In 1793, after the French Revolution, the former royal garden and collection became the Botanical Garden and the National Museum of Natural History. A zoo linked with the museum was also established, replacing the royal menagerie at Versailles. Until then, people had seen animals in traveling shows, where they were exhibited as curiosities. Traveling menageries were soon banned in Paris, ensuring a steady stream of visitors to the new zoo. The eminent naturalists La C\u00e9p\u00e8de, Cuvier and Geoffroy compiled a catalog of the animals in the zoo in 1801. Nicolas Mar\u00e9chal, the museum’s painter, documented the animals of the new zoo in watercolor paintings on vellum.<\/p>\n
The engraver and co-publisher of this work was Simon Charles Miger (1736-1820), a French printmaker and publisher. He engraved numerous portraits of French royalty, which are in the collections of museums such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington. He also engraved and published books on a variety of subjects, including natural history and philosophical writings by Voltaire and others. The other publisher, Renouard, is identified on the title page of La Menagerie du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle<\/strong> as a bookseller.<\/p>\n Baron Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) was a French naturalist, considered the father of comparative anatomy, who introduced the concept of phylum and is credited with almost single-handedly founding the discipline of vertebrate paleontology.\u00a0In 1795 he came to Paris at the invitation of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, where he became a professor of animal anatomy and superintendent of the zoo at the Museum of Natural History. Cuvier’s comparisons improved and extended the Linnaean system of classification. He was recognized by being knighted and made a Baron and Peer of France. Bernard Germain Etienne de la Ville-sur-Illion, Comte de La C\u00e9p\u00e8de was also a prominent naturalist, who dropped his title of “Count” after the Revolution. \u00c9tienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) was also a French naturalist whose ideas about evolution influenced later naturalists. He collaborated with Cuvier on five works on natural history, although their conceptions of evolutionary biology ultimately diverged.<\/p>\n Full title and publication information: La M\u00e9nagerie du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle ou Description et Histoire des Animaux Qui Y Vivent et Qui Y Ont V\u00e9cu, Par Les CC. LaC\u00e9p\u00e8de, Cuvier et Geoffroy, Avec des Figures peintes, d’apr\u00e9s Nature, par Mar\u00e9chal, Peintre du Mus\u00e9um, Grav\u00e9s, avec l’agr\u00e9ment de l’Administration, A Paris, Chez Miger, Graveur, quai des Miramiones, no. 106; Et Ant. Aug. Renouard, Libraire, rue Saint-Andr\u00e9-des-Arcs, no. 42.<\/em><\/p>\n Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, soft creases. Slight irregularities to outer edges, minor scattered foxing in margins, all can be matted out.<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n “\u00c9tienne Geoffroy St. Hilaire.” University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology.<\/em> http:\/\/www.ucmp.berkeley.edu\/history\/hilaire.html (25 March 2004).<\/p>\n “Georges Cuvier.” University of California, Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology.<\/em> http:\/\/www.ucmp.berkeley.edu\/history\/cuvier.html (25 March 2004).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nicolas Mar\u00e9chal (after) To see other prints associated with Cuvier and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire on our site, search our site.<\/p>\n Natural history monkey studies after paintings by Nicolas Mar\u00e9chal, who was commissioned by the zoo affiliated with the Mus\u00e9um National d’Histoire Naturelle to document the animals in its captivity. The monkeys are shown from the side with very few background details other than a ground plane \u2014 a hint of a distant landscape for the mandrill, and a tabletop and sprig of fruit for the rhesus. Mar\u00e9chal depicted the animals for this scientific reference work in a realistic and highly detailed manner. A caption below the mandrill indicates that the scale is “Quart de la Grandeur,” i.e.<\/em> one-quarter life size, while the rhesus monkey is labeled “Moiti\u00e9 de la Grandeur,” i.e<\/em>. half actual size.<\/p>\n Product Description Continues Below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9441,"template":"","meta":{"wds_primary_product_brand":0,"wds_primary_product_cat":0,"footnotes":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[969],"product_tag":[42,3223,4824,4817,4818,4823,1766,4821,4816,3408,4591,3490,2747,487,4168,183,1673,4822,4819,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-9439","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-monkeys","7":"product_tag-19th-century","8":"product_tag-animals","9":"product_tag-animaux","10":"product_tag-cepede","11":"product_tag-cuvier","12":"product_tag-dhistoire-naturelle","13":"product_tag-etching","14":"product_tag-mandrill","15":"product_tag-marechal","16":"product_tag-menagerie","17":"product_tag-miger","18":"product_tag-monkey","19":"product_tag-monkeys","20":"product_tag-museum","21":"product_tag-natural-history","22":"product_tag-nicolas","23":"product_tag-print","24":"product_tag-rhesus","25":"product_tag-saint-hilaire","26":"product_tag-simia","27":"post","28":"post-with-thumbnail","29":"post-with-thumbnail-large","31":"first","32":"instock","33":"purchasable","34":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/9439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/9439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17003,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/9439\/revisions\/17003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=9439"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=9439"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=9439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSimon Charles Miger (1736-1820) (engraver)
\nComte de La C\u00e9p\u00e8de, Georges Cuvier and \u00c9tienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (authors)
\nSimia Maimon\/Mormon, Lin.\/ Le Mandrill, Plate 23 [Mandrill]
\nSimia Rhesus\/ Le Rh\u00e9sus, Plate 33 [Rhesus Monkey]<\/strong>
\nfrom La M\u00e9nagerie du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle ou Description et Histoire des Animaux Qui Y Vivent et Qui Y Ont V\u00e9cu
\n[The Menagerie of the National Museum of Natural History, or Description and History of the Animals That Live, or Have Lived, There]<\/strong><\/em>
\nChez Miger and Ant. Aug. Renouard, Paris: 1801
\nHand-colored etchings
\n8.5 x 14.5 inches, ruled border, Mandrill<\/strong>
\n10.5 x 16 inches, plate mark, Mandrill<\/strong>
\n10 x 14 inches, ruled border, Rhesus<\/strong>
\n11.75 x 15.5 inches, plate mark, Rhesus<\/strong>
\n13.5 x 20.25 inches, overall, both prints
\n$1,100, the pair<\/p>\n