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Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1 January 1778 in Le Havre – 12 December 1846 in Le Havre) was a French naturalist, artist, and explorer. He was a prolific natural-history collector, gathering many type specimens in Australia, Southeast Asia, and North America, and was also responsible for describing numerous species, including the spiny softshell turtle (''
From 1826 to 1837, Lesueur was based in New Harmony, Indiana, where he filled sketchbooks full of the finds discovered during the utopian adventure funded by his friend and former employer, American geologist William Maclure. He arrived in the boat ''Philanthropist'' (which he also sketched) with other intellectuals who came to live in the small town of New Harmony, on the Wabash River. He took research trips (including series of six flat-boat trips to New Orleans) and sketched people, small towns, and scenes continuously. He was in New Harmony when Prince Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuweid, Germany, and artist Karl Bodmer came to spend five months there in 1832–1833. Prince Maximilian said of Lesueur, "He had explored the country in many directions, was acquainted with everything remarkable, collected and prepared all interesting objects, and had already sent considerable collections to France." Indeed, Lesueur sent specimens of unique fish, animals, and fossils, as well as artifacts he had dug from the Indian Mounds in New Harmony, back to France, where they remain.
Lesueur returned to France in 1837, only after his friends Thomas Say and Joseph Barabino had died and William MacClure had returned to Philadelphia, accompanied by many of his fine books. He had spent 21 years in the United States, but continued his scholarly studies and activities in France, where he resumed his occupation of artist-naturalist and began to catalogue his extensive research and artwork. At last, he was awarded the honor of Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal de la Légion d'honneur for his long years of work in the sciences.
In March 1846, Lesueur was appointed curator of the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre. Nine months later, he died suddenly (12 December 1846) and was buried at Le Havre. In the 1900s, his work was finally published by the museum, totaling over 60 books, including reports of his zoological, geological, historical, and archaeological research, as well as studies of his life.
Pictured here is the oil portrait by Charles Willson Peale of Lesueur. The original hangs in the reading room of the Ewell Sale Stewart Library in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
File:The Great Traveller Charles Alexandre Lesueur in the Forest by Karl Bodmer 1832 - 1834.jpg, ''The Great Traveller Charles Alexandre Lesueur in the Forest'' Lithograph after the watercolor: ''Lesueur, the Naturalist at New Harmony'' by Karl Bodmer, c. 1832–1834
File:New Harmony 1831 sketch by Charles Alexandre Lesueur.jpg, New Harmony, Indiana, in 1831, sketch from Charles Alexandre Lesueur
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of three new species of the genus ''Raja''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(3), 41–43. (Read July 1, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of two new species of the genus ''Gadus''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 83–85. (Read August 26, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of a new species of the genus ''Cyprinus''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 85–86. (Read August 19, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. An account of an American species of Tortoise, not noticed in the systems. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 86–88. (Read September 23, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. A new genus of Fishes, of the order Abdominales, proposed, under the name of ''Catostomus''; and the characters of this genus, with those of its species, indicated. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 88–96. (Read September 16, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. A new genus of Fishes, of the order Abdominales, proposed, under the name of ''Catostomus''; and the characters of this genus, with those of its species, indicated. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 102–111. (Read September 16, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of four new species, and two varieties, of the genus ''Hydrargira''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 125–134. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Observations on several species of the genus ''Actinia''; illustrated by figures. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 149–154. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Observations on several species of the genus ''Actinia''; illustrated by figures. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 169–189. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Descriptions of several new species of North American fishes. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 222–235. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Observations on a new genus of fossil shells. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 310–313. (Read June 30, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Descriptions of several new species of North American fishes. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 359–365. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Description of several new species of the genus ''Esox'', of North America. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 413–417. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1823. Descriptions of several new species of '' Ascidia''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 3, 2–8. (Read March 25, 1822)
Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778–1846) naturalist, artist
Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre (Lesueur, peintre voyageur)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060219202630/http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/maclurites.html Maclurites magnus Lesueur
Alex the explorer, the hero of a new graphic novel
– State Library (South Australia)
– Université de La Rochelle
Charles A Lesueur Papers
– Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections (Indiana, USA). Works of art on paper, including pencil, pastel, charcoal and watercolor sketches by artist and naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, Virginia Dupalais, and Lucy Sistare ay {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesueur, Charles Alexandre 1778 births 1846 deaths Scientists from Le Havre French naturalists Shark Bay People from New Harmony, Indiana Teuthologists
Apalone spinifera
The spiny softshell turtle (''Apalone spinifera'') is a species of softshell turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America. Both the common name, spiny softshell, and the specific name, ''spinifera'' (spine-bearing), r ...
''), smooth softshell turtle ('' A. mutica''), and common map turtle ('' Graptemys geographica''). Both Mount Lesueur
Mount Lesueur is a near-circular, flat-topped mesa located from Jurien Bay in Western Australia. It rises above the surrounding lateritic plain of Lesueur National Park which has eroded away around it.
Mount Lesueur was first sighted and nam ...
and Lesueur National Park
Lesueur National Park is a national park straddling the boundary between the Wheatbelt and Mid West regions of Western Australia, 211 km north of Perth. The park was gazetted in 1992. It includes two mesas known as Mount Lesueur and Moun ...
in Western Australia are named in his honor.
Early life
Charles Alexandre Lesueur was born on January 1, 1778, to Jean-Baptiste Denis Lesueur and Charlotte Thieullent. Charlotte died when Charles was sixteen years old, and Charles' maternal grandmother took care of him and his siblings. Charles attended the Collège du Havre and possibly the Ecole publique des mathématiques et d'hydrographie. He was in military service in a cadet battalion at age fifteen and was in the National Guard of Le Havre from 1797 to 1799. He joined the French Marines or Navy but was discharged due to medical reasons. He then joined Nicolas Baudin's expedition, nominally as a gunner on the ship '' Géographe''.Career
In 1801, Lesueur traveled to Australia on the expedition of Nicolas Baudin, assuming the duties of expedition artist alongside Nicolas-Martin Petit when the erstwhile appointed artists disembarked in France. WithFrançois Péron
François Auguste Péron (22 August 1775 – 14 December 1810) was a French naturalist and explorer.
Life
Péron was born in Cérilly, Allier, in 1775, the son of a tailor (not a harness maker as is frequently asserted). Although intended for ...
, he took over the duties as naturalist after the death of the expedition's zoologist René Maugé. Together, they collected over 100,000 zoological specimens. In 1802, he made the only known sketches of the King Island emu
The King Island emu (''Dromaius novaehollandiae minor'') is an extinct subspecies of emu that was endemic to King Island, in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania. Its closest relative may be the extinct Tasmanian emu (''D. n ...
in its natural habitat (the bird became extinct in 1822).
Between May 1816 and early 1837, he lived and traveled widely in the United States, particularly in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1817. In 1833, he visited Vincennes, Indiana, where he sketched the first known drawing of Grouseland
Grouseland, the William Henry Harrison Mansion and Museum, is a National Historic Landmark important for its Federal-style architecture and role in American history. The two-story, red brick home was built between 1802 and 1804 in Vincennes, I ...
, the mansion of William Henry Harrison. The mansion is today a National Historic Landmark.
From 1826 to 1837, Lesueur was based in New Harmony, Indiana, where he filled sketchbooks full of the finds discovered during the utopian adventure funded by his friend and former employer, American geologist William Maclure. He arrived in the boat ''Philanthropist'' (which he also sketched) with other intellectuals who came to live in the small town of New Harmony, on the Wabash River. He took research trips (including series of six flat-boat trips to New Orleans) and sketched people, small towns, and scenes continuously. He was in New Harmony when Prince Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuweid, Germany, and artist Karl Bodmer came to spend five months there in 1832–1833. Prince Maximilian said of Lesueur, "He had explored the country in many directions, was acquainted with everything remarkable, collected and prepared all interesting objects, and had already sent considerable collections to France." Indeed, Lesueur sent specimens of unique fish, animals, and fossils, as well as artifacts he had dug from the Indian Mounds in New Harmony, back to France, where they remain.
Lesueur returned to France in 1837, only after his friends Thomas Say and Joseph Barabino had died and William MacClure had returned to Philadelphia, accompanied by many of his fine books. He had spent 21 years in the United States, but continued his scholarly studies and activities in France, where he resumed his occupation of artist-naturalist and began to catalogue his extensive research and artwork. At last, he was awarded the honor of Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal de la Légion d'honneur for his long years of work in the sciences.
In March 1846, Lesueur was appointed curator of the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre. Nine months later, he died suddenly (12 December 1846) and was buried at Le Havre. In the 1900s, his work was finally published by the museum, totaling over 60 books, including reports of his zoological, geological, historical, and archaeological research, as well as studies of his life.
Pictured here is the oil portrait by Charles Willson Peale of Lesueur. The original hangs in the reading room of the Ewell Sale Stewart Library in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Gallery
Eponyms
One species of frog, two species of lizards, and a species of jellyfish were named in honour of Lesueur (the last also honoring François Péron, also of the Baudin expedition): *''Litoria lesueurii
Lesueur's frog (''Ranoidea lesueuri'') is a species of ground-dwelling tree frog native to south-eastern Australia, from Sydney, New South Wales, to eastern Victoria (Australia), Victoria.
Etymology
The Specific name (zoology), specific name, '' ...
'' – Lesueur's frog ( Hylidae)Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2013. ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. xiii + 262 pp. . ("Lesueur", p. 124).
*'' Amalosia lesueurii'' – Lesueur's velvet gecko ( Diplodactylidae)Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Lesueur", p. 156).
*''Intellagama lesueurii
The Australian water dragon (''Intellagama lesueurii''), which includes the eastern water dragon (''Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii'' ) and the Gippsland water dragon (''Intellagama lesueurii howittii'' ) subspecies, is an arboreal agamid species ...
'' – eastern water dragon (Agamidae
Agamidae is a family (biology), family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards.
Overview
phylogenetics, Phylogenetic ...
)
*''Phyllorhiza peronlesuerui
''Phyllorhiza'' is a genus of jellyfish in the family Mastigiidae.
Species
The following species are recognized in the genus Phyllorhiza:
*'' Phyllorhiza pacifica'' (Light, 1921)
*'' Phyllorhiza peronlesueuri'' Goy, 1990
*''Phyllorhiza punctat ...
'' – a jellyfish (Mastigiidae
Mastigiidae is a family of true jellyfish. The family is native to the Indo-Pacific, but a species of ''Mastigias'' has been introduced to the West Atlantic, and ''Phyllorhiza punctata'' has been introduced to the West Atlantic and Mediterranea ...
)Collins, A. G.; Jarms, G.; Morandini, A. C. (2019). World List of Scyphozoa. Phyllorhiza peronlesueuri Goy, 1990. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=287185 on 2019-04-16
Published works
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of six new Species of the genus ''Firola'', observed by Messrs. Le Sueur and Péron in the Mediterranean Sea, in the months of March and April, 1809. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 3–8. * Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Characters of a new genus, and descriptions of three new species upon which it is formed; discovered in the Atlantic ocean, in the months of March and April, 1816. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(3), 37–41. (Read April 15, 1817)BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of three new species of the genus ''Raja''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(3), 41–43. (Read July 1, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of two new species of the genus ''Gadus''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 83–85. (Read August 26, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of a new species of the genus ''Cyprinus''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 85–86. (Read August 19, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. An account of an American species of Tortoise, not noticed in the systems. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 86–88. (Read September 23, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. A new genus of Fishes, of the order Abdominales, proposed, under the name of ''Catostomus''; and the characters of this genus, with those of its species, indicated. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(5), 88–96. (Read September 16, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. A new genus of Fishes, of the order Abdominales, proposed, under the name of ''Catostomus''; and the characters of this genus, with those of its species, indicated. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 102–111. (Read September 16, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Descriptions of four new species, and two varieties, of the genus ''Hydrargira''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 125–134. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Observations on several species of the genus ''Actinia''; illustrated by figures. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 149–154. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1817. Observations on several species of the genus ''Actinia''; illustrated by figures. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(6), 169–189. (Read October 21, 1817)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Descriptions of several new species of North American fishes. Part 1. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 222–235. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Observations on a new genus of fossil shells. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 310–313. (Read June 30, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Descriptions of several new species of North American fishes. Part 2. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 359–365. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1818. Description of several new species of the genus ''Esox'', of North America. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 413–417. (Read March 3, 1818)
BHL link
* Le Sueur, C. A. 1823. Descriptions of several new species of '' Ascidia''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 3, 2–8. (Read March 25, 1822)
See also
* :Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur * European and American voyages of scientific explorationReferences
Further reading
* Josephine Mirabella Elliott and Jane Thompson Johansen, ''Charles-Alexandre Lesueur: Premier Naturalist and Artist'', New Harmony, Indiana, 1999. * Claus Nissen: ''Die zoologische Buchillustration. Ihre Bibliographie und Geschichte.'' Vol. I: ''Bibliographie''. Anton Hiersemann, Verlag 1969. Page 252. * R. W. G. Vail, ''The American Sketchbooks of Charles Alexandre Lesueur, 1816–1837'', American Antiquarian Society, 1938. * Waldo G. Leland, ''The Lesueur Collection of American Sketches in the Museum of Natural History at Havre, Seine-Inferieure'', Journal of American History 10(1): 53–64, June 1923. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.2307/1888689. * Cédric Crémière et Gabrielle Baglione, ''Lesueur, Peintre voyageur, Un trésor oublié'', coll. Très Grande Bibliothèque Thalassa, Éditions de Conti, Paris, 2009 () * Muséum d'Histoire naturelle du Havre, ''Lesueur, peintre voyageur'' http://www.museum-lehavre.fr/fr/collections/ca-lesueur/lesueur-peintre-voyageur * John R. Dolan, ''Charles-Alexandre Lesueur in Philadelphia: His remarkable contributions to natural history and scientific illustration. Arts and Scoences Vol 4 n3 (2020)'' http://www.openscience.fr/IMG/pdf/iste_artsci20v4n3_6.pdfExternal links
Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778–1846) naturalist, artist
Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre (Lesueur, peintre voyageur)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060219202630/http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/maclurites.html Maclurites magnus Lesueur
Alex the explorer, the hero of a new graphic novel
– State Library (South Australia)
– Université de La Rochelle
Charles A Lesueur Papers
– Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections (Indiana, USA). Works of art on paper, including pencil, pastel, charcoal and watercolor sketches by artist and naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, Virginia Dupalais, and Lucy Sistare ay {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesueur, Charles Alexandre 1778 births 1846 deaths Scientists from Le Havre French naturalists Shark Bay People from New Harmony, Indiana Teuthologists