( MAY 5 1^47^ 



Reprinted without change of pagmg from 

 Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, \ol. XX V 111 

 1947 



NOTES ON THE DATES OF ISSUE OF DESVAUX'S 

 JOURNAL DE BOTANIQUE 



E. D. Merrill 



Volume one of this short-lived periodical is dated 130S ; it being made 

 up of six numbers, 64 pages each. for the months of October, November. 

 and December. 1808 (pp. 1-192), and January, February, and March. 

 1809 (pp. 193-384). Volume two is dated 1809, and its six parts, also ot 

 64 pages each, are indicated as April, May, June, July, August, and 

 September, 1809; thèse dates appear on the fascicle covers of the set in 

 the Arnold Arboretum library. It is évident from certain corroborative 

 data recentlv located that Desvaux was able to conform to his announced 

 plan of publication, fascicle covers p. 4: "'Ce Journal paroît dans le 

 première huitaine de chaque mois, à compter du mois d octobre 1803." 



An "Avis aux souscripteurs'' pasted on the fascicle cover of volume two, 

 no. 6, and repeated on page 4 of the fascicle cover of this number reads in 

 part:' ''Des mutations arrivées dans la Maison de commerce qui s'étoit 

 chargée d'abord de faire paroître le Journal de Botanique, obligent les 

 auteurs de suspendre cet ouvrage, jusqu'au mois janvier prochain 

 Desvaux s plan was then to issue a new periodical commencing in 1810 

 under the title Annales de Botanique; this plan was never consummated, 

 but beginning in 1813 he did issue several volumes of another run of the 

 Journal de Botanique, the remainder of the title considerably modified. 

 The full title of the first two volumes (1808-1809) was: Journal de 

 Botanique, rédigée par une société de botanistes; that of the second run 

 (1813-1816) was: Journal de Botanique, appliquée a l'agriculture, a la 

 pharmacie, a la médicine, et aux arts. It is not surprising that some 

 botanical authors have confused thèse two runs of what were différent 

 periodicals under the same leading name. one in 1808-09, the other 

 1813-16. 



The correctness of the indicated dates of issue of various parts of thèse 

 two periodicals have been questioned, but certain contemporaneous reviews 

 have recentlv been located which clearly prove that the years and months 

 indicated for the first two volumes of the first Journal de Botanique are 

 correct in spite of a statement by Desvaux (see below) that would seem 

 to indicate that a later date (1810), was involved. From thèse reviews it 

 is clear that there was at least some distribution of ail of the individual 

 numbers within the month indicated for each number, or in some cases 

 actually in the preceding month. 



The first statement that I noticed in référence to this periodical was by 

 Rafinesque, Atl. Jour. 1: 207. 1833, where he indicated the date of certain 



