Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle

Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle (15 June 1746 – 18 August 1800) was an 18th century French botanist and magistrate. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of Superindent of Parisian Waters and Forests at the age of twenty-six.^[1] In this capacity, L'Héritier conducted various studies of native trees and shrubs, also gaining interest in exotic flora.

When he died he left a herbarium of approximately 8,000 species and a large botanic library.

The abbreviation L'Herit. is used too.

Works

• Stirpes Novae aut minus cognitae, quas descriptionibus et iconibus illustravit... Paris, ex typographia Philippi-Dionysii Pierres (1784) - (1791) - on line, Gallica
• Sertum Anglicum seu Plantae Rariores quae in Hortis juxta Londinum, Imprimis in Horto Regio Kewensi Excoluntur, ab Anno 1786 ad Annuum 1787 Observatae. (Published in parts, 1789-1793, although title page says 1788: see Stafleu's essay, cited in Further Reading).
• Geraniologia, seu Erodii, Pelargonii, Geranii, Monsoniae et Grieli, Historia iconibus illustrata, Parisii, Typo Petri-Francisci Didot (1787-1788; 1792); plates by Pierre-Joseph Redouté on line.
• Cornus: specimen botanicum sistens descriptiones et icones specierum corni minus cognitarum, Parisiis, Typis Petri-Francisci Didot, (1788). MGB Library, on Line.
• "Mémoire sur un nouveau genre de plants appelé Cadia", Magasin encyclopédique, (1795)

References

Further reading

• Sir Joseph Banks, 1958, The Banks Letters. A Calendar of the manuscript correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks. Edited by Warren R. Dawson.
• James Britten and B. B. Woodward, 1905, "L’Héritier’s Botanical Works". The Journal of Botany. v. 43:266-273; 325-329.
• Günther Buchheim, "A bibliographical account of L’Héritier’s ‘Stirpes novae’." Huntia, v. 2:29-58. 1965.
• Georges Cuvier, 1819, Recueil des Éloges Historiques, v. 1:109-133.
• Théodore J. E. Hamy, 1905, Joseph Dombey, sa vie, son oeuvre, sa correspondance.
• Frans A. Stafleu, 1963, L’Héritier de Brutelle: the man and his work, Sertum Anglicum, facs. ed. xiii-xliii. Hunt Botanical Library, Pittsburgh.
• Arthur Robert Steele, 1964, Flowers for the King.