Philippe GUÉNEAU DE MONTBEILLARD (1720-1785), naturalist and - Lot 69

Lot 69
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Philippe GUÉNEAU DE MONTBEILLARD (1720-1785), naturalist and - Lot 69
Philippe GUÉNEAU DE MONTBEILLARD (1720-1785), naturalist and ornithologist; after his break with Daubenton, Buffon called him to replace him in the publication of Histoire Naturelle; he played an active role in Histoire des oiseaux. Autograph letter to naturalist Hébert. 3 pp. in-4. Semur, November 16, 1779. Address on back. Superb letter on spiders. "You think, my dear sir, that the garden spider is blind? I'm convinced that it's not alone, & that although naturalists like to give them 8 eyes, they don't see any more for that. It seems to me that I have recognized in house spiders all the traits of the blind. Have you had the good fortune to see them mating? As far as I'm concerned, I haven't: it would be curious to see what sense guides the male to find his female. You will give me great pleasure, my dear sir, to communicate your observations to me, & I will make use of them with gratitude, & by honoring you as I should." He gives him advice on his health, and urges him not to live in melancholy and solitude. "Sadness of soul adds to evil, & external objects dispel sadness [...]. I would like to know if Madame does not have one of the twelve to complete; for in that case I would take it on with the greatest alacrity. It seems to me that I had the honor of offering her the 1st volumes, or at least I intended to [...]. If you see Mr de Morveau [chemist Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau], tell him that I witnessed the zeal with which this good 83-year-old doctor Clerc breached the wall of his garden to let out the aloe that he sent to the Académie. This anecdote deserves, it seems to me, to be preserved in a small inscription, or at least in the registers of the Académie [...]".
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