The Invention of Nature

by Andrea Wulf

  8 ‘as if their houses’: Robert Southey to Edith Southey, 17 May 1817, Southey 1965, vol.2, p.162.

  9 ‘philosophers’ and ‘grimaciers’: John Scott, 1814, Scott 1816, pp.98–9.

  10 ‘devoted solely to enjoyment’: Ibid., p.116.

  11 ‘eternal agitation’: Thomas Dibdin, 16 June 1818, Dibdin 1821, vol.2, p.76.

  12 classes and reading: John Scott, 1814, Scott 1816, pp.68, 125.

  13 ‘a discourse on some’: Ibid., p.84.

  14 Gay-Lussac reached 23,000 feet: AH Geography 2009, p.136; AH Geography 1807, p.176.

  15 AH shared room with Gay-Lussac: Casper Voght, 16 March 1808, Voght 1959–65, vol.3, p.116; see also Bruhns 1873, vol.2, p.6.

  16 ‘risen from the dead’: Goethe to WH, 30 July 1804, Goethe’s Day 1982–96, vol.4, p.511; AH as president of the Berlin Academy, Christian Gottfried Körner to Friedrich Schiller, 11 September 1804, Schiller Letters 1943–2003, vol.40, p.246.

  17 CH in Paris: Geier 2010, p.237; Gersdorff 2013, p.108ff.

  18 a ‘fantastical creature’: WH to CH, 29 August 1804, WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.2, p.232.

  19 ‘as if he had only left’: CH to WH, 28 August 1804, ibid., p.231.

  20 his ‘Deutschheit’: CH to WH, 22 August 1804, ibid., p.226.

  21 ‘one has to honour’: WH to CH, 29 August 1804, ibid., p.232.

  22 never see Berlin again: AH to WH, 28 March 1804, quoted in WH to CH, 6 June 1804, ibid., p.182.

  23 only ‘pulled faces’: CH to WH, 12 September 1804, ibid., p.249.

  24 ‘The fame is greater’: AH to WH, 14 October 1804, Biermann 1987, p.178.

  25 Bonpland to La Rochelle: Beck 1959–61, vol.2, p.1.

  26 AH at Académie: 19, 24 September and 15, 29 October 1804, AH Letters America 1993, p.15.

  27 ‘unites a whole Académie’: Claude Louis Berthollet about AH, in AH to WH, 14 October 1804, Biermann 1987, p.179.

  28 critics now enthusiastic: AH to WH, 14 October 1804, ibid., p.178.

  29 ‘night and day form’: George Ticknor, April 1817, AH Letters USA 2004, p.516.

  30 AH’s results used by others: AH to WH, 14 October 1804, Biermann 1987, p.179.

  31 AH shared specimens: AH to Dietrich Ludwig Gustav Karsten, 10 March 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.350.

  32 pension for Bonpland: AH to WH, 14 October 1804, Biermann 1987, p.179; Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.398; AH to Jardin des Plantes, 1804, Schneppen 2002, p.10.

  33 AH missed South America: AH to Carl Freiesleben, 1 August 1804, AH Letters America 1993, p.310.

  34 Bolívar and AH met: Arana 2013, p.57; Heiman 1959, pp.221–4.

  35 AH introduced by Montúfar (footnote): Arana, 2013, p.57; AH, January 1800, AH Diary 2000, p.177.

  36 Bolívar in Paris: Lynch 2006, p.22ff.; Arana 2013, p.53ff.

  37 Bolívar’s teeth: O’Leary 1969, p.30.

  38 Bolívar visited AH: Arana 2013, p.58; Heiman 1959, p.224.

  39 AH painted with vivid colours: Bolívar to AH, 10 November 1821, Minguet 1986, p.743.

  40 AH, Bolívar and revolutions: AH to Bolívar, 29 July 1822, ibid., pp.749–50.

  41 ‘hypocritical tyrant’: Arana 2013, p.59.

  42 no leader for colonists: AH to Bolívar, 1804, Beck 1959, pp.30–31.

  43 ‘strong as God’: Bolívar to AH in Paris, 1804, AH Diary 1982, p.11.

  44 desire for independence: Recounted by AH to Daniel F. O’Leary, 1853, Beck 1969, p.266; AH saw O’Leary in April 1853 in Berlin, AH to O’Leary, April 1853, MSS141, Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogotá (my thanks go to Alberto Gómez Gutiérrez at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotá for making me aware of this manuscript).

  45 ‘government of distrust’: AH, 4 January–17 February 1803, ‘Colonies’, AH Diary 1982, p.65.

  46 enthusiasm for Washington and Franklin: AH Personal Narrative 1814–29, vol.3, p.196.

  47 racial divisions in colonies: AH, 4 January–17 February 1803, ‘Colonies’, AH Diary 1982, p.65.

  48 ‘white republic’: AH, 25 February 1800, ibid., p.255.

  49 Bonpland encouraged Bolívar: AH to Daniel F. O’Leary, 1853, Beck 1969, p.266.

  50 ‘a time when we’: AH to Bolívar, 29 July 1822, Minguet 1986, p.749.

  51 AH too quick in judgement: AH to Johann Leopold Neumann, 23 June 1791, AH Letters 1973, p.142.

  52 exposing people’s missteps: Carl Voght, 14 February 1808, Voght 1959–67, vol.3, p.95.

  53 ‘pasta king’: AH to Varnhagen, 9 November 1856, Biermann and Schwarz, 2001b, no page numbers.

  54 declared ‘a glacier’: AH to Ignaz von Olfers, after 19 December 1850, ibid.

  55 gentleness and vulnerability: WH to CH, 18 September 1804, WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.2, p.252.

  56 letter written in French: WH to CH, 6 June 1804, ibid., p.183.

  57 ‘demonstrations of sentiments’: CH to WH, 4 November 1804, ibid., p.274.

  58 serious letter to AH: CH to WH, 3 September 1804, ibid., p.238.

  59 ‘leave him by himself’: CH to WH, 16 September 1804, see also WH to CH, 18 September 1804, ibid., pp.250, 252.

  60 ‘all European countries’: CH to WH, 28 August 1804, ibid., p.231.

  61 ‘just the right man’: AH to John Vaughan, 10 June 1805, Terra 1958, p.562ff.

  62 AH’s ideas for books: AH to Marc-Auguste Pictet, 3 February 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, pp.345–7; AH to Carl Ludwig Willdenow, 21 February 1801, Biermann 1987, p.171–2.

  63 carpenter and table top: Terra 1955, p.219; Podach 1959, p.209.

  64 AH left Paris: Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.351.

  65 AH crossing the Alps: Ibid.; AH to Archibald Maclean, 6 November 1791, AH Letters 1973, p.157.

  66 AH in Rome: WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.2, p.298; AH to Aimé Bonpland, 10 June 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.352.

  67 WH and CH’s house: Gersdorff 2013, p.93ff.

  68 Leopold von Buch: Werner 2004, p.115ff.

  69 Bolívar walked to Italy: O’Leary 1915, p.86; Arana 2013, p.61ff.

  70 Bolívar ‘a dreamer’: AH to Daniel F. O’Leary, 1853, Beck 1969, p.266

  71 ‘great wisdom and’: Vicente Rocafuerte to AH, 17 December 1824, Rippy and Brann 1947, p.702.

  72 Bolívar as a ‘fabulist’: Rodríguez 2011, p.67; see also Werner 2004, pp.116–17.

  73 eruption Vesuvius: Elisa von der Recke, Diary 13 August 1805, Recke 1815, vol.3, p.271ff.

  74 ‘compliment that Vesuvius’: Mr Chenevix about AH, Charles Bladgen to Joseph Banks, 25 September 1805, Banks 2007, vol.5, p.452.

  75 ‘asteroid next to’: AH to Aimé Bonpland, 1 August 1805, Heiman 1959, p.229.

  76 Bolívar at Monte Sacro: Arana 2013, p.65ff.

  77 ‘I have broken the’: Bolívar’s vow, Rippy and Brann 1947, p.703.

  Chapter 10: Berlin

  1 AH journey to Berlin: AH to Spener or Sander, 28 October 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.354

  2 dull landscape around Berlin: AH to Fürst Pückler-Muskau, Biermann und Schwarz 1999a, p.183.

  3 ‘tropical nature’: AH to Johann Georg von Cotta, 9 March 1844, AH Cotta Letters 2009, p.259; see also AH to Goethe, 6 February 1806, Goethe Humboldt Letters 1909, p.298.

  4 ‘burning under my feet’: AH to de Beer, 22 April 1806, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.358.

  5 AH’s royal pension: Ibid., p.355.

  6 comparison wages craftsmen and WH: Merseburger 2009, p.76; WH to CH, 19 June 1810, WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.3, p.418

  7 ‘almost oppressive’: AH to Marc-Auguste Pictet, November or December 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.354.

  8 Napoleon on Friedrich Wilhelm III: Terra 1955, p.244.

  9 keep royal appointment quiet: AH to Marc-Auguste Pictet, 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.355.

  10 AH involved in court gossip: Leopold von Buch, Diary 23 Jan 1806, Werner 2004, p.117.

  11 AH and garden house: Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.356.

  12 magnetic hut: Ibid.; Biermann and Schwarz 1999a, p.187.

  13 Gay-Lussac left Berlin: Werner 2004,
p.79.

  14 ‘isolated and as’: AH to de Beer, 22 April 1806, Bruhn 1873, vol.1, p.358.

  15 Bonpland’s dislike of desk-bound work: AH to Carl Ludwig Willdenow, 17 May 1810, Fiedler and Leitner 2000, p.251.

  16 ‘in particular concerning’: AH to Bonpland, 21 December 1805; for AH and Bonpland’s publications, see AH to Bonpland, 1 August 1805, 4 January 1806, 8 March 1806, 27 June 1806, Biermann 1990, pp.179–80.

  17 ‘I wrote the major part’: AH Geography 2009, p.61.

  18 ‘the world likes to see’: AH to Marc-Auguste Pictet, 3 February 1805, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.347.

  19 ‘a broad brush’: AH Geography 2009, p.64.

  20 its ‘natural connection’: AH Personal Narrative 1814–29, vol.1, p.xlv.

  21 ‘long bands’: AH Geography 2009, p.66; AH Geography 1807, p.7.

  22 AH on plant distribution in Essay (footnote): AH Geography 2009, pp.68, 75, 96; AH Geography 1807, pp.11, 31, 82–3.

  23 agriculture and plants: AH Geography 2009, pp.71–2; AH Geography 1807, pp.16–21.

  24 empires and plants: AH Geography 2009, pp.72–3; AH Geography 1807, pp.23–4.

  25 ‘ancient’ connection: AH Geography 2009, p.67; AH Geography 1807, p.9.

  26 tectonic plate theory: German geologist Alfred Wegener formulated the tectonic plate theory in 1912 but it was only confirmed in the 1950s and 1960s.

  27 showing unexpected analogies: AH Geography 2009, p.79; AH Geography 1807, p.40.

  28 ‘a reflection of the whole’: AH Cosmos 1845–52, vol.2, p.86; AH Kosmos 1845–50, vol.2, p.89 (my translation ‘Abglanz des Ganzen’).

  29 ‘according to the shape’: AH Geography 2009, p.69; AH Geography 1807, p.13.

  30 ‘our imagination and our spirit’: AH Geography 2009, p.79; AH Geography 1807, p.41.

  31 AH referred to Schelling: AH Geography 1807, p.v; Humboldt wrote different introductions for the French and German editions.

  32 Schelling’s Naturphilosophie: Richards 2002, pp.114–203.

  33 ‘the necessity to grasp’: Henrik Steffens, 1798, in ibid., p.151.

  34 ‘I myself am identical’: Schelling, in Richards 2002, p.134

  35 ‘Prince of Empiricism’: K.J.H. Windischmann to Schelling, 24 March 1806, Werner 2000, p.8.

  36 ‘quarrelling poles’: AH Geography 1807, p.v.

  37 concept of ‘organism’ and interconnectedness: Richards 2002, pp.138, 129ff.

  38 a ‘revolution’ in science: AH to F.W.J. Schelling, 1 February 1805, Werner 2000, p.6.

  39 ‘dry compilation of facts’: AH to Christian Carl Josias Bunsen, 22 March 1835, AH Bunsen Letters 2006, p.29.

  40 ‘influence of your’: AH to Goethe, 3 January 1810, Goethe Humboldt Letters 1909, p.304; see also AH to Caroline von Wolzogen, 14 May 1806, Goethe AH WH Letters 1876, p.407.

  41 ‘How I should enjoy’: Goethe 2002, p.222.

  42 Goethe ‘devoured’ Essay: Goethe to Johann Friedrich von Cotta, 8 April 1813, Goethe Natural Science 1989, p.524.

  43 Goethe reread Essay: Goethe, 17, 18, 19, 20, 28 March 1807, Goethe Diary 1998–2007, vol.3, pt.1, pp.298–9, 301; Goethe to AH, 3 April 1807, Goethe Correspondence 1968–76, vol.3, p.41.

  44 Goethe and Naturgemälde (footnote): Goethe to AH, 3 April 1807, Goethe Correspondence 1968–76, vol.3, p.41; Goethe, 5 May and 3 June 1807, Goethe Diary 1998–2007, vol.3, pt.1, pp.308, 322.

  45 Goethe’s lecture on AH: Goethe, 1 April 1807, Goethe Diary 1998–2007, vol.3, pt.1, p.302; Charlotte von Schiller, 1 April 1807, Goethe Encounters 1965–2000, vol.6, p.241; Goethe, Geognostische Vorlesungen, 1 April 1807, Goethe Natural Science 1989, p.540.

  46 ‘With an aesthetic breeze’: Goethe’s review of Humboldt’s Ideen zu einer Physiognomik der Gewächse, 31 January 1806, Jenaer Allgemeine Zeitung, Goethe Morphologie 1987, p.379.

  47 German publication Essay: Johann Friedrich von Cotta to Goethe, 12 January 1807, Goethe Letters 1980–2000, vol.5, p.215.

  48 universities in Prussia: Geier 2010, p.266.

  49 ‘buried in the ruins’: AH to Christian Gottlieb Heyne, 13 November 1807, ibid., p.254.

  50 ‘Why did I not stay’: AH to Johann Friedrich von Cotta, 14 February 1807, AH Cotta Letters 2009, p.78.

  51 Views of Nature bestseller: Fiedler and Leitner 2000, pp.38–69.

  52 Views of Nature AH’s favourite: Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.357.

  53 ‘glowing womb of the earth’: and following quotes, AH Views 2014, pp.30, 38, 108, 121, 126; AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, pp.3, 20, 189, 216, 224; AH Ansichten 1808, pp.4, 5, 33–4, 140, 298, 316 (quotes are from the different editions).

  54 ‘poured their red phosphoric light’: AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.231; AH Views 2014, p.129; AH Ansichten 1808, pp.329–30.

  55 ‘melody’ of sentences: AH to Johann Friedrich von Cotta, 21 February 1807, AH Cotta Letters 2009, p.80.

  56 annotations Views of Nature (footnote): AH Aspects 1849, vol.2, p.112ff.; AH Views 2014, p.201ff.; AH Ansichten 1849, vol.2, p.135 (this is not in the German 1808 edition of Views of Nature but similar on p.185).

  57 ‘inner feelings’: AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.208; AH Views 2014, p.117; AH Ansichten 1808, p.284.

  58 web of life: AH Aspects 1849, vol.2, pp.7–8; AH Views 2014, pp.157–8; AH Ansichten 1808, p.163ff.

  59 ‘inner connections of’: AH Ansichten 1808, p.vii (my translation, ‘in den inneren Zusammenhang der Naturkräfte’); AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.viii; AH Views 2014, p.25.

  60 ‘a single picture of’: AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.207; AH Views 2014, p.117; AH Ansichten 1808, p.282.

  61 AH miserable in Berlin: Beck 1959–61, vol.2, p.16.

  62 ‘follow me gladly’: AH Views 2014, pp.25–6; AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.ix; AH Ansichten 1808, p.viii.

  63 ‘stormy waves of life’: AH Aspects 1849, vol.1, p.ix; AH Views 2014, p.25; AH Ansichten 1808, p.viii.

  64 ‘that I plunged’: Goethe to AH, 16 May 1821, Goethe Correspondence 1968–76, vol.3, p.505.

  65 ‘you believe you are’: François-René de Chateaubriand, in Clark and Lubrich 2012b, p.29.

  66 Thoreau and Views of Nature: Sattelmeyer 1988, p.207; Thoreau to Spencer Fullerton Baird, 19 December 1853, Thoreau Correspondence 1958, p.310; Thoreau referred to it in The Maine Woods and Excursions among other works.

  67 ‘this sky full of cobwebs’: Emerson 1959–72, vol.3, p.213; for Emerson, Views of Nature and AH see also Emerson in 1849, Emerson 1960–1992, vol.11, pp.91, 157; Harding 1967, p.143; Walls 2009, p.251ff.

  68 Darwin and Views of Nature: Darwin to Catherine Darwin, 5 July 1832, Darwin Correspondence, vol.1, p.247.

  69 Verne and AH: Schifko 2010; Clark and Lubrich 2012, pp.24–5, 170–75, 191, 204–5, 214–23.

  70 ‘What could I do’: Jules Verne’s Captain Grant’s Children (1865–7).

  71 AH and Captain Nemo: Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1869–70, Clark and Lubrich 2012, pp.174, 191–2.

  72 ‘flourishing potato fields’: AH to C.G.J. Jacobi, 21 November 1841, Biermann and Schwarz 2001b, no page numbers.

  73 ‘I don’t approve of’: WH to CH, WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.4, p.188.

  74 AH wrote to king: AH, Aus Meinem Leben (1769–1850), in Biermann 1987, p.113.

  Chapter 11: Paris

  1 tormented by not being fast: AH to Goethe, 3 January 1810, Goethe Humboldt Letters 1909, p.305; see also AH to Franz Xaver von Zach, 14 May 1806, Bruhns 1873, vol.1, p.360.

  2 ‘melancholy’ and other excuses: AH to Johann Friedrich von Cotta, 6 June 1807, 13 November 1808, 11 December 1812, AH Cotta Letters 2009, pp.81, 94, 115.

  3 ‘any botanist in Europe’: AH to Bonpland, 7 September 1810, AH Bonpland Letters 2004, p.57; see also Fiedler and Leitner 2000, p.251.

  4 Vues des Cordillères: Vues des Cordillères was published in seven instalments from 1810 to 1813.

  5 ‘Nature and art’: AH to Goethe, 3 January 1810, Goethe Humboldt Letters 1909, p.304; see also Goethe, 18 January 1810, Goethe Diary 1998–
2007, vol.4, pt.1, p.111.

  6 Vues received by courier: Goethe, 18 January 1810, Goethe Diary 1998–2007, vol.4, pt.1, p.111.

  7 Goethe and Vues: Goethe, 18, 19, 20 and 21 January 1810, Goethe Diary 1998–2007, vol.4, pt.2, pp.111–12.

  8 AH queries: For example David Warden to AH, 9 May 1809, AH Letters USA 2004, p.111; AH to Alexander von Rennenkampff, 7 January 1812, Biermann 1987, p.196.

  9 ‘great worthies of’: Jefferson to AH, 13 June 1817, Terra 1959, p.795.

  10 AH’s books to Jefferson: Jefferson to AH, 6 March 1809, 14 April 1811, 6 December 1813; AH to Jefferson, 12 June 1809, 23 September 1810, 20 December 1811; William Gray to Jefferson, 18 May 1811, TJ RS Papers, vol.1, pp.24, 266, vol.3, pp.108, 553, 623, vol.4, pp.353–4, vol.7, p.29; AH to Jefferson, 30 May 1808, Terra 1959, p.789.

  11 AH and Joseph Banks: AH to Banks, 15 November 1800; Bonpland to Banks, 20 February 1810; Banks to James Edward Smith, 2 February 1815 (requesting a specimen of the mauritia palm for AH); Banks to Charles Bladgen, 28 February 1815, Banks 2007, vol.5, pp.63ff.; vol.6, pp. 27–8; 164–5; 171; AH to Banks, 23 February 1805, BL Add Ms 8099 ff.391–2; AH to Banks, 10 July 1809, BL Add Ms 8100 ff.43–4.

  12 ‘three different houses’: Adelbert von Chamisso to Eduard Hitzig, 16 February 1810, Beck 1959, p.37; AH to Marc-Auguste Pictet, March 1808, Bruhns 1873, vol.2, p.6; Caspar Voght, 16 March 1808, Voght 1959–65, vol.3, p.95.

  13 AH and Kunth (footnote): AH to Johann Georg von Cotta, 14 April 1850, AH Cotta Letters 2009, p.430; see also Biermann 1990, p.183.

  14 so-called ‘garret-hours’: Carl Vogt, January 1845, Beck 1959, p.206.

  15 Arago’s scientific mission: ‘An Autobiography of Francis Arago’, Arago 1857 p.12ff.

  16 ‘malicious tongue’: Arago about AH, Biermann and Schwarz 2001b, no page numbers.

  17 ‘sulking like a child’: Adolphe Quetelet, 1822, Bruhns 1873, vol.2, p.58.

  18 ‘Siamese twins’: AH to Arago, 31 December 1841, AH Arago Letters 1907, p.224.

  19 ‘joy of my life’: AH to Arago, 31 July 1848, ibid., p.290.

  20 ‘You know his passion’: WH to CH, 1 November 1817, WH CH Letters 1910–16, vol.6, p.30.

  21 ‘Alexander could have’: WH to CH, 14 January 1809, ibid., vol.3, p.70.