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BEAUSSANT LEFÈVRE & Associés

152 - LACORDAIRE (Jean-Théodore). Signed autograph letter to Balth…
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Estimate €100 - €120
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Description
LACORDAIRE (Jean-Théodore). Signed autograph letter to Balthazar de Romand, concerning insects collected in French Guiana and his work on South American beetles. Paris, 11 June 1833. 1½ pp. in-8 (13 x 20.5 cm) on a double-leaf sheet forming an envelope; address on the reverse, postmark dated 12 June 1833, trace of a wax seal. An important entomological letter by Théodore Lacordaire (1801–1870), written shortly after his return from South America and one year before the publication of his *Introduction to Entomology*. Lacordaire is replying to B. de Romand, who had acquired some Hymenoptera and Diptera that he himself had collected in Cayenne and previously given to Pierre-André Latreille (1762–1833), one of the founders of the modern classification of arthropods. He offered to identify the specimens and to share his observations on ‘their habits and the precise localities they inhabit’, noting that he no longer possessed any specimens of these two orders, his collections having been donated in particular to the Berlin Museum and to various entomologists. A remarkable account of Lacordaire’s methodology and travels. He then refers to his two treatises on the beetles of South America and offers a particularly interesting assessment of his own work, regretting the gaps concerning the life history of the larvae and their host plants. He attributes these gaps to his constant travels and his insufficient knowledge of botany, before concluding with this reflection on the significance of his work: ‘I shall only be of any real use to entomology if I can show the way forward to the travellers who will follow in my footsteps. ” Lacordaire had travelled throughout South America between 1824 and 1832 and brought back thousands of insects; in particular, he published his *Mémoire sur les habitudes des insectes coléoptères de l’Amérique méridionale* in 1830, followed in 1832–1833 by several papers on the entomology of French Guiana. The amateur naturalist and collector, Balthazar de Romand (1775–1865), a former paymaster-general in Tours and a member of the Entomological Society of France, had acquired part of Pierre-André Latreille’s entomological collection. In particular, in 1839 he published a ‘Tableau de l’aile supérieure des hyménoptères’ (Illustration of the forewing of Hymenoptera). A very fine letter, in excellent condition. Old creases and a small loss of paper where the stamp was. Enclosed is an autograph note by the same author (3 lines) concerning Müller, the German entomologist. – Expert: Cédric and Ithier de FOUGEROLLE
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About the sale Antique and modern books, manuscripts
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Auction time 10/21/2026 at 1:30 PM
Ref. : 15251 - 241
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