GB 0120 MSS.1998-1999, 7904 - Cuvier, Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert de (1769-1832)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0120 MSS.1998-1999, 7904

Title

Cuvier, Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert de (1769-1832)

Date(s)

  • 1798-1832 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

7 items

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Born in Montbéliard, in Burgundy, 1769; Went to Caroline University, near Stuttgart, Germany, to study administrative, juridical, and economic sciences, 1784. Also studied natural history and comparative anatomy. Education complete, he served as a tutor for a French family in 1788; Moved to Paris in 1795 where he was invited by French naturalist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to study and work at the newly reorganized Museum of Natural History. Immediately appointed Professor of Zoology and Assistant Professor of Animal Anatomy. Became Professor at the Collège de France in 1800; Broke with doctrine that all life could be organized into a continuous series beginning with the simplest organism and ending with humans in favour of the idea that four basic body plans existed in the animal world: the Vertebrata, Articulata, Radiata, and Mollusca; his 1817 Le Regne Animal dominated natural history in England and France until the publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. Also served in other public service positions: Councillor of State in 1814 and Head of the Interior Department of the Council of State, 1819.

Archival history

GB 0120 MSS.1998-1999, 7904 1798-1832 Collection (fonds) 7 items Cuvier , Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert de , 1769-1832 , paleontologist and anatomist

Born in Montbéliard, in Burgundy, 1769; Went to Caroline University, near Stuttgart, Germany, to study administrative, juridical, and economic sciences, 1784. Also studied natural history and comparative anatomy. Education complete, he served as a tutor for a French family in 1788; Moved to Paris in 1795 where he was invited by French naturalist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to study and work at the newly reorganized Museum of Natural History. Immediately appointed Professor of Zoology and Assistant Professor of Animal Anatomy. Became Professor at the Collège de France in 1800; Broke with doctrine that all life could be organized into a continuous series beginning with the simplest organism and ending with humans in favour of the idea that four basic body plans existed in the animal world: the Vertebrata, Articulata, Radiata, and Mollusca; his 1817 Le Regne Animal dominated natural history in England and France until the publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. Also served in other public service positions: Councillor of State in 1814 and Head of the Interior Department of the Council of State, 1819.

Received in several accessions between 1919 and 1935.

Manuscript papers on 'académies d'Italie'; a translation of a paper by Georges Léopold Cuvier and autograph letters signed by Cuvier to correspondents including: Arsène Thiebaut de Berneaud (1777-1850), agriculturalist, secretary of the Société Linnéenne de Paris (no.19); Jean Pierre Casimir, Baron de Puymaurin (1757-1841), administrator, politician and author of scientific treatises, son of the administrator and painter N.J. de Marcassus Puymaurin (1718-1791) geologist and director of the Dictionnaire universel (no.23); Charles Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (1806-1876) (no.24); the mineralogist Jean Jacques Nicolas Huot (1790-1849) (no.26); the government minister Count André Jean Chabrol de Cronsul (1771-1836) (no.33); the archaeologist and writer Jacques Crèvecoeur de. Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) (no.36); Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-1861), Zoologist (no.44) 48 Volume comprising 2 letters from Cuvier and notes by Cuvier 49-107 Notes, certificates, petitions etc signed or endorsed by Cuvier including pension request by M. Des Langeac, 14 July 1815 (no.55), 5 diplomas from the Commission de l'Instruction Publique(nos.57, 59, 62-64), various disconnected notes by Cuvier (some dated) (nos.70-90), notes by Cuvier with 2 pecil sketches of mollusques (no.100), 4 students entrance cards to the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle au Jardin du Roi (signed by Cuvier) (nos.75, 96-98), plans by Cuvier of dissection rooms (no.99) 108 Letters to Cuvier J L Fouimer, 16 July 1829 109-111 Letters by member of Cuvier's family (not to Cuvier) Mme. Anne Cuvier: Mme. Delpech, 1 June 1832 (no.109) M. Ampière de L'Academie des Sciences, n.d. (no.110) Sophie Duvanul (Cuvier's daughter) M. le Préfect, 20 June 1820(no.111) Printed items: 'Memoir of Baron Cuvier' from The London Review and Literary and Scientific Gazette(no.112), extract of an obituary of Cuvier(no.113), cover (edge has been cut off) of a publication, reprinted by Cuvier's students in his honour(no.114).

MS.7904 arranged chronologically, in sections.

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

English

Copied from the Wellcome Library catalogue by Sarah Drewery.

In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Feb 2009 Zoology Medical sciences Mollusca Invertebrates Organisms Higher education institutions Universities Cuvier , Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert de , 1769-1832 , paleontologist and anatomist Hilaire , Isidore Geoffroy , Saint- , 1805-1861 , zoologist Educational institutions

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Received in several accessions between 1919 and 1935.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Manuscript papers on 'académies d'Italie'; a translation of a paper by Georges Léopold Cuvier and autograph letters signed by Cuvier to correspondents including: Arsène Thiebaut de Berneaud (1777-1850), agriculturalist, secretary of the Société Linnéenne de Paris (no.19); Jean Pierre Casimir, Baron de Puymaurin (1757-1841), administrator, politician and author of scientific treatises, son of the administrator and painter N.J. de Marcassus Puymaurin (1718-1791) geologist and director of the Dictionnaire universel (no.23); Charles Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (1806-1876) (no.24); the mineralogist Jean Jacques Nicolas Huot (1790-1849) (no.26); the government minister Count André Jean Chabrol de Cronsul (1771-1836) (no.33); the archaeologist and writer Jacques Crèvecoeur de. Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) (no.36); Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-1861), Zoologist (no.44) 48 Volume comprising 2 letters from Cuvier and notes by Cuvier 49-107 Notes, certificates, petitions etc signed or endorsed by Cuvier including pension request by M. Des Langeac, 14 July 1815 (no.55), 5 diplomas from the Commission de l'Instruction Publique(nos.57, 59, 62-64), various disconnected notes by Cuvier (some dated) (nos.70-90), notes by Cuvier with 2 pecil sketches of mollusques (no.100), 4 students entrance cards to the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle au Jardin du Roi (signed by Cuvier) (nos.75, 96-98), plans by Cuvier of dissection rooms (no.99) 108 Letters to Cuvier J L Fouimer, 16 July 1829 109-111 Letters by member of Cuvier's family (not to Cuvier) Mme. Anne Cuvier: Mme. Delpech, 1 June 1832 (no.109) M. Ampière de L'Academie des Sciences, n.d. (no.110) Sophie Duvanul (Cuvier's daughter) M. le Préfect, 20 June 1820(no.111) Printed items: 'Memoir of Baron Cuvier' from The London Review and Literary and Scientific Gazette(no.112), extract of an obituary of Cuvier(no.113), cover (edge has been cut off) of a publication, reprinted by Cuvier's students in his honour(no.114).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

MS.7904 arranged chronologically, in sections.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Conditions governing reproduction

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

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Institution identifier

Wellcome Library

Rules and/or conventions used

In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

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Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

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    Accession area