Auguste, baron then comte DEJEAN (1780-1841), entomologist a - Lot 45

Lot n° 45
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Auguste, baron then comte DEJEAN (1780-1841), entomologist a - Lot 45
Auguste, baron then comte DEJEAN (1780-1841), entomologist and officer, son of Napoleon's general, he was himself a general of the Empire and fought at Waterloo. A great specialist in beetles, he built up the largest private collection ever assembled, with 22,000 species. 2 autograph letters signed to a scientist. 4 pp. in-4. Paris, 1831-1833. Fine letters on the death of Latreille and his efforts to succeed him at the Académie des Sciences. He thanks him for "the remarkable articles you have published on a work that no one can read and which can only be leafed through by a small number of passionate entomology enthusiasts" [probably his Histoire naturelle et iconographique des coléoptères]. He hoped to replace Latreille at the Académie des Sciences, with whom he had published Species générale des Coléoptères (in 7 volumes from 1825 to 1839). "You know the loss that entomology has made; Mr Latreille is dead and I believe I have some right, I don't say to replace him, but to succeed him at the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately for me, I don't find the members of the zoology section well disposed in my favor; firstly, they have their own particular friends, and secondly, they claim, especially one of them, Mr de Blainville, that the places of full academician should be given exclusively to those who profess science, and that those following other careers or occupying a high social position should be content with the places of free academician; I cannot adopt this system, which would create a new aristocracy, and I believe that the places of full academicians should be given to those, without distinction of rank, who are the most specialized in the subject and those of free academicians who have only general knowledge. Be that as it may, and although in all aspects of entomology I think I have far more rights than all the other candidates, I need to be supported and protected against the members of the section; I believe I can be assured of the suffrage of a fairly large number of members; if you were a member of the Academy, I would think I could count on yours, but even though you are not, I believe that through your connections, your recommendations and the influence you can exert, you can be of the greatest use to me, and I beg you to give me a little push in this circumstance. Forgive me, sir, for speaking to you so frankly, but the way in which you have kindly spoken of my works makes me attach perhaps more importance to them than they deserve, and putting all modesty aside, I believe that no entomologist in France can claim better than I to succeed Mr. Latreille, and on the other hand, I believe it essential that entomology be represented at the Academy of Sciences [...]".
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