Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844),... - Lot 28 - Conan Belleville Hôtel d'Ainay

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844), naturalist. L.A.S. 4 pp. in-4, heading of the Museum of Natural History. Formidable letter, full of bitterness, on his scientific discoveries, comparing himself to Newton. "I believe that in the administration one is full of good and generous feelings for me and workers of my kind; but by putting them below the level of an administrative measure, one serves miserable efforts and one stifles zeal under a petty alms-giving. What is the administration doing with regard to Mr. d'Orbigny and me? He received 70,000 francs from the King's Garden to gather materials: I have just seen a figure of Saimiri [monkey] Saimiri sawdust that he had an artist make. It will have to be engraved. He's going to have 5 more similar images made, and when he has produced his delivery, you'll give him at least 500 discounts. Then you're going to do this 40 times. So he's working with the certainty of getting 20,000 out of the state. Good for him, I don't envy him. I'm publishing a book that costs me 6,000. Will I be given alms of a few hundred francs, when an equivalent real value has already been put under his hand? If it is not much and I have to be debased, I will leave it to the administration who will give it to booksellers, who will enrich it, when I become richer for the form, as for the advantages, and for the substance as for the ruin. It would be easy for me to prove to you that for having used my fortune to prepare my book, I am in loss before entering into the course of action of 60,000; of sixty thousand francs. You may answer me: "but you were not asked for that, and things were going ahead of you, without any ambiguity. Yes, before Newton had devoted his life to discovering the movement of stars in space, for there were rolling in the universe as they are rolling today, and we had daylight just in time. I believe in a discovery of