Redout e 171 



"September 20. This morning I had the pleasure ol 

 seeing the venerable Redoutd, the flower -painter par excel- 

 lence. After reading Lesueur's note to him, dated five 

 years ago, he looked at me fixedly, and said, ' Well, sir, I 

 am truly glad to become acquainted with you ;' and with- 

 out further ceremony he showed me his best works. His 

 flowers are grouped with peculiar taste, well drawn and 

 precise in the outlines, and colored with a pure brilliancy, 

 which resembles Nature immeasurably better than I ever 

 saw it before. Redoute' dislikes all that is not pure Na- 

 ture ; he cannot bear drawings of stuffed birds or 

 quadrupeds, and expressed a desire to see a work where- 

 in Nature is delineated in an animated way. He said he 

 dined every Friday at the Duke of Orleans' ; he 

 would take my work there next week, and obtain his sub- 

 scription, if not the Duchess' also. He asked for a pro- 

 spectus, and invited me to return next Wednesday. I 

 looked over hundreds of his drawings, and learned that 

 he sold them at high prices, some as high as two hun- 

 dred and fifty guineas. On my way home I met the sec- 

 retary of the king's library, who told me that the Baron de 

 la Boullerie had given orders to have my work inspected, 

 and if approved, to subscribe for it. I have found that 

 letters of introduction are not as useful here as in Eng- 

 land. Cuvier, to whom I had no letter, and to whom my 

 name was unknown before my arrival, is the only man who 

 has yet invited me to his house. I wished to go this 

 evening to his scientific soire'e, to which he invited me, 

 but I did not, because I have been two successive Sat- 

 urdays, and I am afraid of intruding, although the rude 

 awkwardness I formerly felt has worn nearly smooth. 



"September 22. This was the grand day appointed 

 by Baron Cuvier for reading his report on my work at the 

 French Institute. The French Institute ! Shall I call 

 it superior to the Royal Academy of London ? I cannot 



