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Benoît De Maillet
Benoît de Maillet (Saint-Mihiel, 12 April 1656 – Marseille, 30 January 1738) was a well-travelled French diplomat and natural historian. He was French consul general at Cairo, and overseer in the Levant. He formulated an evolutionary hypothesis to explain the origin of the earth and its contents. De Maillet's geological observations convinced him that the earth could not have been created in an instant because the features of the crust indicate a slow development by natural processes. He also believed that creatures on the land were ultimately derived from creatures living in the seas. He believed in the natural origin of man. He estimated that the development of the earth took two billion years. Life De Maillet was a nobleman of Lorraine, born into a distinguished Catholic family. He did not attend university, but he received an excellent classical education. De Maillet was interested in geology and natural history, and took advantage of his travels to make observations. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edme Jeaurat
Edme Jeaurat (1688–1738) was a French engraver from Vermenton, near Auxerre. Jeaurat was the son of an engraver and the elder brother of painter Etienne Jeaurat. His father took young Edme to Paris and apprenticed him to Bernard Picart. After working there many years, Jeaurat moved to the Netherlands, where he made his living producing engravings of the great paintings in Amsterdam and The Hague, while studying Dutch painting. Upon his return to Paris, he was reunited with his brother, whom he had not seen in many years. He began engraving Etienne's paintings and became known for his accurate work. Jeaurat was also employed by Pierre Crozat to engrave pictures for his famous collection. In 1722 in Paris, he married Marie-Charlotte Le Clerc, the sister of the artist Louis August le Clerc, Le Clerc, and many of his engravings are of the religious pictures painted by his brother-in-law. He had two sons, Nicolas Henri Jeaurat de Bertry, Nicolas Henri, a painter of still lifes, and E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
