BU Science Collection

The Montpellier Institute of Botany collection

The fund

In 1889, seven university institutes were created in Montpellier, including the Institute of Botany, which was inaugurated in 1890. Located inthe Jardin des Plantes, it enabledCharles Flahault, its first director, to bring together the various university herbariums in one place. In 2000, the Institute, which had a rich reference library in addition to the herbariums but no longer had sufficient human or financial resources to continue managing them, entrusted these collections to the University Library of Sciences.

Contents:
Botany and other related subjects (meteorology, physics, chemistry, medicine, natural sciences), from the^{16th century}to 2000 (monographs, periodicals, and theses). The Flahault collection (photographic plates and prints) is also part of these collections, which currently occupy 500 linear meters in our storage facilities.

The Dunal Fund

Dunal (Michel-Félix), 1789-1856:
The son of a banker, he decided to turn to medicine and, above all, botany, which became his favorite field of research. He served as interim chair of botany at the Faculty of Medicine duringDe Candolle's absence (until 1829) and as director of the Jardin des Plantes (1819). He became a professor at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier in 1829 and served as its dean until his death in 1856. His collections are preserved at the Herbarium of the Faculty of Sciences and the University Science Library. His research focused particularly on mycology and the Solanaceae family; he continued the work begun by De Candolle and workedwith Toussaint-François Node-Véran onthe creation of the Node-Véran parchment collection, preserved at the University of Montpellier.

Content:
A resource for the history of botany in Montpellier, this is the working library of a botanist from the early^{19th century}. The oldest editions in this collection date from^{the 16th century}, while the most recent ones are from the^{mid-19th century}. It reflects the importance of networking for botanists at that time and the importance of document transmission in this discipline, as evidenced by the dedications from Dunal's correspondents.

The Sète Marine Biology Station Fund

The Sète Marine Biology Station was founded in 1879 at the instigation of Armand Sabatier (1834-1910). In 1884, the city provided researchers with premises that accommodated a growing number of students and researchers, making it necessary to construct the current building, which was inaugurated in 1896. It houses research laboratories, an aquarium, a photographic laboratory, and a very large library, as well as collections gathered in a museum (shells, fish, etc.). Following a major administrative reorganization, the library's collections were transferred to the university science library.

Content:
Marine zoology, marine environments.

The Pierre Jeanjean Fund

Pierre Jeanjean (1789-1862):
He began his career as a chemistry assistant to Professor Anglada. He was then appointed preparator (or curator) of the natural history collections, a position he held from 1825 to 1862, where he was responsible for expanding and managing the Faculty's teaching collections. Upon his death, he bequeathed his library, which was rich in works on zoology and medicine.

Content:
Zoology, human or animal anatomy.

The Joseph-Diez Gergonne Fund

Joseph Diez Gergonne (1771-1859):
Professor of mathematics and philosophy at the École Centrale in Nîmes, he became professor of astronomy at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier (1816-1836) and then of physics (until 1844). Dean of the faculty from 1820 to 1830, he became rector of the Montpellier Academy from 1830 to 1844. He is known for launchingthe Annales ditesde Gergonne, the first international mathematics journal, in which he published more than 200 articles.

Contents
Gergonne left the Faculty of Sciences with works from his working library (currently being identified) and three boxes of manuscripts: scientific correspondence and lectures on various topics.

The Charles Flahault Fund

The collection entrusted to the Science Library in 2000 includes a collection of photographic plates and prints that he had commissioned from photographer friends to illustrate his fieldwork. The entire collection held at the Science Library has been digitized.

Charles Flahault (1852-1935):
A botanist appointed director of the newly created Montpellier Institute of Botany in 1889, Charles Flahault left a lasting mark on the history of teaching in this discipline. During his career, he worked to reforest Mount Aigoual and left a large part of his working library to the Botanical Institute.
Slideshow on Charles Flahault

Content:
Botany, daily life, forest environments, history of the countryside.