Paul Gaimard Voyage de l'Astrolabe : Zoologie, 1826-1828

fonds

1826-1828

1000020

0.47 metres of textual material (3 volumes) - manuscript

Paul Gaimard was a naturalist who took part in the scientific expedition to the Pacific on board the Astrolabe in 1826-1829 under the command of Dumont d'Urville.

Gaimard's manuscript remained in his family's possession from the time he returned from the voyage until it was offered for sale in Paris, 2015.

A partly unpublished record of the zoological notes made by naval surgeon and naturalist Paul Gaimard, documenting the peoples, mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, shellfish and other animals encountered during the voyage of the Astrolabe under the command of Dumont d'Urville. The notes represent 22 months' worth of the zoological work completed over the course of a voyage which lasted 35 months in total. They form an intermediate stage between the notes gathered on the voyage and the definitive edition in 4 volumes of the 'Zoology' which Gaimard co-authored with Jean René Constant Quoy for the 'Voyage de l'Astrolabe during the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829 under the Command of M. Dumont d'Urville' (Paris: J. Tastu, 1830-1835).

Gaimard prepared his sheets methodically, marking in lines in pencil, numbering the pages and writing in running titles. He used the classification adopted by Cuvier in his 'Regne Animal' (1817), ordering his observations into Cuvier's four groups: vertebrate animals, molluscs, 'articulated animals' (anthropods and annelids) and 'zoophytes' in each of volumes 1 and 2. The third volume has neither title nor volume number, and contains a supplement with information on fish and molluscs. Gaimard left spaces for future observations, illustrative plates and atlas references for the projected published work. Latin names are sometimes left blank or followed by a question mark.

Gaimard's zoological observations contain narrative descriptions as well as details of dimensions and other quantifiable elements, and some of this information was omitted from the published work. Also unpublished were the dates of his observations. Australian fauna is well represented including seals, bandicoots, phalangers, dolphins, kangaroos together with various fish and molluscs collected from the Australian coast. This information is arranged chronologically and labelled by the various ports of call made on the voyage including King George Sound, Western Port, Jervis Bay and Port Jackson.

It is possible to trace the itinerary of the Astrolabe from the dating of Gaimard's observations as follows: having made preparations at Toulouse in April 1826, the Astrolabe passed the Straits of Gibraltar in May, was in the Atlantic Ocean in June, touching on Teneriffe and the Cape Verde Islands, sailing the Indian Ocean in September, and making landfall towards the end of the year at various ports in New Holland (Australia). In January 1827, it reached the 'Great Southern Ocean' (the southern part of the South Pacific) and was in New Zealand by March, then the Kermadec Islands and the Friendly Isles (now Tonga) for the months of April and May. The ship was in New Ireland in July 1827, New Britain and New Guinea in August, Ambon Island (Moluccas) in October, then once again in New Guinea, and on the Australian Coast by December. The Astrolabe was at Norfolk Island in January 1828, at Fataka and Tikopia (the Espiritu-Santo archipelago or New Hebrides) and Vanikolo (Santa Cruz archipelago) in February .

Out of copyright:
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