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Libro

Humboldt, Alexander Von, German Naturalist And Explorer (1769-18, 59).

Autograph letter signed. Berlin, 22. II. 1840.

3000,00 €

Inlibris Antiquariat (Wien, Austria)

Parla con il Libraio

Metodi di Pagamento

Dettagli

Autore
Humboldt, Alexander Von, German Naturalist And Explorer (1769-18, 59).
Soggetto
Autographs: Science
Lingue
Inglese

Descrizione

Folio. 3 pp. on bifolium. In French. Highly interesting letter to the diplomat, traveller, and historian Henri Ternaux-Compans who had succeeded Humboldt as editor of the periodical "Annales des voyages, de la géographie et de l'histoire" founded in 1819. Humboldt grants a request to "continue to place my name among the editors of the Annales des Voyages" as a courtesy to Ternaux-Compans, who had previously given him access to his collections. However, Humboldt goes to great lengths to explain this personal favour, as he did not usually permit his name to be attached to such projects, given his position. His participation as an editor between 1836 and 1839 had already been a personal favour to the publisher Théophile-Étienne Gide, who had "affectionately pressed" him. In a curious request, he asks for his name to be removed in the event that Ternaux-Compans should leave the Annales before Humboldt is "placed among the fossil corpses". - Although his personal involvement appears to have been largely symbolic, Humboldt is highly critical of the publication and offers advice for its improvement. Given the severity of his criticism, he asks Ternaux-Compans not to show the letter to his predecessor Jean-Baptiste-Benoît Eyriès, for whom he expresses great admiration as a scientist, or any "person who might tell him about it". For Humboldt, the Annales were from the start, under their first editor Conrad Malte-Brun, "of bleak mediocrity", even if he ranks the journal above the "Bulletin de la Société de géographie de Paris". He attributes this mediocrity to a lack of scientific data and other relevant information: "of astronomically determined positions, of elevation determinations, of indications for average temperatures, of catalogues of maps published abroad, of detailed insights concerning the magnetic stations, of expeditions to the South Pole". Therefore, the Annales is a publication for amateurs, and even for them it is "too jejune", providing no interest to readers who wish to know what is "discovered on the surface of the globe". By contrast, Humboldt praises several German publications, such as Heinrich Christian Schumacher's "Astronomische Nachrichten" and the "Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift", wherein Humboldt himself published. His advice to Ternaux-Compans is to collaborate with people "who possess scientific knowledge in a distinguished manner", naming, e.g., the engineer Pierre Daussy, the cartographer Louis-Isidore Duperrey, and the explorer Louis de Freycinet. He further suggests to translate and publish articles from the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, which is "admirably edited", and, finally, to consult the archaeologist Jean-Antoine Letronne. - Tears to the folds and margins, minimally affecting the text, partly repaired and reinforced with adhesive tape. With a collector's note in pencil. Some browning overall.