Lijst van vissen in het eerste deel met de zeevissen 1809 - 1814

This is a page from a book listing fish, made by Joseph van Huerne, a Flemish physician and naturalist, around the turn of the 19th century. The book contains lists of fish in three languages: Dutch, Latin, and French. Van Huerne lived through a period of considerable upheaval, including the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the creation of Belgium. As a naturalist, he would have been part of a scientific community which was increasingly being formalized through institutions like universities and museums. Naturalists of this period sought to classify and describe the natural world, often with the aim of improving agriculture or medicine. Here, in the context of the Enlightenment, the illustrations are produced as part of a drive to systematize knowledge about the natural world. To understand this work better, a historian might consult Van Huerne's other writings or the records of scientific societies to which he belonged. The meaning of this book page is contingent on its historical, social, and institutional context.