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COLLECTION Identifier: far00036

Champignons du Tonkin: a collection of original paintings

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of 250 watercolor illustrations and one original scrapbook. The paintings date from 1904 to 1909. Most were created by Nguyen Manh Hoan in Vietnam for Victor Demange. The species were determined by N. Patouillard in France, according to Pfister, Donald H., Champignons du Tonkin, 1985.

The Patouillard Herbarium was purchased by the Farlow Herbarium after Patouillard's death in 1928. There are several paintings by Demange in the Patouillard Herbarium along with most of the specimens which were painted.

Dates

  • Creation: 1904-1909

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide one form of valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.

Extent

0.75 linear feet (3 flat boxes)

Biographical / Historical

Jean-Baptiste Victor Adolphe Demange was born in Épinal, France, on June 24, 1870. Demange served in the French army from 1890 to 1893 before working as an accountant. He married Clémentine Jeanne Bouillon in 1895. In 1898 Demange moved to French-colonized Vietnam, where he sold textiles, animal skins, and various plant products out of Hanoi, and was an active participant in the Chamber of Commerce.

Demange published and co-authored several papers on fungi and wrote the first guide to the fungi of Vietnam. He collected tropical fungi and sent specimens and illustrations to mycologist N.T. Patouillard in France. Demange gave collections of snail shells to the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle in Lyon and Belgian scientist Arthur Bavay who, as a result, described several species with the eponym “demangei.”

In 1922 Demange left Tonkin and returned to France. He was elected vice president of the Société Mycologique de France in 1928 and was a correspondent of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. Demange died in Épinal on January 20, 1940.

Sources Breure, ASH and JD Ablett. 2016. The ‘Demange drawings’: known and unknown malacological contributions of Victor Demange (1870-1940). Folia conchyliol. 36: 1-9. Pfister, DH. 1985. Champignons du Tonkin: illustrations of fungi in the Farlow Reference Library, with the mycological papers of N.T. Patouillard. [Westport]: Meckler Pub.

Arrangement

The watercolors were originally housed in a large scrapbook. The number on a painting corresponds to the page number of the scrapbook. The letter on the painting corresponds to the position on the page. The watercolors were removed from the scrapbook for preservation purposes and are stored in individual folders in Boxes 1 and 2. The original scrapbook has been retained and is boxed separately in Box 3.

Physical Location

Shelved at end of rare books.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Demange watercolor paintings were purchased for the Farlow Reference Library by Roland Thaxter from Whelden & Wesley bookdealers in London on May 4, 1931.

Related Materials

Other related material at the Botany Libraries, Harvard University Herbaria: In the publication Champignons du Tonkin: Illustrations of fungi in the Farlow Reference Library, with the mycological papers of N.T. Patouillard, Donald H. Pfister indexed all of the illustrations in this collection. There is an index with literature citations.

Pfister, D., Patouillard, N., & Demange, V. (1985). Champignons du Tonkin: Illustrations of fungi in the Farlow Reference Library, with the mycological papers of N.T. Patouillard. Westport, CT: Meckler Pub.

Conservation and Digitization note

In 2019, Harvard's Imaging Services department digitized this collection as part of the "Original botanical illustrations of the Botany Libraries" project.

Processing Information

Processed by Catherine Adam, 2019 April.

Processing Information

The item title is taken directly from the illustration. If an updated name has been supplied by Donald Pfister (1985), it will appear in square brackets.

Title
Demange, Victor, 1870-1940. Champignons du Tonkin : a collection of original paintings, 1904-1909: A Guide.
Status
completed
Author
Botany Libraries, Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University.
Date
2019 April
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
far00036

Repository Details

Part of the Botany Libraries, Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University Repository

The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany specializes in organisms that reproduce by spores, without flowers or seeds. The Archives of the Farlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Farlow Herbarium.

Contact:
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Ave
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2366