Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire

Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist and artist, born in Grasse, France.

Biography

Born as Jaume, he added Saint-Hilaire later. Some biographers indicate that this addition was to distinguish himself from a family member, Henri-Honore Jaume, a Jacobin who had been involved in the Reign of Terror, during the French Revolution. He served in the French Army during the French [Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1796|Italian campaign], before returning to civilian life in 1800. He then returned to Paris and resumed his studies, especially natural history. He wrote a guide to the new Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and learned floral painting from Gérard van Spaendonck.
In 1805 he wrote his first important publication: Exposition des familles naturelles et de la germination des plantes, contentant la description de 2 337 genres et d'environ 4 000 espèces, 112 planches dont les figures ont ete dessinées par l'auteur . In it, he popularized the classification of Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu. During 1808-1809 and 1819–1822, Jaume published ten volumes about French plants: Plantes de la France décrites et peintes d’après nature , grouping together one thousand engravings that he had made himself.
Jaume was quite interested in forests, and became a member of Société Royale d’Agriculture in 1831. He also became interested in the culture of Wrightia tinctoria, a member of the plant family Apocynaceae used for its dyeing qualities.

List of selected publications

Exposition des familles naturelles et de la germination des plantes, contentant la description de 2 337 genres et d'environ 4 000 espèces, 112 planches dont les figures ont été dessinées par l'auteur, 1805
La flore et la pomone françaises: histoire et figure en couleur, des fleurs et des fruits de France ou naturalisés sur le sol français..
Traité des arbres forestiers: ou histoire et description des arbres indigènes ou naturalisés. A work preceded by une instruction sur la culture des arbres, by M. Thouin..
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