Collection of correspondence, briefings, photographs and maps for the exploration of the seas.
40 letters (of which 26 autographs signed; 2 MS. letters; 8 MS. letters signed; 3 MS. letters with autograph corrections or autograph additions and 1 MS. telegram) and 3 MS. documents (of which 1 with MS. inscription and autograph corrections and autograph notes). 4to. and (qu.-)8vo. altogether ca. 65 pp. on 55 ff. Enclosed 2 maps in folio (route map, ca. 430 x 530 mm; and geological map, ca. 385 x 510 mm) and 14 black-and-white photographs of in formats (94 x 119 to 138 x 180 mm). Mostly in French, occasionally English. With supplemental material (see description).
$4,893.00
The central element of the collection is the organisation, research and scientific interest devoted to the expeditions of the "Calpyso" of the ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-97) to the Red Sea and Madagascar, and to the expeditions of the "Président Théodore Tissier" under Captain Roger Brenot (1916-98) to the Porcupine Bank in the Celtic Sea. The letters are addressed predominantly to the geographer André Guilcher (1913-93) and give evidence of the scholarly exchange within the contemporary French research community, including the geophysicist Jean Coulomb (1904-99), the underwater pioneer Philippe Talliez (1905-2002), the marine biologist Louis Fage (1883-1964), the geologist Jean Furnestin (1905-90), the geographer André Cailleux (1907-86), the volcanologist Tazieff Haroun (1914-98), and some British scientists (A. Robinson, J. N. Carruthers).
The collection includes two letters from Jacques-Yves Cousteau and six letters from his father Daniel P. Cousteau, who replied to Guilcher in his son's absence in the early 1950s. Jean Coulomb mentions a rumour about difficulties in financing Cousteau's expedition (25 Aug. 1951) and writes about problems obtaining measuring equipment.
In the twelve letters of a certain Berthier to Guilcher, the preparations for the Porcupine expedition of 1957 are discussed, with detailed remarks by Berthier on a theory of the formation of submarine rock deposits. In the letters of Captain Roger Brenot concerning the same voyage, he first welcomes Guilcher to join the expedition (11 Feb.), later withdrawing the invitation (22 Feb.), as only those called upon by the "Ministère de la Marine Marchande" are allowed on board. In another letter, Brenot comments on photographs sent to him, which might not be as useful scientifically as they are for remembrance (21 March).
The enclosed photographs show coral reefs in seven underwater shots, one shot with swirls of the sea surface above La Chapelle Bank (Celtic Sea), according to the enclosed note from 1958, four shots of a barren landscape with mountains and flocks of sheep, and another shot with a pair of sunglasses on a rock formation. A map shows the route of the "N. O. President Th. Tissier", the other map details submarine rock sites. Both of these are spirit duplicated and concern the Celtic Sea.
Six letters with printed letterhead of the "Institut de Physique du Globe", University of Paris, three letters from the "Campagnes océanographiques françaises", four from the "Institut scientifique et technique des peches maritimes", one letter with letterhead of the "National Institute of Oceanography" (Wormley, Surrey), another from the "Department of Geography, University College" (Leicester), one letter from the "Expédition polaires Francaises" and the stamp "Expédition Arctique", twelve letters with the printed letterhead of the "École Nationale d'Agriculture de Rennes", one of which also has the stamp "Laboratoire de Lithologie-Pédologie-Hydrogéologie", and one letter from the "Institut océanographique" (Paris).
Also enclosed is the illustrated book "Calypso Cousteau / Sivirine" (Édition Robert Laffont, [1978] 1998) with numerous photographs and colour illustrations, as well as a large folding plate on the conversions, equipment and expeditions of the "Calypso" and a postcard and a form for the library correspondence of Guilcher. Occasional light foxing and brown stains, with traces of rust from old paper clips, occasional minor marginal tears, one letter J.-Y. Cousteau with stronger marginal tears. Listing on request.
