2-704-374 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'George Louis Le Clerc, Comte De Buffon', 1774. Portrait of French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte du Buffon (1707-1778). Buffon was the author of the encyclopedic 44-volume "Histoire Naturelle", in which he proposed that the Earth existed before 4004 BC, the then generally accepted date of its creation. His work was a precursor of the theory of evolution. The inscription states that he was in charge of the royal botanical gardens, and a member of: 'the Acedemie Francaise, the Royal Acedemy of Sciences, the Royal Society of London and of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Berlin, of St Petersburg etc'. [J H Schneider, 1774]