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342 - BOITARD – The Botanical Garden: A Description and Account of…
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Description
BOITARD – The Botanical Garden: A Description and Account of the Habits of the Mammals in the Menagerie and the Natural History Museum. Paris, Dubochet, 1842; quarto, LXVI-472 pp., bound in bottle-green half-calf with small corners, smooth spine decorated with a Romantic design, marbled edges. Preceded by a historical, descriptive and picturesque introduction by Mr Janin. Illustrated with numerous plates, some of which are in colour. Pierre Boitard, born in Mâcon in 1789 and died in 1859 in Montrouge, was a French botanist and geologist. He is credited with the description and classification of the Tasmanian devil. He is also known for his novel *Paris avant les hommes* (*Paris Before Men*), published posthumously in 1861, in which he tells the story of a pre-hominid ape living in the Paris region. This work is considered to be the first work of prehistoric fiction. An early contribution by Pierre Boitard to evolutionary theory, long before Charles Darwin, can be found in the journal *Le Magasin Universel*. In an article entitled ‘L’Homme Fossile’ (‘The Fossil Man’), Boitard sets out, in the form of a dialogue between a scholar and an honest man, a theory of the evolution of species applied to all living beings, including humans.
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About the sale ONLINE AUCTION ON 26/06/2026: Books, engravings and old papers.
Auction location
Auction time 06/26/2026 at 8:00 PM
ID: 87801816
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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