> [!cite] BHL link: this entry starts at [page 938](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33190409) of TL-2 Vol. IV > Author links: [IPNI](https://www.ipni.org/a/8665-1) LSID 8665-1, [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6527) QID Q6527 > Support pages: [[Abbreviations|abbreviations]], [[Layout key|layout key]], [[Cite TL-2|cite TL-2]] ### Author Rousseau, Jean Jacques (1712-1778); French writer and philosopher. **Abbreviated name**: *Rousseau* \[standard form in IPNI: *Rousseau*\] #### Herbarium and types following the eighteenth century tradition Rousseau accompanied his interest in botany by making herbarium specimens, and even by the acquisition of plants collected by others. The following herbaria are known to have been made by Rousseau (enumeration Briquet 1940): 1. A folio sized herbarium of 1500-2000 plants, sold by him in 1775-1776, of which the catalogue of 1770 was at [[Collection B|B]]. (See Urban-Berl. p. 416-418). 2. A quarto-sized herbarium (10 volumes) which belonged originally to Mlle de Girardin, was kept at [[Collection B|B]] (see Urban-Berl. p. 416-618). 3. The quarto-sized herbarium originally containing 1500 specimens made in Paris and Ermenonville towards the end of Rousseau's life, given by Thérèse Levasseur to Le Bègue de Presle is now at [[Collection P|P]] (available on IDC 6213). For its history see Lanjouw and Uittien 1940. This herbarium has great scientific value because it contains part of the collections made by Fusée Aublet. – Available on microfiche IDC 6213. 4. A herbarium made at Scoraille (Auvergne) of which the location is now unknown. 5. A herbarium of 200 plants made for Marguerite-Madeleine Delessert (see Jaccard 1893). 6. A small herbarium made for Mlle de Girardin (see Roux). 7. A small herbarium made for Mlle Julie Boy de la Tour (seee Dufour). 8. A small herbarium sent to Malesherbes in 1773. 9. A herbarium sent to the Duchess of Portland in 1773. #### Note Rousseau's interest in botany was awakened in 1763 or 1764, shortly after he had gone to Switzerland, folllowing the outlawing of his Emile (see Jansen 1885, de Beer 1954). He entered into relations with various botanists like Abraham Gagnebin, Bernard de Jussieu, Michel Adanson and, later in life, Guettard and Fusée Aublet. The *Lettres élémentaires sur la Botanique* (1781) were written at the request of Madeleine Catherine \[Julie\] Boy de la Tour, (Mme Étienne Delessert, b. 1747) to the benefit of the instruction of her eldest daughter Marguérite-Madeleine Delessert (sister of Benjamin Delessert). The *Lettres* greatly influenced both Marguérite-Madeleine and Benjamin and may well have been the initial stimulus for the latter's interest in botany. On the one hand the *Lettres* did much to popularize botany and may have been the initial cause for the setting up of one of the world's greatest herbaria (Benjamin Delessert, now at G); on the other hand it provided Pierre-Joseph Redouté with an opportunity to publish a famous illustrated edition containing some of his best work. #### Bibliography and biography BM 8: 1099; Bossert p. 340; Dryander 3: 23; GR p. 644; Hegi 2: 55-56, 171, 654, 3: nos. 1281-1288; Herder p. 95; IH 1 (ed. 6): 363, (ed. 7): 343, 2: (files); Jackson p. 7, 35; Kelly p. 199; Kew 4: 529; Lasègue 43-45, 54, 61, 551, 552; Moebius p. 407, 424, 433, 434; NI 1688, see also 1: 147; PH 247; Plesch p. 388, 389, 390; PR 5927, 6062, 7454, 7822-7824, ed. 1: 2552, 6627, 6751, 8412, 8775, 11606; Rehder 1: 93, 5: 742; SO 701-709, add. 700d, 700e, 2471, 2475, 2680; Sotheby 661-662; TL-1/810; TL-2/5568, see G.L.L. de Buffon; Tucker 1: 610; Urban-Berl. p. 389, 416-418. #### Biofile - Allen, D.E., The naturalist in Britain 40, 49, 53, 54, 74. 1976. - Amoureux, Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 1: 704-706. 1822 (letters to A. Gouan). - Anon., Cat. gén. livr. impr. Bibl. natl., Paris, Auteurs 157: 410-535. 1939 (bibl.). - Baehni, C., Aesculape 28(4): 62, 112-119. 1938 (on *Lettres*; portr. Marguérite-Madeleine Delessert). - Beer, G. de, Ann. Sci. 10(3): 189-223. 1954 (free translation, with notes and quotations, of Jansen 1885). - Biers, P.M., Rev. bryol. ser. 2. 1(1): 49. 1928 (on two bryologists: corr. between Rousseau and Lamoignon de Malesherbes). - Blunt, W., The compleat naturalist 100, 214. 1971. - Bord, B., Aesculape Mai 1938: 6 (portr.) (expos, botanistes genevois). - Bridson, G.d.R. et al., Nat. hist. mss. res. Brit. Isl. 275.65. 1980. - Briquet, J., Bull. Inst. nati, genevois 41: 131-137. 1914 ("Jean-Jacques Rousseau botaniste"); Bull. Soc. bot. Genève 50a: 417-420. 1940 (bibl.; list herb.). - Burkhardt, R.W., The spirit of system 14, 15, 17, 34, 145, 215. 1977. - Candolle, Alph. de, Phytographie 444. 1880. - Candolle, A.P. de, Mém. Soc. phys. Genève 5: 42. 1830; Mém. souvenirs 2, 86, 300, 302. 1862. - Cohn, F., Deutsche Rundschau 47: 364-385. 1886 (J.J.R. als Botaniker). - Cummings, B., J. Bot. 54: 80-84. 1916 ("Rousseau as botanist"). - Dufour, T., Pages inédites de J.J.R. sér. 2: 110-117. 1907 (herb. Julie Boy de la Tour). - Earnest, E., John and William Bartram 2, 87, 133, 141, 146, 149. 1940. - Eichler, A.W., Jahresber. Schles. Ges. vaterl. Cultur 1886: 153-154. 1887 (on the Rousseau herbarium at B). - Fagin, N.B., William Bartram 42, 56, 57. 1933. - Flahault, C., Univ. Montpellier, Inst. bot. 36. 1890 (R. at Montpellier). - Foggitt, G., Rep. Bot. Soc. Exch. Club Brit. Isl., Annals 1932: 283. (occasional mention of "a large herbarium of French plants supposed to have belonged to Jean Jacques Rousseau"). - Fries, Th.M., Bref Skrifv. Linné 1(3): 240. 1909, 1(5): 322. 1911, 1(6): 223. 1912. - Gagnebin, B., ed., Lettres sur la botanique par Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Club des Libraires de France. 1962, xxxv, 305 p., 8 col. photos (contains texts of letters on botany to various recipients and a fragment of Rousseau's botanical dictionnary). - Glass, B. et al., Forerunners of Darwin 468 \[index\]. 1968. - Godet, P. & M. Boy de la Tour, eds., Lettres inédites de J.J. Rousseau, Paris 1911, p. 65. - Gonod d'Artemare, E., Bull. Acad. int. Géogr. bot. 8(114): 145-152. 1899 (early history of herb. no. 3/Ermenonville). - Heine, H.H., Jahrb., Ver. Schutz. Alpenpfl. 27: \[4 p.\]. 1962. - Jaccard, P., Bull. Soc. vaud. Sci. nat. 30: 85-88. 1893 (on a 200 pl. herb. for Marguérite-Madeleine Delessert). - Jansen, A., Jean-Jacques Rousseau als Botaniker. Berlin (Georg Reimer) 1885, vi, 308 p. (see Moebius, M., 1885 for review). - Jessen, K.F.W., Bot. Gegenw. Vorz. 337-339, 378, 396. 1884. - Hocquette, M., Bull. Soc. bot. Nord France 16(1): 17-20. 1963 (on herbaria and *Lettres*). - Lacroix, A., Figures de savants 3: 84, 85, 4: 74, 212. 1938. - Lanjouw, J. & H. Uittien, Med. Bot. Mus. Utrecht 75: 133-170. 1940 (on herb. no. 3). - Lefébvre, Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 1: 41-48. 1822. - MacPhail, I., Cat. Redout. 52-53, 66. 1963. - Magnin, A., Bull. Soc. bot. Lyon 31: 48-49, 70. 1906 (on botanical field trips around Lyon and Grenoble; bibl.), 32: 115. 1907, 35: 26, 32, 67-68. 1910. - Moebius, M., Bot. Centralbl. 24: 194-199. 1885 (rev. Jansen 1885); Gartenwelt 16: 374-378, 384-389. 1912 Q.J. Rousseau als Botaniker). - Nicolas, J.P. and Stafleu, F.A., *in* G.H.M. Lawrence, Adanson 1: 388 \[index\]. 1963 (on relations with Adanson). - Ottevanger, K., (transi.), J.J. Rousseau, Botany, a study of pure curiosity, London 1979, 154 p. - Roux, C., Ann. Soc. linn. Lyon 60: 101-120. 1913 (on R.'s botanical excursions at Grande Chartreuse in 1768 and Mont Pilat in 1769). Smith, J.E., Sci. corr. Linnaeus 2: 552. 1821 (letter R. to Linnaeus). - Stafleu, F.A., Taxon 3: 247. 1954 (herb. no. 3, acquired by P.); *in* L'Héritier, Sert. angl. facs. ed. 1963, p. xvi, xx; *in* J. MacPhail, Cat. Redout. 10, 23. 1963; Linnaeus and the Linnaeans, 281, 282, 296, 298. 1971. - Starobinski, J., Gesnerus 2: 83-94. 1964 ("Rousseau et Buffon"). - Wittrock, V.B., Acta Horti Berg. 3(2): 117. 1903, 3(3): 113, 210-211. 1905. #### Eponymy *Roussaea* A.P. de Candolle (1839, *orth. var.* of *Roussea* J.E. Smith); *Roussea* J.E. Smith (1789); *Rousseaua* Post et O. Kuntze (1903, *orth. var.* of *Roussea* J.E. Smith); *Rousseauvia* Bojer (1837, *orth. var.* of *Roussea* J.E. Smith); *Roussoa* J.J. Roemer et J.A. Schultes (1818, *orth. var.* of *Roussea* J.E. Smith); *Russea* J.F. Gmelin (1791, *orth. var.* of *Roussea* J.E. Smith). *Note*: *Roussoella* P.A. Saccardo (1888) and *Roussoellopsis* I. Hino et K. Katumoto (1965) honor Maria Rousseau, Belgian mycologist. #### Postage stamps France 15 f. (1956) yv. 1084; 1,00 + 0,20 f. (1978) yv. 1990; Switzerland 5 + 5 c. (1962) yv. 693. ### Publications ##### n.9686. Lettres élémentaires sur la botanique **Title** *Lettres élémentaires sur la botanique* \[Collection complète des oeuvres de J.J. Rousseau, citoyen de Genève. Tome quatorzième. contenant le iv. volume des Mélanges. À Genève 1782\]. Oct. **Abbreviated title**: *Lettr. élém. bot.* **Notes** *Publ*.: 1782, p. \[i-ii\], \[1\]-535. *Copy*: G. – Previous editions not seen; this was possibly the first publication. – Oeuvres ed. Peyrou et Moultou. *Other ed*.: 1789, in Oeuvres complètes de J.J. Rousseau, nouvelle édition, tomes 5, 6, 1789 \[Paris\]. *Copies*: BR, NY. *1*: engr. t.p., p. \[1\]-393. *2*: engr. t.p., p. \[1\]-507. *Plates*: 1789, p. \[i\], *pl. 1-38, 1-6* (col. copp., J. Aubry). *Copies*: E, G, HH, MO. – "*Recueil de plantes coloriées*, pour servir à l'intelligence des lettres élémentaires sur la botanique de J.J. Rousseau... à Paris (Chez Poinçot,...) 1789. – The NY copy of the text has these plates added. Plates *1-6* illustrate the fragment of a botanical dictionary. – Vol. 38bis of the Poinçot ed. of J.J. Rousseau: Oeuvres compl. *English ed*.: *Letters on the elements of botany*, by Thomas Alartyn, ed. 1, 1785, see TL-2/5568. *Ed. 8*: 1815, p. \[i\]-xx, \[1\]-434. *Copies*: NY, PH. – London (printed for White, Cochrane and co.,...) 1815. Oct. (in fours). *German ed*.: J.J. Rousseau's Botanik für Frauenzimmer in Briefen an die Frau von L.\*\* Frankfurt und Leipzig 1781, 126 p. Oct. *Copy*: MO. – Modern German ed. *Zehn botanische Lehrbriefe für eine Freundin*, Insel Taschenbuch 366. 1979; Botanik für artige Frauenzimmer, 65 ills. P. J. Redouté, Hanau 1980. *Russian ed*.: Moskwa 1810, by Wladimir Ismailow (n.v.). *Recent reprint* of original texts: see B. Gagnebin (1962). ##### n.9687. La botanique de J.J. Rousseau **Title** *La botanique de J.J. Rousseau*, contenant tout ce qu'il a écrit sur cette science; l'exposition de la méthode botanique de M. de Jussieu; la manière de former les herbiers par M. Haüy. À Paris (chez F. Louis,...) an x-1802. Duod. **Abbreviated title**: *Bot. Rousseau, ed. duod.* **Notes** *Ed. 1*: 1802, p. \[i\]-xxiv, \[1\]-322. *Copies*: BR, G, H-UB, NY. *Ed. 2*: 1823, p. \[i\*-ii\*\], \[i\]-viii, \[3\]-340, *pl. 1-8* with text (uncol.). *Copy*: G. "... sur cette science, augmentée de l'exposition de la méthode de Tournefort, de celle du système de Linné, d'un nouveau dictionnaire de botanique, et de notes historiques, etc. Par M.A. Deville, médecin. Seconde édition..." à Paris (chez François Louis,...) 1823. Duod. ##### n.9688. La botanique de J.J. Rousseau **Title** *La botanique de J.J. Rousseau*, ornée de soixante-cinq planches, d'après les peintures de P. J. Redouté. Imprimerie de H. Perronneau. Paris Delachaussée,... Garnery,...) xiv= 1805. Fol. **Abbreviated title**: *Bot. Rousseau ed. fol.* **Notes** *Orig. ed.*: 1805 (published in 7 parts), p. \[i\*, iii\*\], lettres \[1\]-81, fragm. dict. \[83\]-122, *pl. 1-65* (stipple engr., printed in colour and finished by hand after paintings by P. J. Redouté). *Copies*: BR, PH. *Other issue*: 1805, p. \[i\]-viii, \[ix-x\], \[1\]-124, *pl 1-65* (id.). *Copy*: NY. – *La botanique*... P. J. Redouté. Paris (Delachaussée,... Garnery,...) xiv = 1805. Fol. *Quarto ed*.: 1805 (n.v.), see MacPhail no. 16. Quarto, p. \[2\], \[v\]-xi, \[1\], \[1\]-159, \[1\]. *Quarto ed*.: 1821, Paris Baudoin frères, 1821. n.v. *Quarto ed*.: 1822, p. \[i\]-xi, \[1\]-153, \[154\], *pl. 1-65* (id.). *Copy*: G. – Paris, Baudoin frères, ... 1822. Qu. *Octavo ed*.: 1824, p. \[1\]-468, \[1\]-7, *pl. 1-65* (id. but coloured). *Copies*: BR, NY. – Oeuvres complètes de J.J. Rousseau, mises dans un nouvel ordre,... par V.D. Musset-Pathay. Philosophie. *Lettres sur la botanique*, suivies d'une introduction à l'étude de cette science, et de fragments pour un dictionnaire des termes d'usage en botanique. Paris (chez P. Dupont,...) 1824. Oct. (*Lettres bot*. 1824). N.B. We have made no attempt to treat all editions and issues of this book. ##### n.9689. Le botaniste sans maître **Title** *Le botaniste sans maître*, ou manière d'apprendre seul la botanique au moyen de l'instruction commencée par J.J. Rousseau. Continuée et complettée \[sic\] dans la même forme par M. de C. Paris (chez Levrault, Schoell et Comp.,...) Winterthour (chez Steiner-Ziegler,...) 1805. Duod. **Abbreviated title**: *Bot. sans maître*. **Notes** *Author*: Joseph Philippe de Clairville (1742-1830). *Publ*.: 1805, p. \[i\*\], \[i\]-xxiv, \[1\]-297, *pl. 1-6.* (Other edition of the original *Lettres*; 300 copies printed. *Copy*: BR.