Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon,

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, biologist, cosmologist and author.

He was Intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes.

Buffon is considered the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century. His ideas have influenced generations of naturalists, including Charles Darwin.

Buffon's greatest work was Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. It described everything known about the natural world.

Here are engravings from Histoire Naturelle for you to choose from. They are original antiques, and come from various editions of Histoire Naturelle from the 1790s to the 1850s.