Augustin Augier’s Botanical Tree: Transcripts and translations of two unknown source

Nils Hellström (1) , Gilles André (2) , Marc Philippe (3)

1 Department for History of Science and Ideas [Uppsala]
2 4, rue du Presbytère
3 LEHNA - Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés

Augustin Augier’s “Arbre botanique” (1801) is one of the earliest known family tree diagrams to represent the natural system. As such it is frequently cited in the literature on historical systematics, where it is generally framed as a precursor to later, evolutionary trees. While ignorance concerning the author’s identity long complicated efforts at interpreting and placing his tree into context, in the course of our recent establishment of Augier’s biography, we discovered two previously unknown writings in which Augier discussed the Botanical Tree: a letter he sent to the National Institute in Paris in 1801 and a serialized article he published in Valence in 1809. These texts shed considerable light on how its author intended the Botanical Tree to be used and help to clarify how genealogical metaphors could serve as classificatory resources before the rise of evolutionary theory—and from within an explicitly religious worldview.

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Nils Hellström, Gilles André, Marc Philippe. Augustin Augier’s Botanical Tree: Transcripts and translations of two unknown source. Huntia, 2017, 16 (1), pp.17-38. ⟨hal-01544336⟩