THE NOTEBOOK

The pathway of the notebook in the Museum

The notebook and the collection to which it belongs have undergone technical procedures of inventory, cataloguing and conservation. Due to its deteriorated condition, the Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Instituto Hercule Florence (IHF) established a partnership to physically and digitally recover the document, making it available for research, promotion, as well as exhibitions.

Thanks to the restoration and conservation work that was carried out, the notes and drafts made by Aimé-Adrien revealed their enormous richness.

In parallel to this document, there is another notebook that completes and at the same time expands the meanings of the records made by Aimé-Adrien. It is a green hardcover notebook, also handwritten, begun on January 5th, 1829, to mark the one-year anniversary of Aimé-Adrien’s death. Its author is Félix Émile Taunay, one of his brothers. The notebook contains, among other records, a copy of the last letter written by Aimé, dated from October 20th, 1827, and copies of letters written by Louis Riedel, a botanist and Aimé’s companion in the Langsdorff expedition, who describes the accident in the Guaporé River and reports Aimé-Adrien’s death by drowning to his family. There are also poems in homage to Aimé-Adrien and letters exchanged between Félix and his brothers between 1828 and 1829, commenting and bemoaning the tragedy that that stroke young Aimé.