Joseph Philippe François DELEUZE (Sisteron 1753-1835), natur - Lot 46

Lot n° 46
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Joseph Philippe François DELEUZE (Sisteron 1753-1835), natur - Lot 46
Joseph Philippe François DELEUZE (Sisteron 1753-1835), naturalist, joined the Muséum and worked in collaboration with Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu; he is best known for having been a proponent of animal magnetism and for having requested that the Académie des sciences study the phenomenon. 2 autograph manuscripts (drafts with numerous corrections), tied together. 4 and 11 pp. in-4. [1813]. Remarkable critical study of Pyrame de Candolle's seminal work, Théorie élémentaire de la Botanique ou exposition des principes de la classification naturelle et de l'art de décrire et d'étudier les végétaux, first published in 1813, a very important work in which he uses taxonomy and a new system of plant classification based on evolution rather than morphological plant characteristics for the first time. "In his introduction, M. Decandolle first establishes the difference between organized and unorganized bodies, and then between plants and animals. He brings out very clearly the opposing characteristics that distinguish these two classes of living beings, and the difference that their nature must make in the way they are studied [...]. M. Decandolle first explains the purpose and principles of artificial methods; he reduces them to a small number, because some are a modification of the others: they are divided into three classes: 1° those founded on a single consideration, and which are particularly called systems; 2° those established on the combination of several characters; 3° the analytical method, of which M. de Lamarck gave such a remarkable example in his French Flora. This article is distinguished by the accuracy of its ideas and a precision that does not detract from its clarity [...]". And he concludes: "We hope that Mr. de Candolle will take it upon himself to give us a species arranged in the order of natural families, and according to the principles he has just established. This is an immense undertaking, but he has proved that it is not beyond his powers. Once such a work has been well executed, the additions made to it will enrich it without changing the whole. Then the picture of the entire plant kingdom can be presented in a small number of volumes, because the description of each plant will be limited to pointing out the characters that distinguish it in the family to which it belongs".
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