Charles Plumier’s descriptions and drawings of Antillean birds (1687–1697)

Abstract

French Minim friar Charles Plumier (1646−1704), well known for his work as a botanist and for his observations made during three expeditions to the West Indies between 1687 and 1697, produced an enormous body of iconographic material held by the Bibliothèque centrale du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. Among Plumier’s nearly 6,000 separate images of plants and animals made in the Antilles, birds are represented by 215 drawings, including whole specimens but also numerous detailed views of anatomy, osteological as well as internal soft parts. The bird drawings are here identified, described, and fully catalogued for the first time, and selected drawings are reproduced. Evidence is presented to emphasis the originality and scientific accuracy of Plumier’s accounts.