Adrien-Hubert Brué

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adrien-Hubert Brué (born March 20, 1786 in Paris , † July 26, 1832 in Sceaux near Paris) was a French cartographer .

Life

Little is known about Brué's life. Born in Paris in 1786, at the age of twelve he already undertook various voyages as a cabin boy. At the age of 15 he took part on board the Le Naturaliste under Louis de Freycinet on Nicolas Baudin's (1800-1803) voyage of discovery to Australia , which had the task of surveying the coast there. He then stayed in Mauritius until 1803 . Following his return to Paris, he helped the official writers of the travelogue of Baudin's expedition , François Péron and Freycinet, to draw up a nautical chart. In the following years he devoted himself intensively to cartography. Further trips took him to the North Sea , the West African coast and South Asia . He was a member of the Société de geographie de Paris and a friend of the Royal Geographical Society in London. He also held the title of 'Geographe du roi'. Towards the end of his life, due to his poor health, he moved to the Paris area, to Sceaux , where he died of cholera in 1832 at the age of 46 .

meaning

Brués map of China and Japan in progress by Émile Levasseur (1875)

Brué was one of the most important exponents of French cartography between 1810 and 1830 . His maps are characterized by a high degree of accuracy, a delicate shape, clarity and attention to detail. The Brockhaus Konversations-Lexicon named him in 1825, along with his contemporary Pierre Lapie (1777–1850), as the "best drawing geographer in France". His work also includes numerous historical and political maps. Probably influenced by Alexander von Humboldt's work in Paris (inter alia as President of the Société de geographie de Paris ) and his view of the communicative science business as contemporary research, Brué's maps are characterized in particular by their high topicality. New editions during his lifetime show influences from various research trips, B. Lewis and Clark's expedition or Humboldt's trip to America .

Brué has invented the "enkyprotypic" cards, which is attributed to Louis de Freycinet . H. those shown in copper, further developed and perfected. With this method, the map itself is drawn on the copper plate that has been prepared with a coating. This prevents the drawing from being reduced in size by moistened paper.

Works

His most important work is the Atlas Universel from 1822, which has seen several new editions. After the success of the Grand Atlas Universel in 1815, this world atlas was originally designed as a sequel. In the spirit of Humboldt, the individual maps should be successively supplemented or replaced by new, more up-to-date or more precise maps, depending on the status of current geographic research, and thus always reflect the latest state of knowledge. Such a disinterested publication aimed at gaining knowledge, however, could not be conveyed from a commercial point of view. For this reason, Brué was forced to pay for the publication himself.

But science subsequently recognized the value of labor; Alexander von Humboldt, who worked with Brué's maps himself, praised the Atlas Universel in his review for the Paris Académie des sciences :

Partout l'auteur a mis le plus grand soin à représenter avec précision les sinuosités des côtes et le relief du pays. Les arêtes de partage, les plateaux, la déclivité des montagnes inégale selon les deux versans, sont exprimés avec une netteté qui plaît d'autant plus à l'oeil, que l'espace est très petit, et que le travail du burin ne nuit pas à la lecture des noms. Très récemment encore, dans la belle Carte des environs de Paris, M. Brué a prouvé quelle attention il met à la partié graphique de ses travaux. Les Cartes de la Suisse et de l'Espagne méritent, sous le rapport de la Géographie physique, de fixer l'attention de ceux qui connoissent la difficulté de ce genre de dessin.

- Report fait a l'Academie des Sciences de Paris (seance du 19 Janvier 1824) by M. le baron Alexandre de Humboldt, sur l'Atlas geographique de M. Brue. ( Attached to the 2nd edition of the Atlas Universel as a preface)

Some work remained unfinished after Brué's death, such as a map of South America and an updated map of Africa.

Publications during his lifetime:

  • Grand Atlas universel ou collection de cartes encyprotypes générales, particulières et détaillées des cinq parties du monde. Desray, Paris 1815. (40 cards)
  • Atlas geographique, historique, politique et administratif de la France. Paris 1820-1828.
  • Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique et historique, ancienne et moderne, contenant les cartes générales et particulières de cinq parties du monde. L'auteur et Ch. Simmoneau, Paris 1822. (36 maps, dated 1820–1822, first edition).
    • Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique, ancienne et moderne, contenant les cartes générales et particulières de toutes les parties du monde. Seconde édition. L'Auteur. Paris 1828. (65 cards)
  • Atlas physique et politique des cinq parties du monde. J. Goujon, Paris 1824. (36 cards)

More publishments:

  • Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique et modern contenant les cartes générales et particulières de toutes les parties du monde. Nouvelle édition; revue et augmentée by Charles Picquet. Ch.Piquet: Paris 1842. (65 cards)
  • Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique, ancienne et modern. Rev. par E. Levasseur. C. Delagrave: Paris 1875. (67 cards)

literature

  • Mathieu Richard A. Henrion: Brué In: Annuaire biographique, ou Supplément annuel et continuation de toutes les biographies ou dictionnaires historiques. Années 1830-1834. P. Méquignon: E. Lagny, 1834. (French)
  • Joseph-François Michaud: Biography universelle ancienne et modern. Tome Cinquante-Neuvième. L.-G. Michaud: Paris 1835, pp. 333-335. (French)

Web links

Commons : Adrien-Hubert Brué  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Conversations Lexicon: New Series; In two volumes. Leipzig: FA Brockhaus 1825. - Vol. 2, Section 1, p. 186.
  2. ↑ Ibid., P. 187.
  3. ↑ Cf. Alexander von Humboldt: Kosmos. Draft of a physical description of the world. Volume 5. Cotta: Stuttgart 1862, p. 554.
personal data
SURNAME Brué, Adrien-Hubert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cartographer
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1832
Place of death Sceaux