Lesueur, the Naturalist at New Harmony

Description

Maximilian described New Harmony, Indiana, in the fall of 1832 as "a relatively advanced cultural community" of approximatey 600 inhabitants. He noted various commercial occupations, summing up the character of the place by stating that "the rest of the inhabitants are composed mostly of farmers, landowners, and owners of plantations." Bodmer's portrait of artist–naturalist Charles–Alexandre Lesueur, one of the colony's more celebrated residents, may have been intended for reproduction in the atlas accompanying the publication of Maximilian's journal. An engraving from this study exists, but does not appear in the published series of aquatints.