Antique White Or Polar Bear Georges-Louis Leclerc Engraving, Original, 1776

Description: Antique White Or Polar Bear Georges-Louis Leclerc Engraving Dated around 1754 - 1785 L'Ours de Mer (The Sea Bear) Comte de Buffon (Count of Buffon) Frame - 22cm x 28cm Original, not a reproduction. Very rare example! Published in London or France, for "Natural History, General and Particular" by the Count de Buffon. Translated by William Smellie Histoire Naturelle (published serially between 1749 and 1788) Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, and cosmologist. He held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes. Buffon's practice of characterizing animals by habitat led him to identify two kinds of white bears: land bears and sea bears. His "white bear of the forest" might have been inspired by Kermode bears (white subspecies of the American black bear), but he might have simply mistaken polar bears for two different species. From "Darwin's Polar Bear" by Michael Engelhard Buffon's works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent French scientists Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier. Buffon published thirty-six quarto volumes of his Histoire Naturelle during his lifetime, with additional volumes based on his notes and further research being published in the two decades following his death. Ernst Mayr wrote that "Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century". Credited with being one of the first naturalists to recognize ecological succession, he was later forced by the theology committee at the University of Paris to recant his theories about geological history and animal evolution because they contradicted the biblical narrative of Creation. Relevant weblinks below, for reference https://timetoeatthedogs.com/2016/10/10/darwins-polar-bear/ https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/darwin-s-polar-bear/ Good used condition for age, with some superficial wear, marks and discolouration Picture box 3

Price: 99.99 GBP

Location: Matlock

End Time: 2025-01-13T13:49:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 33.02 GBP