St. Louis Mercantile Library

 

                         E_Bodmer Ft Clark on Mo


                                                Karl Bodmer(1809-1893), Fort Clark on the Missouri, February, 1834,

                                                                                         1834, hand-colored aquatint(plate 15)

                                                     Collection of the St.Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri- St.Louis

Karl Bodmer was born in Germany and educated in Paris. He came to the United States with the expedition organized by Maximilian, Prince of Weid. Maximilian was a naturalist and had employed Bodmer to document the flora and fauna they viewed on their trip up the Missouri River. The artist created 427 watercolors and a volume of sketches during the yearlong trek, eighty-two of which were later published as illustrations in Maximilian’s book, Reise in das innere Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834, [Trip into the interior of North-America in the years 1832 to 1834] published in 1839. The images exhibited here are plates from this historic publication.

Expand Your Horizons Maximilian was typical of the 19th century "Gentleman Explorer" who traveled the world. Click here to learn more about the concept of the Gentleman Explorer.