Survey at the Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève

On January 16, 2014, we began the survey in some institutions of Genève, Switzerland, looking for works and documents related to Jacques Huber. The first institution visited was the Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève (CJB), which preserves an impressive Herbarium (G), besides the Library and Archives.

We thank to Dr. Fred Stauffer, Curator in charge of the monocotyledon collection, and to M. Nicolas Fumeaux, for their warm reception. We also thank to M. Patrick Perret, Conservateur of the Library; to M. Pierre Boillat, Head Librarian; to M. Patrick Bungener, Archivist; and to Mme. Paola Emery, Librarian, for their support and kindness. 

Click here (Herbarium) and here (Library) to read more.

The Botanic Garden of Genève presents the interesting exhibition "Palmes & Co.", which can be seen outdoors, in the greenhouses and in the exhibitions hall.

The greenhouse of temperate climates.

The monumental tropical greenhouse.

The exhibition "Palmes aux Herbiers", in the exhibition hall.

One of the 'treasures' of the G Herbarium: the type of Calamus rotang L.

More historical samples in the G Herbarium: types of Martius.

The work of Botanists described with objects.

Except for the GPS, changed little over the centuries...

The complete works of Jacques Huber

The only attempts to organize the complete works of Jacques Huber were made by Beauverd (1914) and Briquet (1940). Notwithstanding, the lists that they published have some mistakes and are incomplete. Despite the efforts of Cunha (1988a, 1988b, 2009) and Aerni (1991, 1992), we did not have – until now, 100 years after Huber’s decease – a complete as much as possible list.

After a lot of visits to libraries, archives and internet database, we present the results of our revision of Huber’s scientific production. According to our data, he published 99 texts, especially scientific articles and works in journals (54). You can find bellow, in Table 1, the nature or the category of the works published by Huber. In Table 2, we highlighted the set of journals where he published his 54 scientific articles. The most part of his scientific production appeared in Brazil (30), Switzerland (10), France (9), Germany (4) and United States (1). We call attention to the importance of the “Boletim do Museu Paraense de Historia Natural e Ethnographia” and the journals based in Genève.

The five books are also very important. The four decades of “Arboretum Amazonicum”, released between 1900 and 1906, printed in Zürich, were considered by Fieschi (2008) among the 50 most important illustrated books of Botany published in the 19th Century. Because of them, Huber has a prominent place among the researchers who innovated the scientific communication with the photographic technology. The same innovative pattern – both scientific and graphic – can be seen in “Zwischen Ocean und Guamá” (1900), co-authored with the German geologist Karl von Kraatz-Koschlau. This book is a remarkable effort to link botany, ecology and geology in the Amazonian studies, at the right moment of deep transformation in these sciences.

The only map in the list is also noteworthy. It brings together in a single graphical part, all the knowledge available in the early 20th Century on the geographical distribution of Amazonian rubber trees. Organized by José Picanço Diniz and Jacques Huber, this large colorful map was presented at the Rubber Congress of New York, in 1912. A copy translated to Portuguese was inserted in the article “Novas contribuições para o conhecimento do genero Hevea”, published in 1913.

To access the complete list of Jacques Huber’s works, please click here. All the references were checked (only three missing among 99). It is possible to find more works in Brazilian and European newspapers and magazines. If you find some mistake or have more information to improve the list, please contact us using the form on the right. 

These data are part of an ongoing research. Please, strictly observe the laws of copyright and the correct standards to quote or refer to this blog.


Table 1. Category of the works published by J. Huber.

Publication	Quantity
Scientific articles/works in journals	54
Short communications	14
Popular science works	11
Reports	10
Books	5
Annals	4
Map	1
Total	99

Table 2. Journals where J. Huber published.

Journals	Quantity
Boletim do Museu Paraense de Historia Natural e Ethnographia (Brazil)	30
Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier (Switzerland)	5
Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France (France)	3
Botanisches Centralblatt (Germany)	2
Journal de Botanique (France)	2
Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Septième Série, Botanique (France)	1
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution (United States)	1
Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles (Switzerland)	1
Berichte der Schweizerischen Botanischen Gesellschaft (Switzerland)	1
Biologischen Centralblatt (Germany)	1
Bulletin de la Société Botanique de Genève (Switzerland)	2
Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences (France)	1
Dr. A. Petermann‘s Mitteilungen aus Justus Perthes‘ Geographischer Anstalt (Germany)	1
La Géographie (France)	1
Le Globe (Switzerland)	1
Revue des Cultures Coloniales (France)	1
Total	54

  

Cover page of Huber's doctoral thesis.

 

Map inserted in "Novas contribuições ao conhecimento do genero Hevea" (1913).