Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846) Le Havre has its great poet - as great as he is unknown - of the sea. There could be no more splendid an adventure. A young man from Le Havre, at the end of the eighteenth century, son of a resourceful father [...] and a good draughtsman, signs up as a helmsman on the vessel Le Géographe, leaving for the Antipodes, an incredible endeavor; only Cuvier would appreciate the results of this audacious act. Later, in a second thrust of the imagination, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur leaves for America, to follow a geologist and philanthropist - living there from 1816 to 1837. "Crossing the ocean," he tells us, "always attracted me." His title? "I am," he replies, "a naturalist painter." - Edouard Herriot, La Porte Océane, 1932. Translated from French.
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Port of Sydney, by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1807) |
Portrait of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, |
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The first biographies on Charles-Alexandre Lesueur Until Ernest Hamy's biography of 1904, very few people had written about Charles-Alexandre Lesueur in France. A first biographical note on his scientific career appeared during his lifetime in 1842, written by Henri Deligny, the son of Lesueur's cousin. Unfortunately, the account contains very little information. In 1858, Lesueur's nephew Edouard Quesney co-authored a second biographical note, published in the Journal of Le Havre, which gave some complementary details about Lesueur's life. However, it contains many erroneous conjectures, and on the whole, cannot be considered trustworthy. As early as 1840, Lesueur had been included in the list of famous zoologists by William Swainson, but the British author did not know Lesueur personally. On the other hand, the memoir by Lesueur's American friend George Ord, published in 1849, two-and-a-half years after the Frenchman's death, can be considered reliable, with the exception of some awkward passages on New Harmony and the Baudin Expedition. This twenty-eight-page biography has nevertheless become a reference in Europe and the United States, and Hamy used it extensively to write his book. Available books on Charles-Alexandre Lesueur |
The book by Ernest HamyA first detailed biography of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur was published in 1904, written by Ernest Théodore Hamy, president of the Société des Américanistes de Paris. It focusses on Lesueur's stay in America, from 1816 to 1837, but encompasses the scientist's childhood and death. Hamy was the first to use archival sources, such as Lesueur's manuscripts and albums, to write his biography. As a consequence, in spite of the many errors, Les Voyages du Naturaliste Ch. Alex. Lesueur dans l'Amérique du Nord remains a reference work to all persons interested in Lesueur's art and scientific work. Hamy's biography was translated into English in the 1960s by Milton Haber, edited by Hallock F. Raup, and published by the Kent State University Press in 1968 under the title: The Travels of the Naturalist Charles-A. Lesueur in North America, 1815-1837. The French biography by Ernest Hamy |
Biographical note by William SwainsonOne of the first persons to write a biographical note about Charles-Alexandre Lesueur was Great Britain's William Swainson, in his Biography of Zoologists (1840). We have put the content of his article online because it shows how Lesueur's contemporaries viewed his artistic talent and scientific work. Read the biographical note by William Swainson
First short biography on Lesueur in FranceIn France, a short biographical note on the scientific career of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur was published during his lifetime in 1842. It was written by H. Deligny, the son of Lesueur's cousin Sophie Félicité Vieillard. This article was published the next year in the Annuaire Normand under the title "Notice sur M. Charles Lesueur, Né au Havre, Naturaliste et Peintre d'Histoire Naturelle" (Caen: 1843). Read the biographical note by Henri Deligny |
The memoir by George OrdOn April 6, 1849, George Ord read his "Memoir of Charles Alexander [sic] Lesueur" to the members of the American Philosophical Society. The first eighteen pages of this memoir rely heavily on the official narrative of the Baudin Expedition (1800-1804), contained in the two-volume Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes, written by François Péron and Henry Freycinet (first published in 1807 and 1815). Péron's account, however, is not always accurate, which becomes evident when comparing his story with the journals of the other members of the expedition. Moreover, the two volumes only cover four years of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur's life and do not provide much detail about events posterior to 1804. As a consequence, when George Ord published his memoir in 1849, he only gave little information about the years 1805-1815, i.e. the period when Lesueur lived in Paris. Read the memoir by George Ord |
Portrait of George Ord, by John Neagle (1829)
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House on Church Street, New Harmony,
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The article by Oursel, Quesney and MarcelEdouard Quesney, one of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur's nephews and heirs, co-authored a biographical note published in the Journal of Le Havre, dated July 21, 1858. It is a summary of major events, told by three individuals having personally known Lesueur during the last years of his life. Logically, the passage on his stay in Le Havre is particularly interesting. Unfortunately, things are very different for Lesueur's stay in America. The only source the authors seem to know is George Ord's "Memoir of Charles Alexander [sic] Lesueur" and no mention is made of any discussion with Lesueur himself. It would seem the French scientist talked little about his busy years in Philadelphia and New Harmony, and as a consequence, the 1858 article is rather incomplete, in spite of its usefulness. Read the article by Oursel, Quesney and Marcel
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Lesueur's sketchbooks of the frontier: Eyewitness to UtopiaAfter courageously defending the city of Paris in 1814 and 1815, first to protect Napoleon, next to get rid of him, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur was in need of a better world. A philanthropic businessman provided the opportunity. Enthused by his scientific knowledge, William Maclure brought the French explorer to the United States. There he met the Founding Fathers and all the great minds of his time. Every knowledgeable American agreed to this: no one knew more than Lesueur. He was a living encyclopedia, the most talented student of Georges Cuvier. His contributions to American science were revolutionary. Then, suddenly, history forgot about him when together with a group of intellectuals he created an experimental scientific utopia. Abandoned by most of his friends on the American frontier, he initiated its geological exploration and systematic discovery. Read it all in: Bauke Ritsert Rinsma, Eyewitness to Utopia: Scientific Conquest and Communal Settlement in C.-A. Lesueur’s Sketches of the Frontier, drawings and sketches by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, foreword by Edouard Philippe, Donald E. Pitzer and Ralph G. Schwarz, translated by Leslie J. Roberts (Heuqueville, France: Heiligon, 2019). The honorable Edouard Philippe, MP, Prime Minister of France, declared about Eyewitness to Utopia: "I am delighted that the present memoir reveals the immensity of this historical figure from Le Havre." Dr. Donald E. Pitzer, Director Emeritus, Center for Communal Studies at the University of Southern Indiana, wrote: "By happy coincidence, Lesueur’s fellow Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville took his own investigative tour of the United States in 1831-1832 while Lesueur was still in New Harmony. Tocqueville articulated his astute observations of the country’s social and political institutions and practices in his incisive Democracy in America, published in 1835. Lesueur made a similar contribution with his incomparable sketches, documenting America’s natural and built environment, its ancient and living wildlife, and the utopian vision of its people. Two centuries later, Ritsert Rinsma’s Eyewitness to Utopia presents Lesueur’s artistic gift to the New World in its most complete rendition and elevates this artist, scientist and communitarian to his own proper status among the most notable figures in the early Republic." Dr. Ralph Grayson Schwarz, Founding President of Historic New Harmony, wrote: "In this groundbreaking book, Ritsert Rinsma, with his comprehensive knowledge and acute perceptions, has succeeded masterfully in capturing the significance of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, illuminating the context of his meaningful American sketchbooks." |
Cover of the book Eyewitness to Utopia, written by Ritsert Rinsma,
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Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, Painter and Naturalist: A Forgotten Treasure,
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A missed opportunity...
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Rinsma's biography on Charles-Alexandre Lesueur In 1818 the American painter Charles Willson Peale, curator of Philadelphia's first natural history museum, wrote about his portrait of naturalist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (which hangs in the library of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, now part of Drexel University): "I have put into the museum a portrait of Lesueur who perhaps has the most knowledge of Natural History of any man in the world." The famous Swiss ichthyologist Louis Agassis deemed Lesueur's contributions second only to his own, and English zoologist William swainson declared: |
Cover of the first volume of the biography by Ritsert Rinsma, showing Market Street, Philadelphia, drawn by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur |
"Dossier 42" of the series Charles-Alexandre Lesueur in North America was Jacqueline Bonnemains's last catalogue, published just before her retirement in 2005. |
Bonnemains's catalogues on Lesueur in America Jacqueline Bonnemains, former curator of the Lesueur Collection in the Natural History Museum of Le Havre, chose the drawing of a tree on a rock (Lesueur Collection # 40 217), labeled Vues Pittoresques des Etats-Unis d'Amérique (Picturesque Views of the United States of America), to illustrate the cover of her eight published catalogues entitled Charles-Alexandre Lesueur en Amérique du Nord, 1816-1837. She also prepared the catalogues for Lesueur's travels to Australia, Tasmania, South Africa, France, Great Britain and the Antilles, which remain unpublished because the series was discontinued by her successor after Madame Bonnemains retired in 2005.
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The biography of Lesueur by Ernest HamyBelow we have reproduced Ritsert Rinsma's annotated translation of the introduction to Ernest Théodore Hamy's biography, The Travels of the Naturaliste Ch. Alex. Lesueur in North America (1815-1837), from Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Archives of the Museum of Natural History in Paris and the Museum of Natural History in Le Havre (1904). The complete work in French can be downloaded from the "Books" section of this website or by clicking on the link above. The following translation is different from the one by Milton Haber of 1956, completed and published by Hallock F. Raup in 1968 (Kent State University Press). The errors in Hamy’s text have been corrected using the books Alexandre Lesueur (2007) and Eyewitness to Utopia (2019) by Ritsert Rinsma, a historian and researcher at the University of Caen, France, who was able to compare the biography of Doctor Hamy with the manuscripts and original documents in the archives. |
Scree at Cap de la Hève, by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (c.1840) - Lesueur Collection 32 054, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Entrance to the port of Le Havre, by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1808) - Lesueur Collection 36 026, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Scree and entrance to the port of New Haven, by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 002R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Greenwich Observatory (London), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 010R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Megalithic site of Stonehenge (Wiltshire), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 011V, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Megalithic site of Stonehenge (Wiltshire), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 012R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Plan of the megalithic site of Stonehenge (Wiltshire), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 014R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Cobalt mine near Redruth (Cornwall), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 021R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Birthplace of Sir Humphrey Davy (Penzance), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 031R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Wreck of the Delhi in Mount's Bay (Marizon), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 032R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Eddystone Lighthouse at Land's End (Cornwall), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 038R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Saint Michael's Mount (Cornwall), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 048, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Saint Michael's Mount in Mount's Bay (Cornwall), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 035R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Penzance and Mount's Bay (Cornwall), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 37 034V, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 38 001R, Natural History Museum of Le Havre. Travelers on the Louisia (Atlantic Ocean), by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1815) - Lesueur Collection 38 003, Natural History Museum of Le Havre.
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