Marc-Théodore Bourrit
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Marc_Theodore_Bourrit_%281735_-_1815%29.jpg/220px-Marc_Theodore_Bourrit_%281735_-_1815%29.jpg)
Marc-Théodore Bourrit (1739–1819) was a genevois traveller and writer.
Biography
Marc-Théodore Bourrit came of a family which was of French origin but had taken refuge at Geneva for reasons connected with religion. His father was a watchmaker there, and he himself was educated in his native city. He was a good artist and etcher, and also a pastor, so that by reason of his fine voice and love of music he was made (1768) precentor of the church of St Peter (the former cathedral) at Geneva.[1][2]
This post enabled him to devote himself to the exploration of the Alps, for which he had conceived a great passion ever since an ascent (1761) of the Voirons, near Geneva. In 1775 he made the first ascent of the Buet (3096 m) by the now usual route from the Pierre à Bérard, on which the great flat rock known as the Table au Chantre still preserves his memory. In 1784–1785 he was the first traveller to attempt the ascent of Mont Blanc (not conquered till 1786), but neither then nor later (1788) did he succeed in reaching its summit. On the other hand, he reopened (1787) the route over the Col du Géant (3371 m), which had fallen into oblivion, and travelled also among the mountains of the Valais and the Bernese Oberland.[1]
He received a pension from Louis XVI, and was named the historiographe des Alpes by Emperor Joseph II, who visited him at Geneva. His last visit to Chamonix was in 1812.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Bourrit%2C_Marc-Th%C3%A9odore_%E2%80%93_Description_des_Alpes_Pennines_et_Rhetiennes%2C_1781_%E2%80%93_BEIC_6843003.jpg/220px-Bourrit%2C_Marc-Th%C3%A9odore_%E2%80%93_Description_des_Alpes_Pennines_et_Rhetiennes%2C_1781_%E2%80%93_BEIC_6843003.jpg)
Bourrit's writings are composed in a naive, sentimental and rather pompous style, but breathe throughout a most passionate love for the Alps, as wonders of nature, and not as objects of scientific study. His chief works are the Description des glacières de Savoye, 1773 (English translation, Norwich, 1775–1776), the Description des Alpes pennines et rhétiennes (2 vols., 1781), and the Descriptions des cols ou passages des Alpes, (2 vols., 1803), while his Itinéraire de Genève, Lausanne et Chamouni, first published in 1791, went through several editions in his lifetime.[1]
Works
- Description des glacières de Savoye, 1773. English translation, Norwich, 1775–1776.
- Description des Alpes Pennines et Rhetiennes. Vol. 1. Genève. 1781.
- Description des Alpes Pennines et Rhetiennes. Vol. 2. Genève. 1781.
- Itinéraire de Genève. Lausanne et Chamouni, 1791; with several editions.[1]
- Descriptions des cols ou passages des Alpes, 2 vols., 1803.
References
- ^ a b c d e public domain: Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort (1911). "Bourrit, Marc Théodore". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). p. 334. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Fergus Fleming The Conquest of the Alps 2002 – Page 60 "... ode that eulogised Balmat as the Columbus of the Alps, misspelled Paccard's name, disparaged Saussure as a mere amateur and included several laudatory references to one Marc-Théodore Bourrit. Nobody took much notice. Poor Bourrit."
External links
- Pictures and texts of Description des Alpes Pennines et Rhétiennes by M. T. Bourrit can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
- Pictures and texts of Description des cols ou passages des Alpes by M. T. Bourrit can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
- Pictures and texts of Description des glacières, glaciers et amas de glace du Duché de Savoie by M. T. Bourrit can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
- Pictures and texts of Nouvelle description des glacières, vallées de glace et glaciers qui forment la grande chaîne des Alpes de Suisse, d'Italie et de Savoye by M. T. Bourrit can be found in the database VIATIMAGES
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- Use dmy dates from April 2020
- Articles with FAST identifiers
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat Entities identifiers
- Articles with BIBSYS identifiers
- Articles with BNE identifiers
- Articles with BNF identifiers
- Articles with BNFdata identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with ICCU identifiers
- Articles with J9U identifiers
- Articles with KBR identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with NKC identifiers
- Articles with NTA identifiers
- Articles with PLWABN identifiers
- Articles with VcBA identifiers
- Articles with DSI identifiers
- Articles with RKDartists identifiers
- Articles with SIKART identifiers
- Articles with ULAN identifiers
- Articles with DTBIO identifiers
- Articles with HDS identifiers
- Articles with SUDOC identifiers
- 1739 births
- 1819 deaths
- 18th-century writers from the Republic of Geneva
- Mountain climbers from the Republic of Geneva
- Swiss writers in French