French Botany in the Enlightenment

Royal Instructions for Scientific Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The French Gardener Overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Voyage of La Perouse: Part 1, From Brest to Monterey Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Part 2, From Monterey Bay to Botany Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Adventures and Misadventures: The Bizarre Story of the Dupetit-Th9uars Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The Voyage of Entrecasteaux: Part 1, Genesis and Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Part 2, From Brest to Tasmania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Part 3, New Caledonia to Ambon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Part 4, Esperance Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Part 5, Tasmania Revisisted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Part 6, On to New Caledonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Part 7, Its Woeful End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Internment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 From Explorer to Closet Botanist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Plant Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Introduction-I INTRODUCTION he title of this book is meant to signal at the outset its confines, both its T inclusions and what is beyond its scope. This volume does not stand alone, neither in splendid nor terrifying isolation, but as the third volume in a trilogy meant to be a commentary on the botanophilia that captured the literate public in 18th-century France, the very time that botany was becoming established as a science independent from medicine and herbal ism. Even though the components of that phenomenon have been examined indi­ vidually by earlier scholars, a synthesis of them, founded upon a reliable command of the history of botany, has been wanting.

From the reviews:

"William’s book is the third in a trilogy devoted to the love of botany in eighteenth-century France … . Of value are his translations of original printed documents connected with the voyage, and his detailed chronological record of events … . The story of La Pérouse’s lost expedition and the trials and tribulations of those who went in search of it is inevitably a moving and exciting one, well recounted here." (Emma Spary, British Society for the History of Science, 2005)