delphinae (1 Viewer)

Taphrospilus · Aug 10, 2018

From Colibri delphinae (Lesson, 1839) we can fin OD here. In Mulsant & Verreux I found here:

Lesson, Illust. Zool., t. II, (1832), pl. 64

Till know I failed to find a "Illustrations de zoologie, ou, Recueil de figures d'animaux peintes d'après nature Vol. II" and Vol I stopped at plate 60.

I ask as I am not 100% convinved on the entry:

delphinae
Gr. myth. Delphinios, an epithet of the sun god Apollo (cf. L. Delphinus a starry constellation); the “Oiseau-mouche Delphine” of Lesson 1839 (Colibri).

Of couse the name could derive from there but the OD gives no hint on the etymology. Delphine seems to be a common name in France e.g. here or here:

Delphine Gay ( aujourd'hui madame Emile de Girardin)

P.S. I see no relationship to her even if Lesson is mentioned on the same page.
P.P.S. And in the same publication he honored his child in Mino anais.

Taphrospilus · Aug 19, 2018

Just a thought and therefore back again to this post. Here is what Lesson wrote about a plant name here.

Delphinium de Delphin, dauphin, parce qu'avec son nectaire, on a cru trouver quelques ressemblance avec les figures des dauphins, telles que les ont imaginées les poétes. Le nom français de pied d'alouette, vient de la forme du nectaire comaré au long ergot du pouce des alouettes. Les Anglais le nomment aussi Lark' spur, éperon d'alouette.

I am sure people like Laurent are better in translating this text.

l_raty · Aug 19, 2018

"Delphinium from Delphin, dolphin, because with its nectary, one thought to find some resemblance with the figures of the dolphins, as the poets imagined them. The French name pied d'alouette [= lark's foot], derives from the shape of the nectary, compared to the long spur of the thumb of larks. Englishmen name it as well Lark's spur, lark's spur."

...But I don't see any direct relation with the hummingbird.

FWIW, I would also expect delphinae to be derived from the name of a lady called Delphine.
(I.a., because of the feminine genitive ending in delphinae, and because of the French name he used. "Delphine" sounds too feminine to my ear to be construed as a reference to Apollo...)

Taphrospilus · Aug 20, 2018

And note his second wife Marie-Clémence Dumont de Saint Croix died 4th August 1834. So maybe he though of a Delphine Lesson (just speculating).

Anyway for those don't know, Lesson honored his first and second wife and both daughters in bird names. All of them died relatively young as we can see in his Notice Auto-Biographique.

Unfortunatelly here does not help either to clarify the name.

Taphrospilus said:
Till know I failed to find a "Illustrations de zoologie, ou, Recueil de figures d'animaux peintes d'après nature Vol. II" and Vol I stopped at plate 60.

If I look here there might be a Voume II.

l_raty · Aug 20, 2018

At the start of the paper that includes the OD, Lesson wrote:

(Nota. Toutes les espèces indiquées sont peintes par M. Prêtre et dans le portefeuille de l'auleur, qui comptait les publier dans le tome II de ses Illustrations de zoologie.)

I.e.: "Nota. All the indicated species are painted by Mr. Prêtre and in the wallet of the author, who intended to publish them in the volume II of his Illustrations de zoologie."
The use of a past tense ('comptait' = intended) suggests he didn't expect the publication to take place at this point.

Taphrospilus · Aug 30, 2018

Does anyone know the intention Duperrey named îles Delphine?

Au fond du port Carenai , où s'élèvent des pâtés de coraux, nommés par M. Duperrey îles Delphine et Eugénie, dans la partie orientale de la baie, où une vaste surface de terres fangeuses couvertes de palétuviers, qu'arrosent de nombreux ruisseauax, de villages sont épars dans cette étendue de marécages, à en juger par des bouquets de cocotiers qui marient leur élégante cime avec le ciel; deux petites rivières plus larges que les autres y décrivent leur cour sinueux.

I would say Eugénie Archipelago was named for Eugénie de Montijo (if I am right with the location). But îles Delphine?

Björn Bergenholtz · Aug 30, 2018

I would say "port Carenai" would be the first one to solve, before trying to find the two small "pâtés de coraux" ...

I have no idea where either one is located.

Good luck finding it (them)!

Björn

PS. Martin, I would guess you should look somewhere in the vicinity of the Island Waigiou (today's Waigeo), Indonesia ... or on/close to some other Island mentioned in the Chapter summary, on page 60 ... (far away from Empress Eugénie Archipelago, in the Sea of Japan).

But that´s me, my guess, with negligible understanding of French.

--

l_raty · Aug 30, 2018

Calalp said:
I have no idea where either one is located.

Yes, the two "pâtés de coraux" and "port Carenai" appear to have been located in a bay on the N side of Waigiou, i.e., today's Pulau Waigeo, West Papua.
(Additionally, the events described in this part of Lesson's Voyage autour du Monde (and thus, presumably, the naming of these two islets by Duperrey) took place in 1823 (see chapter header on p. 60 of the book); this was before Eugénie de Montijo was born.)

Björn Bergenholtz · Aug 30, 2018

I guess the two "pâtés de coraux" awaits to be found on the map 'Carte d'une Partie des Iles des Papous au Nord-Ouest de la Nouvelle Guinee', by Duperrey (1825) ... a "Large map of the northern shore of the island Waigeo off the northwestern coast of Papua New Guinea. This includes Kuwa Island (I. Rouib on the map) and Pulau Wajag (on the map Iles Vayag). Shows three courses for voyages: frigates searching for the Perouse; Corvette Uranie and Corvette de la Coquille" (here).

Unfortunately it´s not in a scanned version high enough to read the tiniest texts (not even with the zoom function)

Maybe a clue to find "port Carenai" on a contemporary map is given is here.
---

Björn Bergenholtz · Aug 30, 2018

Found them!

Îles Delphine et Eugénie are located in the Eastern part of the Bay Havre Offak, on the Northern shore of (Pulau/Island) Waigeo! See attached excerpt below.

From the 1823 map by Duperrey, in Glaubrecht & Podlacha (2010), here, (on p.193).

If still of interest?

However: enjoy!

Björn

Taphrospilus · Aug 31, 2018

It looks like Louis Isidore Duperry loved to use peoples names for the islands/bays e.g. here...

Duppery proceeded to repair what he felt was omission, naming them after his officers: Île Lesson, Île Blosseville, Île D'Urville, Île Jacquinot.

or here for Christophe de Chabrol de Crouzol...

Duppery named the Baie de Crousol 'after His Excellence the Minister of Marine'.

So it would be still interesting why especially Île Delphine?

Taphrospilus · Sep 8, 2018

Just another guess as Lesson e.g. here used a name from literature for Amazilia...

L'oiseau-mouche Cora, dont le nom rappelle la touchante prêtresse du Soleil, de l'histoire des Incas de Marmontel, habite les bouquets d'arbustes épars aux alentours de Callao, no loin de Lima, la Ciudad de los Reyes du farouche conquérant du Pérou (Pizarre).

What about Germaine de Staël's (1766–1811) epistolary novel Delphine provoking Napoleon I?

But of course no clear evidence what Lessons intention was.

Taphrospilus · Sep 18, 2018

Taphrospilus said:
What about Germaine de Staël's (1766–1811) epistolary novel Delphine provoking Napoleon I?

As Lesson wrote here in context with his relatives (grandfather of his child and father of his second wife mentioned in the same article as OD of Colibri delphinae)...

M. Henry Dumont fut incarcéré pendant la terreur, et sa tête serait tombée sans la chut de Robespierre. C'est dans sa prison qu'il écrivit ses conversations avec un cloporte, opuscule qui lui valut une citation de Madamae de Staël.

...I feel his inspiration might indeed come from here, Delphine d'Albémar, the heroine, who gives her name to the novel. Anaïs Lesson was mentioned on p. 7. in Musée Anais, ou choix de vues des monuments historiques de la Saintonge et de l'Aunis.

Summary:
1) OD of Mino anais and Colibri delphinae are in the same article from Lesson.
2) Germaine de Staël was mentioned in ''Musée Anaïs''.
3) Lesson used e.g. in Amazilia as well a literature hero from Les Incas, Ou La Destruction De L'empire Du Pérou from Jean-François Marmontel.

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