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Remarks on a Scene, Depicting the Primeval World. a Talk Given by Leopold Von Buch in 1831, Popularizing the Duria Antiquior

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Remarks on a Scene, Depicting the Primeval World. a Talk Given by Leopold Von Buch in 1831, Popularizing the Duria Antiquior 7 Björn Kröger Remarks on a scene, depicting the primeval world – A talk given by Leopold von Buch in 1831, popularizing the Duria antiquior Zusammenfassung Der Geologe Leopold von Buch war lebenslanger Freund of geohistorical organismic transformations are taken Alexander von Humboldts und hatte wesentlichen An- from pictorial examples of organismic transformation teil an dessen Verständnis erdgeschichtlicher Prozesse. from the classical literature. The talk also illustrates how In einem hier erstmals veröffentlichten Vortrag, gehal- influential English geologists were for geo-historical re- ten 1831 in Berlin, stellt von Buch die 1830 publizierte constructions in Germany. Duria Antiquior des englischen Geologen Henry De La Beche vor. Das Bild gilt als erste wissenschaftliche Re- Résumé konstruktion einer vorzeitlichen Welt und warf mit sei- nem Erscheinen neue Fragen zu den Prozessen erdge- Le géologue prussien Leopold von Buch a noué une schichtlicher Veränderungen auf. Leopold von Buch longue amitié avec Alexander von Humboldt, il a gran- zeigt sich in dem Vortrag als Forscher der Romantik, der dement influencé les idées dans le domaine de la géo- mit der Duria Antiquior vorhandene bildhafte Vorstel- logie. Dans une conférence donnée en 1831 à Berlin et lungen organismischer Transformation aus der Literatur dont le texte est publié ici pour la première fois, von aufgriff, um geohistorische Veränderungen der Lebe- Buch a présenté le Duria Antiquior du géologue an- wesen zu beschreiben. Mit dem Vortrag wird der große glais Henry de la Beche. Cette oeuvre est très large- Einfluss deutlich, den die Engländer auf die zeitgenös- ment considérée comme la plus ancienne représenta- sischen Erzählungen der Erdgeschichte in Deutschland tion d‘une scène de vie préhistorique. Elle a contribué à hatten. initier de nombreuses réflexions à propos des processus de changement géohistorique. L‘exposé de 1831 à Ber- Abstract lin permet de mettre en évidence que von Buch était un scientifique influencé par le romantisme. Ses des- The Prussian geologist Leopold von Buch was a lifelong criptions des transformations organismiques géohisto- friend of Alexander von Humboldt and had a significant riques s‘appuient sur des exemples figurés dans la litté- influence on Humboldt’s geological ideas. In a talk, held rature classique. Son exposé illustre également combien in Berlin in 1831, which is published here for the first l‘influence des géologues anglais sur les reconstitutions time, von Buch presented the Duria Antiquior of 1830 géohistoriques était forte alors en Allemagne. by the English geologist Henry De La Beche. The Duria Antiquior is widely regarded as the earliest depiction of a scene of prehistoric life from deep time. The print raised new questions about the processes of geohistor- ical change. The talk reveals that Leopold von Buch was a true scientist of the Romantic Age. His descriptions A talk given by Leopold von Buch in 1831, popularizing the Duria antiquior (B. Kröger) The complete works of Leopold von Buch were first the history of the Earth and about the history of life un- 8 published in a series of four monographs (Buch, derwent a radical change. This included the concep- von 1867, 1870, 1877, 1885; in the following referred tion of mountain structure, assumptions about the ori- to as LvB I–IV). gin of mountains, and about the time dimensions of the Introduction Earth’s history. It was a significant change and von Buch became a major protagonist of that change4. Introduction Von Buch was a lifelong friend of Alexander von Among the legacy of the Prussian geologist Leop- Humboldt (1769–1859) and had a profound influence on old von Buch (1774–1853), reposited in the Museum für Humboldt‘s geological ideas (Engelhardt 2001; Werner Naturkunde Berlin, there are a number of unpublished 2004, 119 –123). manuscripts of speeches which he delivered at the Berliner Gesellschaft der Freunde der Humanität1 (Socie- A clear indication of this impact is to be found in two ty of Friends of Humanity). In one of these talks, given of Humboldt’s publications of 1853, the very same year on 5th of February 1831, Leopold von Buch presented of Leopold von Buch’s death. Humboldt dedicated both to his audience a lithographic print of Duria Antiquior, his Umrisse von Vulkanen aus den Cordilleren von Quito a more ancient Dorset made by George Johann Scharf und Mexico (Humboldt 1853b) and his Kleinere Schriften (1788–1860). The original watercolour had been pub- (Humboldt 1853a) to Leopold von Buch and called him lished only a year earlier, in 1830, by the geologist and the „grössten Geognosten unseres Zeitalters” („the great- paleontologist Henry Thomas De La Beche (1796–1855). est geologist of our age”).The first of these books was The print (measuring c. 30x40 cm) depicts a scene of Li- published in January -shortly before von Buch’s death assic2 organisms in an idealised marine and terrestrial in March 1853 - the latter in September 1853. landscape. It is widely regarded as the earliest depic- tion of a scene of prehistoric life from deep time (see The pivotal role of von Buch’s work for geology in Rudwick 1992). De La Beche and the geologist and pale- Germany was reflected in the obituaries written by ontologist William Buckland (1784–1856) sold copies of his contemporaries. Thus, the Bonn-based mining of- the print to friends and scientists in order to provide fi- ficer Heinrich von Dechen (1800–1889) praised him in nancial support for the British fossil collector and deal- Humboldt’s very words as the „grössten Geognosten un- er Mary Anning (1799–1847) (see Rudwick 1992, 42–47)3. seres Zeitalters” (“the greatest geologist of our age”)5, and Professor Hans Bruno Geinitz (1814–1900) of Dres- Within the framework of a reunion at the Society of den counted him among the „hervorragendsten Größen Friends of Humanity von Buch was able to present his menschlicher Wissenschaft überhaupt6” („one of the most talk in a rather less formal way, which lends us an inval- outstanding men of science”). uable insight into the thinking of this famous geologist. The talk also is remarkable, inasmuch as it underscores Between 1790–1793 von Buch studied at the Frei- the huge impact British geologists William Smith (1769– berger Bergakademie (Mining Academy of Freiberg/ 1839) and William Buckland had on von Buch’s work. Saxony) alongside his fellow friends Alexander von Moreover, the talk constitutes one of only a few docu- Humboldt and Johann Carl Freiesleben (1774–1846). ments that display Buch‘s conception about the Histo- Here the three of them got acquainted with the doc- ry of Life and its natural laws. In addition, it is a rare ev- trine of Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817)7. As a idence of the crucial role played by visual presentations consequence, von Buch’s first works were substantial- and scenic descriptions of the History of Life in the pro- ly influenced by Wernerian concepts (see Ewald 1867, cess of popularizing research results during the first half I–XLVIII; Fritscher 2008). During his journeys to the of the 19th century. Auvergne (1802), Italy (1805), Norway (1806–1808), and the Canary Isles (1815), however, von Buch developed his own theory on mountain building: the Theory of Ele- Leopold von Buch vation Craters8. In doing so, he abandoned Werner’s the- Leopold von Buch was one of the most eminent early geologists in Germany. During his lifetime, ideas about 4 See Rudwick (2005, 2008) for a general review. 5 „The greatest geognost of our age“, Dechen (1853, 4). 1 A semi-public, state independent and confession-free intellectual society of Berlin, see Motschmann (2009), and below. 6 „[...] most outstanding scientists of all times“, Geinitz (1853, 7). 2 The period of the Lias is equivalent to the Lower Jurassic which extends 7 Werner is often regarded as the father of German geology. from c. 200–176 mya. 8 This theory was first published in a coherent form in his paper Ueber 3 There is no copy of the Duria Antiquior die Zusammensetzung der basaltischen Inseln und über Erhebungskratere HiN XIV, 27 (2013) ISSN: 1617-5239 Internationale Zeitschrift für Humboldt-Studien A talk given by Leopold von Buch in 1831, popularizing the Duria antiquior (B. Kröger) ory of neptunianism and later also opposed the ideas of In addition, he was a member of the Gesellschaft der 9 Scottish Geologist Charles Lyell (1797–1875) (see Gein- Naturforschenden Freunde zu Berlin13, a member of the itz 1853, Engelhardt 2001). From the 1820s on, von Buch Montagsklub14, of the Gesetzlose Gesellschaft15, and a developed an increasing interest in paleontology. For member of the Berliner Philomatische Gesellschaft16. von Buch, a thorough knowledge of fossil forms consti- tuted an indispensable prerequisite to determine the The talk given by Leopold von Buch on the 5th Feb- relative age of rock layers. As a result of his stratigraph- ruary 1831 at the Meeting of The Friends of Humanity ical research, he created large panorama-like geological demonstrates his involvement with the society. Its tone, overviews of Germany9. Furthermore, he is considered its content, its references to literature and its allusions to to have produced the first geological map of Germany10. other members of the scientific community reflects the atmosphere of intellectual Berlin during the early 19th The works of Leopold von Buch can be considered century. Additionally, the manuscript offers an unique a typical example of „Humboldtian Science11”: Themat- insight into the thinking of Leopold von Buch during ically diverse, they cover a wide range of topics, from this crucial period of his work, an insight not afforded mineralogical to paleontological issues. Today, the elsewhere in his published work or academic lectures. greater part of von Buch’s work could be classified as physical geography.
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