Charles-Alexandre Lesueur. Painter and Naturalist: a Forgotten Treasure
Le Havre, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre, 2016 (first edition in English, translated by Jean Fornasiero and John West-Sooby)/ 2009.
Quarto (293 × 262 mm), 392 pages with hundreds of colour plates.
Laminated colour pictorial papered boards; a mint copy.
Charles-Alexander Lesueur (1778-1846) 'joined the Baudin expedition as a crew member, but ... [became] an expedition artist when the official artists resigned. Lesueur became the natural history artist, and his images of Australia's exotic marine life are particularly striking. He was a friend of the scientist Peron, and when Peron became ill after the expedition had returned to France, Lesueur nursed him until his death in 1810. In 1815 Lesueur went to the United States and travelled extensively there and in the West Indies before he settled down in Philadelphia. Lesueur stayed in the United States for 25 years, where he discovered a number of zoological species including tortoises and fishes. He taught painting, and was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences. Lesueur returned to France in 1837, and in 1845 went back to Le Havre to oversee the building of the Natural History Museum. He became this museum's first Director. Lesueur died in 1846, having been awarded the Legion of Honour in the previous year' (State Library of South Australia website). This lavishly-illustrated book contains artworks from all periods of his life.
Item #105946
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