Calques des dessins de la flore du Mexique, de Mocino et Sessé, qui ont servi de types d'especès dans le Systema ou le Prodromus
Scope and Contents
José Mariano Moziño (1757-1820?) sought refuge in Montpellier for political reasons and brought with him around 300 original drawings by the Mexican painter, Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy. The drawings were entrusted to de Candolle in Geneva, who worked on the descriptions of the plants. Before de Candolle could make much progress, Moziño wanted to reclaim the drawings and move on. Not wanting to lose the knowledge to science, de Candolle appealed to the ladies of Geneva to copy them. More than one hundred ladies answered his call. They worked with extraordinary energy, producing at least eleven copies of the Mexican flora in just eight days. These drawings served as material for the descriptions of de Candolle, and ten copies with an accompanying preface were distributed in 1874 to the important herbaria of Europe and to Asa Gray at Harvard.
This volume contains 308 pencil tracings and includes bibliographical references.
References:
McVaugh, R., Sessé, M., & Moziño, J. 2000. Botanical results of the Sessé & Mociño expedition (1787-1803). VII, A guide to relevant scientific names of plants. Pittsburgh: Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University.
Dates
- Creation: between 1817 and 1874
Creator
- Candolle, Alphonse de, 1806-1893 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide one form of valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.
Extent
0.4 linear feet : 6 pages : 308 pencil tracings ; 41 cmHistorical note
The Spanish Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain (1787-1803) is often referred to as the "Sessé & Mociño Expedition”. The principal botanists were Martín de Sessé (1751-1808) and José Mariano Mociño (1757–1820).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Asa Gray.
General note
An account of this work appears in Mémoires et souvenirs de Augustin-Pyramus de Candolle by Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de, 1778-1841; Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,1862 (page 288). A description of how this work was created appears in "Un nouvelle Eupatoire hivernale (Eupatorium petiolare)" by Ed. Andre. Revue horticole, Volume 75, 1903, (pages 77-78).
Digitization note
Harvard's Imaging Services department digitized this collection as part of the "Original botanical illustrations of the Botany Libraries" project.
Creator
- Candolle, Alphonse de, 1806-1893 (Person)
- Title
- Candolle, Alphonse de, 1806-1893. Calques des dessins de la flore du Mexique, de Mocino et Sessé, qui ont servi de types d'especès dans le Systema ou le Prodromus, between 1817 and 1874: A Guide.
- Status
- in_progress
- Author
- Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University.
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- gra00086
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository
The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.
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