(Born: Nantes, France, 13 August 1763; Died: Nantes, France, 11 January 1836) French apothecary.

Born the son of a goldsmith, Dubuisson was apprenticed as an apothecary, eventually opening a shop on rue Quéles in 1788 in his native Nantes. He had an interest in the natural sciences and collected specimens of all the minerals, plants and animals he encountered. Eventually, he gave these important collections to the city of Nantes. There they constituted a museum of natural history, which opened to the public on 15 August 1810. On the occasion, Dubuisson gave a commemerative speech. He was one of the founders of the Société Académique de Nantes (Academic Society of Nantes).

Biographical references: ABF: I 337, 122-129. • Annales de la Société académique de Nantes: 7, 197. • DBF: 11, cols. 1109-10 [by St. Le Tourneur]. • Nouvelle Biographie Générale (Hoefer). • Poggendorff: 1, col. 608. • WBI.

Catalogue de la Collection, 1830

1. French, 1830 [Collecton catalog].
Catalogue | De La Collection | Minéralogique, Géognostique | Et Minéralurgique | Du Départment De La Loire-Inférieure, | Appartenant A La Mairie De Nantes, | Recueillin Et Classée | Par F.-R.-A. Dubuisson, | Professeur Et Conservateur Du Muséum D'Histoire Naturelle, | Membre De Plusieurs Sociétés Savantes. | [ornament] | A Nantes, | Imprimerie De Mellinet. | [rule] | 1830.

8°: π⁸ 2-20⁸; 168l.; [1]-301, [19] p. Contained within a pocket on the back cover, one folding map, "Carte | Geognostique | Du | Départment | De La | Loire=Inférieure. | ... | 1832." Page 37 misnumbered 73. Page size: 196 x 125 mm.

Contents: [1-2], Half title page, "Catalogue | De La Collection | Minéralogie, Géognostique | Et Minéralurgique | Du Départment De La Loire-Inférieure," verso blank.; [3-4], Title page, verso blank.; [5]-48, "Introduction."; [49]-301, "Catalogue | De La Collection | Mineralogue, Géognostique | Et Minéralurgique | ..."; [1 pg], Blank.; [8 pgs], "Table | Des | Noms Des Communes."; [8 pgs], "Table | Des | Noms Des Matières."; [1 pg], "Errata."; [1 pg], Blank.

Very scarce. Describes the mineralogical, paleontological and geological samples found in the region of the Loire-Inférieure in northwest France. The specimens described were almost all collected by Dubuisson on one of his many excursions within France. In the introduction he describes the terrain encountered and the best collecting areas. This is followed by a descriptive catalog of the specimens, including quartz, calcite, silver minerals, pyromorphite, mimetite, etc. At the end is an index of the various mineral synonyms and at table of contents. A large folding map, accompanying but not bound into the text, provides an overview of the region and the various locales from which specimens originated. The specimens described subsequently became part of the collections of the Muséum de Nantes (Natural History Museum of Nantes). This museum had been founded in 1799, when Dubuisson had donated his important natural history collections to the city of Nantes.

Bibliographical references: Petersen, World Directory of Mineral Collections, 1994: 92-3.

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