Photographs of Charles Alexandre Lesueur sketches relating to American Indians
odd: label: Local Call Number(s)
content: NAA Photo Lot R4534
name: label: Creator
content: Lesueur, Charles Alexandre, 1778-1846
place: label: Place
content: Indiana -- Antiquities
label: Place
content: Kentucky -- Antiquities
topic: label: Topic
content: Indians of North America -- Southern states
creator: label: Creator
content: Lesueur, Charles Alexandre, 1778-1846
culture: label: Culture
content: Choctaw
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846) was born the son of a French naval officer in Le Havre, France. He trained in draughtsmanship at the School of Hydrography and joined an expedition to Australia and Tasmania in 1800. With the support of the expedition's zoologist, Francois Peron, Lesueur learned taxidermy and completed numerous sketches of animals, landscapes, and indigenous Australians. When the expedition ended in 1804, Lesueur made watercolors from his sketches, some of which were exhibited at the Muséum d'Histrorie Naturelle in Paris. He also illustrated Peron's report of the expedition, Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes, with support from Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Starting in 1817, Lesueur left France to tour America with geologist William Maclure. When their tour finished in 1828, Lesueur stayed in the United States, joining Maclure in Philadelphia and becoming a founding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences there. In 1825, Lesueur again joined Maclure at New Harmony, Indiana, where he taught, sketched, and participated in archeological excavations until 1837. After the utopian community at New Harmony ended, Lesueur returned to France. He became curator at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre (Museum of Natural History at Le Havre, France), which was built to house his drawings and paintings. He remained there until his death in 1846.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Copy prints
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1816-1837
custodhist: label: Custodial History note
content: Purchased from Victor Genetier in Paris, France, and received July 29, 1958, and January 26, 1959.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.PhotoLot.R4534
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Copy prints
label: Type
content: Photographs
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals note
content: Originals in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre (Museum of Natural History at Le Havre, France).
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Photographs of sketches made by Charles Alexandre Lesueur in 1816-1837 documenting archeological sites in Indiana and Kentucky, Choctaw Indians of the Mississippi River in Tennessee and Louisiana, and Plains Indian artifacts, probably seen and sketched at St. Louis, Missouri.
relatedmaterial: label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The Museum of Natural History at Le Havre holds the majority of Lesueur's artwork.
label: Location of Other Archival Materials
content: The Purdue University Archives and Special Collections holds a collection of Charles Alexandre Lesueur works of art on paper.
label: Contained in
content: Numbered manuscripts 1850s-1980s (some earlier)