Title: Beyond the Tableau: Alexander von Humboldt’s Project of a Plant Geography of the Two Hemispheres

Abstract: The “Naturgemälde der Anden” (Physical Tableau of the Andes) offers a visual representation of Alexander von Humboldt’s view of nature as an interconnected whole. Humboldt published this graphic in 1807 as part of his “Essay on the Geography of Plants,” which focused on findings from his American journey (1799-1804) and had a major impact on the botanical research of the period. Much less known today are Humboldt’s plant geographic investigations, undertaken in Paris in the two decades that followed this field-defining publication. With these studies, Humboldt sought methods to create a plant geography of the entire world. Countless manuscripts in his estate show how he collected and correlated botanical and geophysical data for this endeavor. Yet, the book project “Geography of the Plants of the Two Hemispheres,” which Humboldt conceived around 1825 together with his collaborator Carl Sigismund Kunth and with the intention of synthesizing his global research agenda, failed.

Keywords: Alexander von Humboldt, plant geography, natural history, history of science, cartography

Author: Ulrich Päßler, Head of the academy project “Alexander von Humboldt auf Reisen—Wissenschaft aus der Bewegung,” Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, Germany.

 Beyond the Tableau.pdf