Turpin Illustrations - Herbs and Spices

The antique botanical prints in this issue are by Pierre Jean Fran§ois Turpin (1775-1841) from Flore m©dicale/d©crite par MM. Chaumeton, Poiret, Chamberet (1832) and Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles. Most of this issue is focused on the spice and herb illustrations as summarized below. A full table with the French and scientific names can be found on the CTG Publishing website.

Pierre Jean Fran§ois Turpin was a botanist and artist who travelled, collected plants and studied nature to a microscopic level. He translated this knowledge into illustrations that are presented in some of the most important botanical works of his day. It is believed that he produced over 6,000 water-color paintings on vellum. Although it is stated that he was mostly a self-taught artist, he did have formal training in Vire by, most likely, the Delavente brothers. In 1808, Jean-Fran§ois Delavente (1746-1812) painted several portraits of the Turpin family including images of his wife and son.

At the age of 14, Turpin enlisted as a soldier and served during the revolution. In 1794, he travelled to Santo Domingo (Haiti) with his battalion where he studied nature and met the botanist, Pierre-Antoine Poiteau (1766 - 1854). He returned to France with his battalion but found his way back to Santa Domingo through an appointment as an illustrator for Sorel, the Chief Engineer at Port-au-Prince. After a few months, he travels to Cap-Fran§ais and joined Poiteau who introduces him to the French. U.S. consul, Edward Stevens. Stevens funded Poiteau and Turpin€s expedition to Tortuga. Turpin stayed for over a year to collect and study plants but the political instability escalated and he decided to follow Poiteau to the United States.

He arrived in New York and then traveled to Philadelphia where he met Alexander von Humboldt with whom he returned to France in 1802. I that same year, General Leclerc appointed Turpin as the army apothecary for his expedition but it is unclear if Turpin accepted since the expedition concluded unsuccessfully that same year. In 1803, his son, Pierre Jean Fr©d©ric Eug¨ne Turpin, was born.

Turpin produced many works with a list provided on the CTG Publishing website. One of these works was the Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles that also included over 35 illustrations by his son, Pierre Jean Fr©d©ric Eug¨ne Turpin. His son died in 1821 at the age of 18. His father inscribed one of the plates on the following page to mark his death but he also inscribed the back of the original plate and one other that are housed at the museum in Vire as follows:

« This original illustration, painted by Pierre Jean Fr©d©ric Eug¨ne Turpin, a few days before his death, is part of the collection included in the atlas of the Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles of Levrault. The illustrator, who was 18 years and 6 days of age, ceased to live on the 21st of August 1821. »

Turpin continued to produce works throughout his life, was elected to the Acad©mie des Sciences in 1833 and died in Paris in 1840 at the age of 65.