Titian Ramsay Peale (1780– September 18, 1798) was an American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

, and artist who helped his father, the polymath

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

, assemble the first scientific collection of zoological specimens in the western hemisphere. Titian and his brother

Rembrandt Peale Rembrandt Peale (February 22, 1778 – October 3, 1860) was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Peale's style w ...

were trained by their father in oil painting. When

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

sat for his portrait, they set up their own easels next to their father's. He died of yellow fever at the age of 18. He became the namesake of his half-brother,

Titian Ramsay Peale Titian Ramsay Peale (November 2, 1799 – March 13, 1885) was an American artist, naturalist, and explorer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a scientific illustrator whose paintings and drawings of wildlife are known for their beauty and ...

(1799–1885), who was also an accomplished naturalist.

Biography

Family

Peale was the fourth son of Charles Willson Peale and Rachel Brewer. He was the brother of Sophonisba Angusciola Peale, and the namesake of

(1799–1885), his younger half brother, who was also an accomplished naturalist. Titian and his brother Raphaelle are the subjects of their father's painting "The Staircase Group".

Ornithology

Titian was an accomplished taxidermist and accompanied his father on several collecting expeditions. During the

1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the official register of deaths between August 1 and November 9. The vast majority of them died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 ...

, father and son traveled to

Cape Henlopen Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are two ...

to collect and preserve birds, from August 21 to September 19, 1793. Titian's specimens were extremely valuable to his father, who used them as currency for trading with foreign naturalists. On June 22, 1796, Charles wrote to

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

: "My third Son having the Talents of preserving the various Subjects of the Animal Kingdom, affords me considerable aid—from which I flatter myself that a reciprocal exchange will be made on our part." In a letter to

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories. ...

on April 30, 1797, Charles wrote "...with a Son that now collects and preserves with me, I promise myself to fill my store Boxes with many valuable subjects ready for exchange." On May 31, 1798, less than four months before his son's death, Charles praised Titian's taxidermy skills in a letter to

Pierre Adet Pierre-Auguste Adet (17 May 1763 Nevers – 19 March 1834 Paris) was a French scientist, politician, and diplomat. He worked with Lavoisier on a new chemical notation system, and was secretary to the scientific periodical ''Annales de chimie'', f ...

...with my son Titian I continue my hunting excursions to collect & preserve Subjects with equal diligence as you have seen during the last season. Altho' we cannot this year add so many new subjects yet we have got some that are non-descripts. And that while I am increasing my store we find by practice our mode of mounting Birds considera y improved ... I can assure you that itian'smethod of preservation is so much improved, that nothing I have seen is equal to what comes from his hands.

Entomology

Titian was preparing illustrations and a manuscript for a work describing insects of the United States when he died in 1798. A draft of his entomology manuscript (dated 1796) is preserved in the National Agricultural Library.

Death

Charles Willson Peale reflected on his son's death in a letter to

Palisot de Beauvois Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois (27 July 1752, in Arras – 21 January 1820, in Paris) was a French naturalist and zoologist. Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, from 1 ...

, dated June 16, 1799:

I am so much affected with the loss of that dear youth that I can scarcely write this for floods of tears.–I snatched him then from death, to take him to New York, and vainly hoped that the affection and attention of a family; (Mrs. Peale's Uncles) would have keept him from New York, in a high, airy & healthy situation where he might recover his flesh & strength, but alass! he would frequently be with me in the City and there caught the fever, his being so much debilitated by his former complaint, that only 2 days sickness took him from me. I shall say no more on this mournful tale, you know my loss, & I may justly say a public Loss. I strive to bear up against this affliction, but I have such frequent calls to remember his assifious labours, while persuing my favorite persuits, that the Woods as well as my Study often witness my pangs–and knowing the importance of my labours to put my Museum in a lasting condition, and thereby secure its permanent establishment, I sometimes fear this cankerworm, Grief, will prey on my Vitals, and shorten my days.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peale, Titian Ramsay I Peale family American ornithologists Scientists from Philadelphia 1780 births 1798 deaths Artists from Philadelphia 18th-century American scientists 18th-century American artists 18th-century American male artists American entomologists Deaths from yellow fever Infectious disease deaths in Pennsylvania