Description
FORBIDDEN BY LAW TO PURSUE THE MILITARY CAREER HE DESIRED, HE TOOK A 19TH CENTURY GENTLEMEN’S INTEREST IN THE SCIENCES AND TURNED TO GEOGRAPHY AND OTHER SCIENCES AND RECEIVED ANTHROPOLOGICAL TRAINING AND BEGAN TO CREATE AND DISTRIBUTE PHOTOGRAPH ALBUMS ORGANIZED BY CULTURAL GROUPS AS PART OF AN “ANTHROPOLOGICAL COLLECTION OF HUMAN DIVERSITY” AND STUDIED THE LAPP PEOPLE OF FINLAND, AMERICAN INDIANS, ETC.
PRINCE ROLAND NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (1858-1924) SIGNED NOTE, “Bonaparte, Membre de l’Institut de France, Paris 12-22-‘15”, on a card 4.5 x 2.75, by French Prince and president of Societe de Geographie (1910 until his death) who in 1884 was part of a scientific expedition that photographed and anatomically measured the Sami inhabitants of Northern Norway. The following year he was photographing Aboriginal Australians brought to Europe and the US to be studied by anthropologist and exhibited by the general public. He was also the President of the Societe Astronomique de France (ASF), the French astronomical society. In addition to the publication of his anthropological photography he also published on other topics, including a history of the Dutch colonial empire, and glaciers of the French and Swiss Alps. His handwritten note in French, transcribed in full: “You asked me for an autograph here it is”. The card is in fine condition, with minor age toning.
$100 #12714
