Paris (last day at the Central Library).
Thursday 15/09/2011
A tad sad to finish up at the Central Library, for this trip anyway. Good, competent people and a good experience for me, although the results of my research were mixed.
The day stated well with a quick breakfast in the studio then back down to the menswear shops to buy jeans. The cheap prices turned out to be a bit deceptive. The 15 euro sign actually said buy two pair and get the second one for 15 euro. At another smaller shop the sign on the table said 17.5 euro but that referred only to the t-shirts, the jeans on the same table were 50 euros. These are "Brand" jeans when all I need is a "Target" variety. Empty handed again!
Lunch was better! I nipped into the Maison Espanol Restaurant and no shell-fish, so I proceeded to order my lunch. Cafeteria style so you select and get served from the "cauldrons" of hot stew/whatever. I got served couscous plus flavouring! With some veges, a meatball, a sausage, and a small piece of chicken. I was careful that I only got the set menu (there was bread, a small salad, and a small desert included as well) but to my surprise the cost was 8.20 and not the 10 euro I was expecting. I assume that, as the student price is 7.50, my salad was a non-standard extra on top of the student price. I noticed later that no-one else had my salad. Either that or there was a deduction because I did not choose the "included" soft-drink! I count it as a win either way, even if the meal was not "haute cuisine".
[I went back later and checked prices; it was the student/resident price plus an extra (my salad). Also, it was a regional speciality meal of "couscous"]
You have to picture this "negotiation" against a background of high-intensity French and Spanish babble and a line of hungry impatient students. One of the reasons I play these games, apart from the fun of it, is to force myself to confront the problem of communication without the local language. A challenge.
On to the Central Library for one last session with the Lesueur manuscripts. I went back over the tropical fish manuscript (although I did not recognise it as such the first time through). I had already photocopied a number of the important images, because of the similarity to the Le Havre drawings. Again there was nothing to indicate any came from Terra Australes except that they look like Australian tropical species.
I finished up, collected my current digital photocopies and arranged for todays work to be emailled to me. I paid in advance from my NMHN Central library photocopy card. On the way out I made sure to collect my NMHN Central library security pass-card for future adventures. Maybe next year?
A bit early for a summary of the results but my feelings at the moment are:
1. I have seen first-hand the original paintings and drawings by Charles Alexandre Lesueur of the marine species he observed/recorded while on his travels to Australia (Terra Australis), the Americas, and France. This has been a privilege.
2. I did not see all of these images, particularly in the Le Havre archive, due to a number of problems.
3. I have not understood enough of the hand-written French text that accompanied the drawnings and paintings in the Paris archive to extract the full value from that historical record. This element is a challenge not just because of the archaic language used but because the long-hand script has to be deciphered first.
4. As noted previously it is obvious the manuscripts are organised into chapters around the taxonomy of the fish described. This has obscured to a large degree the chronological and geographic precedence in the collection. There is also an added layer of uncertainty due to hand-written pencil notes on most of the paintings that were most likely added at a later date.
5. I have been able to locate at least half of the paintings/images used on the plates in the Journal -Atlas of the 1801-04 voyage, in the Paris archives. These paintings must have pre-dated Lesueur's American and later European work. Therefore given the regrouping of images into taxonomic hierarchies it is likely that other paintings from Terra Australis are also mixed in with later work.
6. I have at least partially achieved my goal of understanding Lesueur's style and aesthetic response to the completely novel images that the marine creatures of the New World presented.
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