Portrait after the Painting by R. Tourniere.

PIERRE LOUIS MOREAU DE MAUPERTUIS

Published by Engraved by J. Daullà [and Jean Gerorges Wille]. 1741

About this Item

Large engraved print, 520 x 370 mm. to plate mark. Pierre Louis Moreau de Morpertuis [1698 - 1759] was a French mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and botanist who was Director of the AcadĂ mie des Sciences and the first President of the Prussian Academy of Science. The portrait shows him in his Lapland dress from the French Geodesic Mission of 1736, in which he helped measure the length of a degree of arc of the meridian. His hand is shown encompassing a globe, referring to his theory that the Earth is oblate (wider than it is tall); below that are scientific drawings. This is a proof copy of the plate with text handwritten in sepia ink; the text over the printed cross hatching above [description in French] and below the sledge [the name of the sitter] being almost illegible; the text below the plate reading "peint par R. Tourniere" and "GravĂ par J. DaullĂ 1741." According to the description of a similar copy in the British Museum "Advertised in 'Mercure', September 1741; this is a collaboration work where DaullĂ engraved the portrait, leaving the rest to Wille.".

Seller Inventory # 42500

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Portrait after the Painting by R. Tourniere.
• Publisher: Engraved by J. DaullĂ [and Jean Gerorges Wille]. 1741
• Binding: Soft cover