At our October meeting we welcomed Professor Ian Glenn to talks to us about Francois Levaillant.
Levaillant is recognized as a significant figure in the history of ornithology, particularly for his detailed descriptions of numerous bird species found in Africa. He was among the first to use colour plates in illustrating birds
Most of us know the name Levaillant (or Le Vaillant – he used both variants during his life) if only for the birds named for him, but this talk from Prof Ian Glenn, author of ‘The First Safari: Searching for François Levaillant’, was an eye opener in under-standing just how important Francois Le Vaillant was to the history of ornithology and the flora, fauna and indigenous people of the continent of Africa.
Ian’s presentation centered on The King’s Map, which was commissioned by King Louis XVI who had a fascination with geography. This massive and beautiful work of geographic art features animals and birds placed where Le Vaillant saw them on his travels – he made three trips to Southern Africa in the 1780s. We learnt that the pictures were placed on the map after it was drawn – an early version of ‘cut & paste’ – if you look closely, you can see the outlines of the added-in pieces. He collaborated with various other travellers and explorers, including Robert Gordon (of Gordon’s Bay fame).
This was such a lively and interactive discussion including ‘quiz questions’ to keep us on our toes and we even had a copy of The Great Map to take away!
Full write up in the Batis.