Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846)
by Charles Willson Peale (1818)
Oil on canvas, 23½ x 19½ in. Ewell Sale Steward Library, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Lesueur produced 1,500 drawings of zoological specimens on François Péron’s journey to Australia and Tasmania in 1801-1804. He spent 10 years in Philadelphia, where he was an associate of Academy of Natural Science founder William Maclure, and another 12 years in the utopian settlement at New Harmony, Indiana, before returning to Paris.[1]Waldo G. Leland, “The Lesueur Collection of American Sketches in the Museum of Natural History at Havre, Seine-Inférieure,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. X, No. 1 (June … Continue reading
Pages with Artwork by Lesueur
Classifying Bighorn Sheep
by Joseph A. Mussulman
The first naturalist to publish an honest admission of uncertainty over the respective identities of the wild sheep and goat of North America was John Davidson Godman (1794-1830). Audubon and Bachman contributed illustrations and descriptions.
Dung Beetles
by Joseph A. Mussulman
In his 261-word catalog of the insects, Lewis wrote that “a great variety of beatles common to the Atlantic states are found here likewise,” except that “the black beatle usually [c]alled the tumble bug which are not found here.”
November 7, 1803
Cave-in-Rock, outlaw hideaway
Near Cave-in-Rock, IL On or near this date, the expedition passes Cave-in-Rock, which is easily seen from the river. The site was a recent hangout for the Mason Gang whose members on this day, are being hunted down after a daring escape.
Lewis had no reason to write about the common or fallow deer of the East Coast, although in using it for the purpose of comparison, he gave quite a clear picture of it. John Godman’s 1828 description relied partly on Lewis and Clark’s journals.
Notes
| ↑1 | Waldo G. Leland, “The Lesueur Collection of American Sketches in the Museum of Natural History at Havre, Seine-Inférieure,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. X, No. 1 (June 1923), 53-64. |
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