage paper, some with autograph inscriptions in ink of the holders represented on the ticket itself. There are names of the well-known bourgeoisie, lawyers, writers, various nobles, military officers, prelates.The album contains approximately 267 pieces, which after a visual examination would appear to beall removable from the album pages itself. Among the well-known people are Alexandre Dumas fils with inscription and autograph signature, Ferdinand Gregorovius with autograph inscription, Lady Shelley. We then find one of the first ever hand-filled business cards (of the Baron de Waldkirch chamberlain). Some other names identified:Marquis Carlo Maria Bichi Ruspoli, Marchioness Faustina Capranica del Grillo, Monsignor Azeido, Bianconi minister of Saxony, the imperial and Royal Apostolic agent and secretary De' Brunati, Prince Rospigliosi, Abbè Galiani, Antonio Grassi magician, Captain Graziani, the Archbishop of Ravenna, Prince Giovanni Gonzaga, Domenico Caracciolo, John Leigh Philips, Count Lupi, Duke Strozzi, Marchese Ginori, Lucrezia de Ricci nee Antinori, Neri della Gherardesca, Le Comte de Breunner ambassedeur de S.M. the Empereur et Roi, Marquis Borelli Poggiolini, Senator Knight Antonio Serristori, Marquis Tacoli gentleman of the chamber of H.R.H. of Parma, the Comte de Haga, Prince Camillo de Rohan Ambassador of Malta, Marquis Vivaldi, the Bishop of Acquapendente, the Marquis Cav. Giovanni Vettori, Le Ministre Plenipontentiaire de S.M. Britannique, a secret valet of his Holiness, Francesco Bernini Manfroni, and many others. The album is in excellent condition, the cards are of various sizes in the order of 3 cm. to 11 cm. per sideThe album measures approximately 24.5 x 37 cm, 19th century hard binding. Prestigious collection coming from the Mattarella family.

Estim. 4 000 - 5 000 EUR

Tue 28 May

Album contenitore collezione di biglietti da visita - Another album with an important collection of business cards from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. All made with printed engravings, woodcuts on vintage paper, some with autograph ink inscriptions of the holders represented on the ticket itself.This second album collects approximately 316 pieces, which after a visual examination would appear to beall removable from the album pages itself. Among the well-known personalities are Antonio Canova, Cardinal Pecci Bishop of Perugia (who later became Pope Leo XIII) with autograph inscription, Nino Bixio with autograph inscription, Prince Borghese, Prince Andrea Doria Pamphilj. Other names identified: Rossi Seniori Representative in the VI Republican year (Cisalpina), Marquis Paolo Spada, Count Filippo Bentivoglio, Prince Rezzonico Senator of Rome, Monsignor Castiglione, Odoardo de Cinque Knight of the Guard of Our Lady, A. Canova, Giuseppe Fornari with 4 different tickets of the four seasons engraved by Giovanni Petrini in Rome, Count Ercole Orsi, Duke of Ceri, the Imperial and Royal Agent and Secretary Aplico De Brunati, the Duke Capecelatro, Luigi Vannini Lieutenant, Don Antonio Odescalchi, Le General Majnoni , Prince Corsini, Percival Mann musician, Navy Captain Agostino del Bene, Papal Consul in Venice, Count Boschetti, Countess Boschetti, Francesco Maria Sanzii, etc etc The album is in excellent condition, the cards are of various sizes in the order of 3 cm. to 11 cm. per sideThe album measures approximately 22 x 33 cm, 19th century hard binding. Prestigious collection coming from the Mattarella family

Estim. 5 000 - 6 000 EUR

Tue 28 May

Hitler, Adolf (Braunau am Inn, Austria Superiore, 20 aprile 1889 - Berlino 30 aprile 1945) - Hitler Adolf (Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria, April 20, 1889 - Berlin April 30, 1945) on paper with the heading "ADOLF HITLER Deutscher Reichskanzler" letter of introduction from Mr. Eberhard von Stohrer (February 5, 1883 - March 7, 1953) as German Ambassador to Spain, sent to the President of the Spanish Republic (Manuel Azaña Díaz) through the diplomat von Stohrer himself, appointed by Hitler to take service at the embassy of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War in the years 1936-1939, the predecessor having been deposed Count von Welczeck. The text of the letter/document continues by summarizing "... His proven qualities authorize me to believe that he, like his predecessor, will try to earn the approval of Your Excellency in the honorable task entrusted to him. Mr. von Stohrer will have the honor of presenting to you, Mr. President, this letter, which has the purpose of authenticating him as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the German Reich. I pray that he will be received favorably and that he will be given full credit in everything that will be called upon to speak on my behalf or on behalf of the Government of the German Reich. Berchtesgaden, July 16, 1936" - The letter is autographed, original, signed in black ink by Adolf Hitler, and countersigned at the bottom right by the secretary... ......... - Letter of one sheet, 4 pages, the first two filled in by hand, contained in the original envelope with the heading "An Seine Exzellenz den Herrn Prasidenten der Spanischen Republik" closed by an original paper seal in relief of the German Reich. - Measurements of one side of the letter 21x29.7 cm. Measurements of the envelope 16x22.7 cm. Letter in excellent condition, with central fold to allow insertion in an envelope.

Estim. 3 000 - 3 500 EUR

Tue 28 May

Barrili, Anton Giulio - Breschi, Laura - Friendship diary, liber amicarum, which belonged to Laura Breschi, nephew of Anton Giulio Barrili, containing several autographed dedications, original drawings, musical lines by well-known artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The diary has a hard cover covered in fuchsia floral fabric, with the metallic initials LB applied at the top left, in mediocre condition, with total detachment of the spine. The internal pages are in excellent condition. Measures 20x26 cm In order we find: a whole page with an autographed poetic composition by Anton Giulio Barrili dedicated to his nieces Laura and Maura; two photographic postcards with dedication and signature by Miecio (Mieczyslaw) Horszowski (pianist 1892-1993); a portrait of the young Laura in ink dedicated and signed Luigi Gallina '99 (painter 1865-1931); an autographed poetic composition and a postcard with dedication and autograph by Paul Déroulede (writer 1846-1914); a photographic postcard with dedication and signature by Cesare Pascarella (Roman painter, poet 1858-1940) and an original ink drawing of a donkey TO MY PATIENT BROTHER! also signed by Cesare Pascarella; a dedication with an autograph signature by Leopoldo Fregoli (the quick-change artist, 1867-1936); a musical line with dedication and autograph signature by Ruggero Leoncavallo (composer 1857-1919); a postcard with a musical line dedicated and autographed by Umberto Giordano (composer 1867-1948); 4-page letter/story with autograph dedication by Luigi Morandi, writer, poet and Garibaldian with Barrili (1844-1922); a poem with an autograph signature by Rosmunda Tomei Finamore (1864-1955); photographic postcard with dedication and signature of Smara (Smarande) Gheorghiu, Romanian poet and feminist movement activist (1857-1944); a sepia ink caricature of P.G.Breschi signed by GANDOLIN (Luigi Arnaldo Vassallo designer and director of Secolo XIX in Genoa); and then a small brochure signed by Amilcare Zanella, and 8 other various autographs (Ferdinando Martini, and others)

Estim. 2 500 - 3 000 EUR

Wed 29 May

1744. MANUSCRIPT: (AMERICA). LETTER FROM THE KING ADDRESSED TO THE BISHOP OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SANTIAGO DE LEÓN DE CARACAS, ON THE COLLECTION OF THE CACAO FRUIT. Bifolio manuscript on laid paper of the period, with watermark. From the same hand. Dated at Buen Retiro, December 31, 1744, 'El Rey. Reverend in Christ Father Bishop of the Cathedral Church of Santiago de Leon of Caracas [...] and for what touches to charge the 6% of Communities, Hospitals, and other people that you express you will arrange very exactly and punctually to the mentioned Brief of Pope Clemente Undecimo, and to the Instruction that was sent to you with the mentioned Royal Letter of October 23 of the year 741. And of the recivi of this dispatch you will give me account in the first occasion that is offered. Y os prevengo que por el despacho de este dia participo la referida Providencia a los oficiales de mi Real Hacienda de esa ciudad para que lo cumplan en la parte que les toca.' [More:] 1 folio manuscript of the same hand and same date as the previous one and also referring to the rentas del cacao. Addressed to the officials of the royal treasury of the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, 'con motivo de haverme representado el revdo. Don Juan Garcia Abadiano Bishop of that diocese [...] the lack of money that there is in it for which it seemed necessary to him that it be received in fruits of the earth [...] dispose to deliver in the houses of our charge the product of the mentioned in the fruit of the cacao that is the one that is the most abundant in this province and not in some others so that you make him embark for these kingdoms on my account in the ships that come from the Guipuzcoana Company'.

No estimate

Thu 30 May

BOTANICS. Set of 2 documents: - Jean-Marie, Léon dit LEON-DUFOUR (1780-1865), French entomologist, arachnologist and botanist. Autograph letter signed. Saint-Sever, Landes, October 14, 1846. 3 pp. in-4. Dufour sends his correspondent a botanical memento; he sends around a hundred phanerogamous plants (with visible reproductive organs). He studies botany and entomology, "at the moment I'm in a paroxysm of lichenomania"; he mentions the lichens he collected at the Pic du Midi and would like to review Duby's work "La Flore française", studies the genus Parmelia and Lecidea, samples of acharins by Fries, Persoon and Candolle, etc. - Louis OLIVIER (1854-1910), French botanist, microbiologist and bacteriologist. Autograph letter signed. Paris, February 24, 1880. 3 pp. in-8. Interesting scientific letter from the botanist announcing the preparation of his major work: L'Appareil tégumentaire des racines. "Monsieur Cahours gave me good news of you, having received your visit the very day before. [...] Mr. Van Tieghem [botanist and biologist Philippe van Thieghem (1839-1914)] advised me, after a few days in the laboratory, to undertake original research, to write a thesis. I chose tuberous formations in roots as my subject: it's mainly an anatomical study. [...] My great ambition would be to do general physiology, for I am convinced that truly vital phenomena must be studied in the series of living beings, both animal and vegetable. Unfortunately this idea, although supported by Cl[aude] Bernard, has not yet been adopted in teaching, and from a career point of view, one can only present oneself as a zoologist or botanist [...]". L'Appareil tégumentaire des racines is praised and rewarded by the Académie des Sciences.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Thu 30 May

Nicolas de CONDORCET (1743-1794). Autograph letter [to Turgot]. 4 pp. in-4. Beaume July 22, 1772. Magnificent scientific letter published in the Correspondance inédite de Condorcet et de Turgot 1770-1779 (Paris, Charavay, 1883, letter LXXI, pp. 93-95). "I made the foolishness of waiting for your reply to make the basket-maker leave, and the even greater foolishness of waiting for it to write to you. The basket-maker is going to leave, at least I hope so, for I have left́ this care to my mother and I am running the world about a fortnight to go and see M. de Saint-Chamans in Givet [Joseph-Louis vicomte de Saint-Chamans, friend of Julie de Lespinasse]. I have read M. de Morvaux's [Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737-1816)] work on phlogiston, and I am not dissatisfied with it; but it is below my expectations. It destroys all the ideas we have of gravity, which all other phenomena force us to admit. For the phlogiston to make thirteen ounces of lead weigh only twelve in air, the phlogiston in the lead plus one ounce of lead would have to be in equilibrium with a volume of air equal to the total volume of lead. Moreover, in even the least perfect vacuum, lead lime would approach the weight of lead, before calcination, in a very noticeable way, and this experiment, which is very simple to perform, would suffice to destroy de Morvaux's opinion. I know nothing at all about the aurora borealis; as for magnetism, I believe that, before explaining anything, we must try to guess the law to which the direction of the needle is subject, first for the same place and then for different places in the same time. From there, we would arrive at a general law for all times and all places. I would have liked the observations made for Paris to have shown the same variation when approaching the direction of the meridian, where it passed in 1666, as when moving away from it on the other side. But this did not happen, and makes the law much harder to guess. Doctor Halley's explanation, which is sufficient only for the variation in different places, is absolutely precarious and vague. As for the variation for different times, its constant march towards the same side for over one hundred and eighty years hardly allows us not to suppose a cause subject to a calculable law, and I can think of none more plausible than the effect of the planets on our globe. The equations of the earth's orbit, rotation and precession seem to me to be the first to be considered. As for the inclination of the needle, it would necessarily have to be continued with the other variation, because we know that the forces perpendicular to the orbit of the planets influence the equations of these orbits referred to a plane. Perhaps one day I'll calculate all this, if the details aren't too off-putting. I'm reading M. de Morvaux on dissolution and crystallization. I'm afraid he's not geometric enough to get away with all these theories of gravity. Adieu, Monsieur, à propos vous jugez trop sévèrement l'auteur du livre sur les Deux Indes [l'abbé Raynal], je lui écrirai un peu sur sa physique, et je lui offrirrai le peu que je sais pour la seconde édition. Mademoiselle de l'Espinasse is too kind to tell you about me. I've only done a few essays to give my colleagues an idea of my style; one on the life of Fontaine, which is only for M. de Fouchi; the other on the influence of printing, which we'll put in the papers if I can make it passable. When it's done, you'll see, but I wish that distance hadn't deprived me of your advice.

Estim. 5 000 - 6 000 EUR

Thu 30 May

Anselme Gaëtan DESMAREST (1784-1838). Set of 2 autograph letters signed to the publisher Pitois. Paris and s.l., August 15, 1828 and December 18, 1821. 1 p. in-4 with address on verso and 1 p. in-8. Beautiful letters about the editing of his Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles with Auguste Duméril between 1816 and 1830. He sends the articles in the letter "i" to the publisher Pitois. However, "Ivoire" by zoologist Georges-Frédéric CUVIER (1773-1838) is missing; "Ixode" [tick], "Iule" [millipede] and "Issus" for entomologist, herpetologist and ichthyologist Auguste DUMÉRIL (1812-1870); "Isurus" [shark] for zoologist Hippolyte CLOQUET (1787-1840) and "Isochilus" [orchid] for botanist and explorer Jean-Louis Marie POIRET (1755-1834). "The first two of these, ixode and iule being the names of a genus of arachnids and a genus of insects, go to Mr Duméril. I'm only in charge of crustaceans proper. I have not seen the beginning of the ichthyological article, nor the articles on the same family, although I have asked Mr Bertrand for this sheet several times. Leman hasn't received it either. He then refers to his own work in ichthyology and zoology, and crosses out this passage. "I have just received plates 6 and 7 from the printing house [...]". He asks Bertrand for the proofs "of the 1st leaf of the 57th volume". "The words velelle, vérétille, vermiculaire, vermilié, veronicelle and vertigo from M. de Blainville are missing [...]". He then refers to Cloquet's article on the bladder and biffs it, etc.

Estim. 400 - 600 EUR

Thu 30 May

ENTOMOLOGY & ZOOLOGY. Set of 4 documents: - Philogène Auguste Joseph DUPONCHEL (1774-1846) French entomologist, specialist in Lepidoptera. 2 autograph letters signed, one to Strasbourg entomologist and printer Gustave Silbermann (1801-1876), the other to entomologist and librarian Étienne Mulsant (1797-1880). Paris, January 25, 1833 and March 17, 1841. 5 ½ pp. in-4. Duponchel cannot make a firm commitment to write for an entomological journal, as he is in the process of having two works published by the Société d'entomologie, of which they are both members. He mentions the description of a new species of insect. The second letter concerns Duponchel's research, intended to inform Mulsant, about the Eschscholtz oxyomur. "I have consulted all the coleopterists in Paris and they all agree that this genus has never been published and that it is a catalog or collection name, like so many others adopted by M. Dejean". On the subject of Gymnopleurus asperatus [small black beetle], described by Steven during his travels in the Caucasus and northern Russia: the memoirs (7 to 8 volumes) containing said descriptions, "were scattered among those of the naturalists of the Imperial Academy of Moscow, which [...] were burnt in the Moscow fire of 1812. As chance would have it, your Gymnopleurus asperatus is precisely described in one of these burnt volumes". Alexander Grigorievitch Fischer von Waldheim (1803-1884), zoologist and botanist, president of the Imperial Society of Moscow Naturalists, "has since had the burnt volumes reprinted; but neither the Institute nor the Museum has yet sought to procure it". Duponchel then refers to the representation of the larva of the Dorcus parallelipipedus (also known as the "little hind", a very large black beetle), in the work of John Obadiah Westwood (1805-1893), on loan from the entomologist Gustave du Bois, baron de Romand (1810-1871). - Émile BLANCHARD (1819-1900), French entomologist and ichthyologist, Chair of Natural History of Crustaceans, Arachnids and Insects at the Muséum Autograph letter signed and addressed to a "dear colleague". Paris, December 1, 1878. 1 p. ½ in-8. Two tiny marginal tears, no damage to text. Blanchard requests "osteological specimens much needed for teaching zoology at the agronomic institute" and addresses a list to the professor of comparative anatomy at the Muséum. - Étienne GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE]. Portrait engraved on copper by A. Freart. 14 x 12 cm (on a 27 x 18.7 cm sheet). Beautiful medal portrait of the great naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, in profile. The naturalist's face is surmounted by the word "Utilitati" and surrounded by an array of animals: monkey, rodent, bird-like crocodile (with a small bird in its mouth), fish and Egyptian sarcophagus with hieroglyphs (representing birds, among other things), leaves and plants. This portrait comes from the work published during E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's lifetime: Discours sur l'Histoire universelle, published by Curmer [Paris, 1839], for which A. Feart drew the illustrations.

Estim. 200 - 300 EUR

Thu 30 May

Adolph Eduard GRUBE (1812-1880), Prussian zoologist. 2 autograph letters signed to Henri Milne-Edwards. 4 pp. in-8. Königsberg and Dorpat, 1843-1845. Address on spine. Beautiful letters about his research on Argyronetes [a species of spider that can live underwater] and Annelids. He thanks him for sending him "research on the circulation of Annelids", and in turn presents him with his work: "the description of Actinia, Echinoderms and Annelids, which I have encountered on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and two popular lessons, one on the meetings of Euglena Sanguinea as pond covers and the other on Argyronetes and their way of life. As you can see, Sir, Annelids are no longer the only animals whose natural history I study, although I continue to observe them with particular interest. Argyronetes have tracheae as well as lungs, and the structure of these organs seems to be the same as in Dyodera and Segestra. Another result of my research on Araneids is what I have derived from the anatomy of the vascular system: i.e., the heart of these animals has lateral openings, through which the blood enters, while it exits through arteries branching in the abdomen and cephalothorax. The same thing I proved in scorpions. As far as Annelids are concerned, I have almost always dealt with native species, and I shall continue to collect earthworms next summer to convince myself how many of the thirty-five species Monsieur Dugéo counts in France we possess. However, I have not failed to study - as far as it is possible to do with individuals preserved in wine spirit - the anatomy of foreign and new Annelids, for example the anatomy of the genus Ammotrypene, discovered by Monsieur Rathke on the coast of Norway. You're right, when you say "the need to study the functions of the economy on living organisms", but anatomy seems to me in many cases to be sufficient to ascertain the place that an Annelid should take in the natural series. You will read Mr. Rathne's descriptions of Norwegian Annelids in the next volume of Acta Naturae-curiosorum [...]". In a second letter, he sends him my "memoir on the development of Clepsines, Annelids, which in this regard departs from leeches proper".

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Thu 30 May

Henri LORET (1811-1888), botanist, a leading specialist in the plants of southern France, and in particular the flora of Montpellier and Hérault, for which he published several monographs. In 1848 and 1852, he herborized in the Cannes, Grasse, Saint-Vallier and Thorenc regions, and published the results of his observations in the Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. 23 autograph letters signed to botanist Honoré Ardoïno (1819-1874), specialist in the flora of Provence. 106 pp. in-8 in dense handwriting. Castellane, Cannes, Toulouse, Vernoux (Ardèche), Montpellier (mostly), Lunas and Bains de Lamalou (Hérault), 1850-1867. A very long and fascinating correspondence devoted entirely to botany and natural history. The first letter recounts his naturalist excursion, which began in the Pyrenees and ended on the shores of the Estérel; he ends his letter with a long list of plants collected in Cannes and the Lérins Islands, Saint-Vallier and Castellane. In a tightly-written 12-page letter, he comments at length on his Catalogue des plantes de Menton et Monaco, comparing the species with those of the Montpellier region. Long letters are devoted to his botanical excursions in the Montpellier region and his discoveries (he published Flore de Montpellier, in 2 volumes in 1876). In a densely-written 10-page letter, he launches into a systematic comparison of plants from the Grasse and Menton regions with those from the Montpellier area. "I have from Menton under the name Malva Lylvestris a small malva with starry hairs that many take to be M. ambigua [...]. The Prenanthes raussissima All. sent by Balbis to Dunal is our own, but this plant differs from L. viminca Gh only in its bushy rather than slender habit. Balbis also sent it cultivated and transformed it into a true L. vimainca. In Cette [Sète], where we have p. ramississima, we find it in the same place, mixed with spindly, slender plants that differ in nothing from L. viminca, from which I conclude that it is the same species whose only distinctive habit is even variable. However, if Balbis's plant and our own are the true Premanthes ramossissima, which I believe they are, we must admit that Alliani's figure is unfaithful. In this figure, in fact, the calyx is composed of imbricate, inordinate scales, all short and unequal, whereas our plant and that of Bellardi have like a double calyx, the interior long with equal leaflets and emerging from a very short calicule formed of 4 to 5 pieces as occurs in L. viminca and L. chaudrilloeflora [...]".

Estim. 3 000 - 4 000 EUR

Thu 30 May

Henri MILNE-EDWARDS (1800-1885), zoologist. Autograph letter signed to a "learned colleague" [of the Académie des sciences], 4 pp. in-8, embossed letterhead with his cipher. Paris, May 26, 1870. About the work of Austrian anatomist Josef Hyrtl (1810-1894, founder of the Museum of Comparative Anatomy, Vienna) and the prize awarded to him by the Académie des Sciences. "I would find it very difficult to reverse the Academy's decision in favor of Mr. Hyrtl, and the new award seems justifiable. In fact, the Physiology Prize awarded to this scientist in 1861, for the whole of his research in comparative anatomy, was essentially aimed at those of his works which were most directly linked to physiology, and the rapporteur, while briefly quoting the memoir on the morphology of the genito-urinary organs of fishes, mainly points out 1° M. Hyrtl's observations on the angiogenesis of fishes. Hyrtl on comparative angiology, on the absence of blood vessels in the heart walls of certain vertebrates, etc., and on the admirable networks [...]. To avoid any criticism on this subject, it would be sufficient, it seems to me, to introduce a few explanatory words into the report. I would add that all decisions taken by the secret committee soon become public knowledge, that foreigners have more than once been told of the prize awarded to Mr. Hyrtl, and that in all probability this scientist is not unaware of what has been done in his favor". His advice is therefore to leave things as they are. "Like you, I hold Mr. Pellegrin's work in high esteem, and it would go without saying that both of us would do everything in our power to have the 1870 Godart Prize awarded to this skilful anatomist [...]".

Estim. 400 - 500 EUR

Thu 30 May

[ORNITHOLOGY]. Jules VERREAUX (1807- 1873), French ornithologist and botanist. He brought back thousands of bird species from his expeditions. Many bird specimens bear his name: Le Coua verreauxi (Alfred Grandidier), Leptotila verreauxi (Charles-Lucien Bonaparte), Paradoxornis verreauxi (Richard Bowdler Sharpe), Aquila verreauxii (René Primevère Lesson), etc. Set of 5 documents: - 4 autograph letters signed, addressed to Count de RIOCOUR, ornithologist and bird collector. Paris, London and s.l., July 22 and December 4, 1870, December 18, 1871 and August 27, 1872. 9 ½ pp. in-8. Three Muséum d'Histoire naturelle letterheads and one Zoological Society of London letterhead. Dense correspondence. Verreaux talks about Milne-Edwards and the latter's interest in his work, his difficult entry into the Muséum where "there is at least a third of the collections that come from my family and me"; he has arrived in England and is staying in Cambridge with his friends Newton, Gurney, etc. He is going to go and see a collection of raptors. He goes to see a collection of birds of prey at the Norwich Museum and talks about his work (notably Siberian birds), the writing of the Madagascar fauna of his great friend Alfred Grandidier [French naturalist and explorer (1836-1921)], etc. [VERREAUX, Jules]. - VERREAUX, Jules]. Adèle VERDEY. Autograph letter signed. S.l., September 11, 1873. 4 pp. in-8. Mourning paper. Edifying account of the last moments and death of Jules Verreaux. Adèle Verdey, Jules Verreaux's companion, tells Count de Riocour about Verreaux's last days and hours, with many details about the illnesses [stomach pains and violent vomiting] that occurred in August 1873 and killed him in September. "[...] my poor friend only grew weaker and weaker until 7 a.m. on Sunday, when he died in my arms. His brother and nephew, whom I had called as soon as it began, did not leave him any more than I did [...] I was not his wife [...] Thank you, Sir, for taking an interest in my pain [...]". [There is an inventory entitled Catalogue des oiseaux composant le cabinet de M. le Cte de Riocour [Davis du Boys], à Aulnois (Nancy, Barbier 1829), under number S24735 at the BnF. And a catalog containing the 1763 species in the collection of Comte Antoine Nicolas François de Riocour (Imprimerie Paul Bousrez, Tours, 1889)].

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Thu 30 May

[ORNITHOLOGY]. Louis Pierre VIEILLOT (1748-1830), French ornithologist. Set of 8 documents. Stamps from the collection of the Comte de Riocour. Very interesting scientific correspondence on ornithology. - Correspondence of 6 signed autograph letters and one autograph bill, addressed to Comte de RIOCOUR, ornithologist and bird collector. Paris and s.l. 1818 to 1830, the year of his death. 13 pp. in-4 and in-8 and 1 p. in-12 oblong. Extensive ornithological correspondence. April 21, 1818: Vieillot details lists of birds he has bought, received and is researching; birds from Senegal that arrived by boat in Le Havre (Senegal magpie different from the breech magpie; he awaits Riocour's description: aren't the uncovered nostrils closer to the magpie?); an error between the mottled turtle-dove and the pearl-naped turtle-dove "not described in Buffon" but in Les Voyages de Sonnerat [naturalist and explorer Pierre Sonnerat (1748-1814)]"; he criticizes ornithologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck, (1778-1858) at length: "this presumptuous [...] wants to give a sequel to Buffon. It will be a caricature, because he thinks he's a second Buffon"; discovery of eight new species, some of which are questionable: "I wouldn't be surprised if he had gone to Siberia to find them, in order to place them in Europe", etc. Departure of naturalist and explorer Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787-1828) "for the Indies" [with his nephew, ornithologist Jules Verreaux]; price of certain bird specimens, etc. - October 18, 1820: brown stork, male francolin, ring-necked pheasants, "Kakatoes" with red crest "but this one has all the lower parts undone feather by feather", white heron well described by Buffon "with yellow beak and black feet" with long description of the adult heron's winter plumage, a lammergeier, etc. Vieillot then claims a decoration through his correspondent "for the christening of his Highness the Duke of Bordeaux" and justifies himself "My travels and expenses for the progress of Natural History and my works on ornithology give me, as I believe, some right to a decoration [...]"; he evokes Cuvier, etc. To be studied. - one signed piece with autograph apostille. Sotteville-Lès-Rouen, July 5, 1829. 3 pp. in-4. Long list of Vieillot's travels (Americas and West Indies) and works (Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique septentrionale [Desray, 1807-1808]; Histoire naturelle des plus beaux oiseaux chanteurs de la zone torride; Histoire naturelle des oiseaux dorés; Système de l'ornithologie; etc.). Vieillot, "burdened with infirmities & threatened with absolute blindness", asks "His Majesty" for a pension. This document obviously never left Count de Riocour's desk. [There is an inventory entitled Catalogue des oiseaux composant le cabinet de M. le Cte de Riocour [Davis du Boys], à Aulnois (Nancy, Barbier 1829), under number S24735 at the BnF. And a catalog containing the 1763 species in the collection of Comte Antoine Nicolas François de Riocour (Imprimerie Paul Bousrez, Tours, 1889)].

Estim. 400 - 600 EUR

Thu 30 May

[ORNITHOLOGY]. Armand DAVID (1826-1900), Basque Lazarist missionary, zoologist, botanist and ornithologist in China, Mongolia and Tibet, and correspondent for the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. He wrote numerous reference works on Asian birds, including Les Oiseaux de la Chine with Oustalet. Important set of 19 documents: - Correspondence of 12 autograph letters signed by Father David, addressed to the Count of RIOCOUR, ornithologist and bird collector. Peking, Paris, Bayonne and Algiers and s.l., 1865 to 1882. 44 pp. in-8. Exceptional correspondence devoted to ornithology. Peking, September 22, 1865: "[...] It was by myself and with great difficulty that I was able to take, prepare and send the few birds that are in the Museum [...] through the Chinese apathetics. [...] The number of species that I have observed here amounts to two hundred and sixty, and I possess only nine or ten of these, which are the falcata anas, Pyrrhula rosea, Emberiza spodocephala, Chrysophris, fucata, Phythyoruis [...]". David will be sending birds to Riaucour, and in return expects birds "from hot countries or remarkable for extraordinary characters, of which I would like to gather as many species as possible in a collection that I am forming here to attract and interest our Chinese papathists [...]". Peking, April 29 1868: "[...] When I left for Mongolia, I left a small box in Peking containing some fifteen bird skins [...]" entrusted to the care of his colleague M. Favier. It was returned to him, and he mentions his shipments of birds for the Muséum and lists the species destined for the ornithologist Jules Verreaux. Père David mentions his work on the birds of Upper China; he was unable to obtain a Macé's Eagle "which is peculiar to India" or a Mandarin Teal; he was lucky enough to observe a rare Hirundo refula; the catalog of M. d'Hamonville's catalogue; a bird sale at Drouot, where he wanted to buy a barn owl, a nebula owl, a capercaillie and a pink spoonbill; the Lazarist missionary goes on to talk about his observations of African birds from Algiers, the Zoological Society, their colleagues and work (Vian, Alléon, the Marquis Doria and Professor Enrico Hillyer Giglioli in Italy, their respective collections; he discusses and compares rare birds, etc.). Dense, worth studying. - 5 documents in Count de Riocour's hand containing three lists of bird names contained in crates sent by Armand David (with drawn symbols) to Count de Riocour; a copy of a letter from David to Riocour and a draft of a scientific letter from Riocour to Armand David. - Set of 2 prints in blue waiting covers, wide margins. From the Bibliothèque du Comte de Riocour: "Catalogue des oiseaux de Chine observés dans la partie septentrionale de l'Epire (au nord du fleuve-bleu". 12 pp. large in-4 (32.6 x 25 cm). - Rapport adressé à MM. Les professeurs-administrateurs du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle [...] le 15 décembre 1871". Offprint, 24 pp. large in-4 (32.6 x 25 cm). Large margins. The Bibliothèque nationale de France owns a copy of the "Catalogue des oiseaux composant le cabinet de M. le Cte de Riocour, à Aulnois" (Nancy, Barbier, 1829), under inventory number S-24735).

Estim. 800 - 1 200 EUR

Thu 30 May

[ORNITHOLOGY]. Baron Louis Tardif D'HAMONVILLE (1830-1899), French ornithologist and malacologist. Set of 3 autograph letters signed and addressed to Comte de RIOCOUR, ornithologist and bird collector. 12 pp. in-8. Dijon and Manonville, 1857 and n.d. Correspondence devoted to their acquisitions of birds (particularly of the Bruant genus); "I have taken for you from Verreaux [ornithologist Jules Verreaux (1807- 1873)] a magnificent Phalarope" with superb skin "Monsieurs de Véze and others had never seen one, you know that it is very rare [...]". He lists the names of birds: Falco, Sylvia provincialis, Embriya, flamingos, vultures and more. He discusses his ornithological writings, the Jardin des Plantes, its "faunas", recommendations for rare birds, etc. Enclosed: - a L.A.S. from a lady [Saralta F?], addressed to Count de Riocour. Tajna [in Solvenia or Hungary?], May 20, 1880. 8 pp. in-12. Violet ink. She sends him the largest eagle she has ever seen, as soon as it is stuffed and dried. - A L.A.S. from Maidze [?] sent from Dieppe in 1818. About the ornithologist Gerbe and sending birds from the Urals. - A L.A.S. from A. Allian about a Downy Heron and a Reed-Warbler, etc. [There is an inventory entitled Catalogue des oiseaux composant le cabinet de M. le Cte de Riocour [Davis du Boys], à Aulnois (Nancy, Barbier 1829), under number S24735 at the BnF. And a catalog containing the 1763 species in the collection of Comte Antoine Nicolas François de Riocour (Imprimerie Paul Bousrez, Tours, 1889)].

Estim. 80 - 120 EUR

Thu 30 May

Alexandre PARENT-DUCHATELET (1790-1836), medical hygienist. Autograph letter signed, addressed to his cousin, the Brazilian botanist Auguste de SAINT-HILAIRE. S.l., April 1, 1828. 3 pp. in-4. Address on verso of second leaf. Interesting letter about Saint-Hilaire's attempts to publish the manuscript of Voyage dans les provinces de Rio de Janeiro. He has obtained an offer from the publisher Dondey Dupré to print Auguste Saint-Hilaire's "manuscript", i.e. 1,000 francs per volume for an edition of 1,000 copies, and 1,200 francs for 1,200 copies with a map and plates. He was not satisfied with this offer. Parent-Duchatelet mentions the help he received from the director of Journal des Voyages, a fervent admirer of Saint-Hilaire's Brazilian sojourn. "Continue writing about your interesting voyage, you must not lose the fruits of all the trouble you have taken [...]". He evokes the "abominable" events of 1793, the entomologist Pierre-André LATREILLE (1762-1833) and his help in obtaining birdies, and predicts the imminent death of the naturalist Louis Augustin Guillaume BOSC D'ANTIC (1759-1828), which will actually occur four months later: "the one who supplanted you for the position of agriculture at the Muséum [...] is not well, and that his place will probably be vacant before a few months [...] I have heard that he is undermined by an organic disease of the bladder [...]". He had just completed the publication of Plantes usuelles des Brésiliens with Adrien de Jussieu & Jacques Cambessèdes, had Conspectus Polygalaearum Brasiliae meridionalis published (1828) and was seeking to have Voyage dans les provinces de Rio de Janeiro et de Minas Geraes published (Paris, Grimbert et Dorez, 1830).

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR

Thu 30 May

Philippe-Isidore Picot de LAPEYROUSE (1744-1818), French naturalist and mineralogist. Autograph letter signed and addressed to chemist Louis-Bernard GUYTON DE MORVEAU (1737-1816). Toulouse, January 31, 1781. 4 pp. in-4. Long and very interesting scientific letter. Lapeyrouse comments on the translation of the Opuscula physica et chimica, by Torbern Olof Bergman (1735-1784), Swedish chemist and mineralogist, begun in 1780 by Guyton de Morveau, which he has just received: "I have only gone through it; but I have seen enough, so that I am not surprised, that the whole Sagian sect has raised its voice." [Balthasar-Georges Sage (1740-1824)]. He goes on to discuss his profound disagreements with his old friend, the physicist and mineralogist Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de L'Isle (1736-1790): "Here is the sense in which I denied the rhomboidal prismatic crystals of manganese. I did not say pag. 5. that there were none; but although I have encountered this variety several times in our mines, the test convinced me that they were only crystals of black ipathic iron mine well encrusted with a regular lime of manganese". The scientist goes on to demonstrate the formation of dentrites, the yellow iron ochre, the absence of fluorine, and so on. He promises to send "all he can" to the naturalist Marquis de Grollier. He also requests a few pieces of "red selenite spar from Montalieux". Lapeyrouse adds: "A propos des crystaux j'ai prié M Foulquier de Labastide [French naturalist] nommé intendant à Saint-Domingue de vous faire passer un groupe de prétendües tourmalines du Tyrol, une jolie roche composée de steatité de mica et de talc cristalisé. [...] I say pretended because, in spite of all the zealots, or perhaps through stupidity, I was only able to discover the faintest glimmer of electricity [...]". Lapeyrouse recalls his experiences and doubts: "I had an absolutely refractory schorl and a very fusible asbestos, which are not the characteristics of these substances". He reports on the "very curious" observations of a foreign scientist, etc. Dense.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

Thu 30 May

POUCHET. Set of 2 documents: - Félix-Archimède POUCHET (1800-1872), biologist, he defended the theory of heterogeny (spontaneous generation), opposing Pasteur; he was also, with Négrier, the first to describe scientifically the mechanism of ovulation in the human species and in mammals. Autograph letter signed and addressed to zoologist, paleontologist and entomologist Paul GERVAIS (1816-1879), then Director of the Chair of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the Montpellier Faculty of Science. Rouen, February 7, 1847. 2 pp. in-4. Printed letterhead of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Rouen. Address on verso of second leaf with postmarks. Some creasing. Letter dedicated to the creation of a Faculty of Sciences in Rouen, modeled on those in Paris and Montpellier. Pouchet explains his project and questions Gervais about current practices at the Montpellier institution. - Georges POUCHET (1833-1894), French naturalist and anatomist, specialist in fish and cetaceans and professor at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle. He was part of the Nile Springs Expedition and took part in a polar expedition. Autograph card signed and addressed to physicist Edmond BECQUEREL (1820-1891). Paris, September 1, 1888. 1 p. ½ in-12 oblong. Printed letterhead of the Journal de l'Anatomie et de la Physiologie. Bending with slight tear, without damage to text. Pouchet asks Becquerel if he can borrow his spectroscope, a device for observing light spectra, having forgotten his own in Concarneau, where he was then head of the Laboratoire de biologie marine. [Edmond Becquerel made great use of this spectroscope: in 1839, he discovered the photovoltaic effect, through the generation of an electrical voltage by the action of light on a conductor. He also demonstrated phenomena using spectroscopic photography].

Estim. 100 - 150 EUR

Thu 30 May

César SARATO (Nice 1829-1893), botanist, curator of the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Nice; he particularly studied the flora of the Nice area. 7 autograph letters signed to Honoré Ardoïno (1819-1874), botanist, specialist in the flora of Provence), accompanied by an autograph list. 23 pp. in-8. Nice, 1865-1867. Very interesting correspondence devoted entirely to the flora of the Nice and Menton areas (one letter illustrated with a series of small sketches), accompanied by a long list of plants and their locations. Let's quote the beginning of the 1st letter, representative of the correspondence as a whole. "I am taking the liberty of writing to you to inform you of a small find which I believe supports the opinion you expressed in the Catalogue about Plagius virgatus DC. Last year, I came across a specimen of this species with radiating flowers at the edge of the flower head. The stem was transplanted to my garden, where it continued to flower. The flower heads have yellowish, radiating flowers around the circumference. The limbs of these corollas, much larger than those of the disk, are divided into 2-5 unequal, more or less revolute lobes. The radiating flowers, numbering 30 to 40, are tightly packed, as if in two rows. If Plagius virgatus DC were a variety of Leucanthénum vulgare Lam, my plant would be closer to the type. On the contrary, its straw-colored corollas, which are by no means tongue-shaped, make it very different. I have collected the achenes in order to propagate, if possible, this pretty variety of Plagius vigatus [...]". 4 letters from Italian botanists addressed to Honoré Ardoïno are enclosed: Patrizio GENNARI (with 2 long lists of around 100 plant species), Luiggi RICCA, Ferdinando ROSELLINI, etc.

Estim. 800 - 1 000 EUR

Thu 30 May

[André THOUIN]. Set of 2 documents: - Georges Louis Marie DUMONT DE COURSET (1746-1824), French botanist and agronomist, protégé of Thouin. Autograph letter signed, with autograph apostille signed by BOSC D'ANTIC. Courtes, August 19, 1805. 1 p. in-4. Interesting letter concerning a nursery of American trees: this plantation contains "all the trees and shrubs that can be planted in France" and that "there are many new and not very widespread ones coming from North America". He mentions Thouin and asks for cuttings of the American trees he wants to raise for useful studies. Dumont de Courset adds, "Vous avez bien voulu, Monsieur, accepter et revoir avec indulgence les 4 premiers volumes du botaniste cultivateur [his work in progress: Le Botaniste cultivateur, ou description, culture et usage de la plus grande partie des plantes étrangères, naturalisées et indigènes, cultivées en France et en Angleterre, rangées suivant la méthode de Jussieu, Paris, 1798-1802-1805]". He announces the fifth volume to be published "incessantly", mentions his correspondent's tulip tree, etc. Autograph Apostille signed by naturalist Louis-Augustin Bosc d'Antic: "Agriculteur nature du botaniste cultivateur. Bosc". - AUDE]. André THOUIN (1747-1824), French botanist. Autograph letter signed to Baron Claude-Joseph Trouvé. Paris, May 14, 1817. 1 p. in-4. Thouin assures his correspondent of his help in subscribing one of his forthcoming works on the Aude: Description générale et statistique du département de l'Aude [Paris, Firmin Didot, 1818], as well as the support of his fellow botanists Bernard-Germain de LACÉPÈDE, Louis-Augustin BOSC D'ANTIC, etc.; and conveys to him the "best wishes of the entire Jardin des Plantes", etc., as well as the support of his fellow botanists.

Estim. 300 - 400 EUR
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