L'Histoire physique de la mer, by Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1725)

Illustrated with magnificent plates showing the observations of the sea bed made in situ by its author, the book L'Histoire physique de la mer, published in 1725 by Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, came from the personal library of the eminent zoologist and coral specialist Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers (1821-1901), who founded the Arago laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer in 1882.

The Count of Marsili (1658-1730), an Italian military man, geographer and naturalist, has been considered the founder of oceanography following the publication of this work. He made field observations, studied the seabed of the Gulf of Lion, the classification of species, the currents and the properties of sea water, recalling that his entire scientific approach was based on "experiments and observations that I made myself on the spot".

His discoveries about coral and its "flowers" attracted the attention of scientists, as coral has been classified as part of the mineral kingdom since antiquity. Marsili noticed that branches of red coral he had collected were covered with white flowers within a few hours. He deduced that coral is a living organism, belonging to the animal kingdom, which marked a decisive turning point in our knowledge of the marine environment.

A subject that remains topical, as Lorenzo Bramanti, a researcher at the Oceanography Observatory, points out: "Despite hundreds of years, scientists are still making discoveries through observation. In Banyuls, in 2020, we are studying the polyps of the red coral, just like Count Marsili, applying new technologies to old questions."

By Sandrine Bodin, Head of the Arago Laboratory Library, Sorbonne University Library, Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer.

Data sheet

• Name : Histoire physique de la mer, ouvrage enrichi de figures dessinées d'après le naturel, by Louis Ferdinand Comte de Marsilli (1658-1730).
• Description : Ancient book
• Inventory number / Cote : E III a / MAR / h 
• Description : [1-1bl.-6]-XI-173-[1bl.] p., front. gr.s.c., XII + XL f. de pl. gr.s.c. ; in-fol.
• Date : 1725
• Place of storage : Arago Laboratory Library – Banyuls-sur-Mer
• Online consultation  : https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3116211

Bibliography

• Jean-André PEYSSONNEL, Traité du corail, 1753, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society , Londres, n°47, p. 445-469.
• Henri de LACAZE-DUTHIERS, Histoire naturelle du corail: organisation, reproduction, pêche en Algérie, industrie et commerce, Paris, 1864
• Daniel FAGET, Daniel VIELZEUF, "Le vase et le microscope", Rives méditerranéennes, n°57, 2019, p. 157-180.
• Giorgio TSOUNIS, Sergio ROSSI, GRIGG Ricardo Will, Lorenzo BRAMANTI, Josep-Maria GILI, Oceanography and Marine Biologie : An Annual Review, n°48, 2010, p. 161-212.

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