Of Elephants & Roses French Natural History 1790-1830

About this book

The beautiful four-color Of Elephants & Roses: French Natural History 1790–1830 serves as the catalogue for the popular APS Museum exhibition by the same name, that was open from March 25 through December 31, 2011. The essays, commentaries, and discussions included constitute the proceedings of "Of Pictures & Specimens: Natural History in Post-Revolutionary and Restoration France", a symposium held at the American Philosophical Society on December 1–3, 2011 in conjunction with the Of Elephants & Roses exhibition. Editor and Museum Curator Sue Ann Prince masterfully put together the sumptuous exhibition about the science and art of French natural history from the 1789 Revolution to the July Monarchy of 1830 – an era when Paris was the center of life sciences in the Western world, and Philadelphia, the center of science in North America. Objects on display included Empress Josephine's famous black swans, a mastodon tooth sent by Thomas Jefferson to a naturalist in Paris, and original watercolors by Pierre Joseph Redouté, known as the "Raphael of Flowers". As the exhibition was ending, a notable group of French and American scholars met in Philosophical Hall to take part in an enlightening symposium.

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