Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Bonaparte, Charles Lucien Jules Laurent

BONAPARTE, Charles Lucien Jules Laurent, prince of Canino and Musignano, ornithologist, b. in Paris, 24 May, 1803; d. there, 30 July, 1857. He was the eldest son of Lucien Bonaparte, and in 1822 married a daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, king of Spain. Soon afterward he settled with his father-in-law in Philadelphia, and during his residence in the United States studied the ornithology of the country. In 1828 he removed to Italy, in the revolution of 1848 was a leader of the republican party in Rome, and in 1849 was chosen vice-president of the constituent assembly. After the occupation of Rome by French troops, he returned to France, but was expelled by order of Louis Napoleon. Permitted to return to Paris in 1850, he became in 1854 director of the Jardin des Plantes. He published in the United States a supplement to Wilson's “Ornithology,” entitled “American Ornithology, or History of the Birds of the United States” (4 vols., Philadelphia, 1825-'33), containing more than 100 new species discovered by himself; also “Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's ‘Ornithology,’” printed in the “Journal” of the academy of Philadelphia; a “Synopsis of the Birds of the United States” in the “Annals” of the lyceum of New York; a “Catalogue of the Birds of the United States” in the “Contributions” of the Maclurian lyceum of Philadelphia; and other papers on the same subject. In Italy he was the originator of several scientific congresses, and lectured and wrote extensively on American and European ornithology and other branches of natural history. He published “Specchio Comparativo delle Ornithologie di Roma e di Filadelfia” (Pisa, 1827), presenting a comparison between birds of the latitude of Philadelphia and Italian species; “Iconografia della Fauna Italica” (Rome, 1833-'41), an elaborate illustrated work on the fauna of Italy; “List of the Birds of Europe and North America” (1838); “Conspectus Generum Avium” (Leyden, 1850); “Revue critique de l'ornithologie Européenne” (Brussels, 1850); in collaboration with H. Schlegel, “Monographie des loxiens” (Leyden, 1850); and, after his return to Paris, “Catalogue des oiseaux d'Europe” (Paris, 1856); also a descriptive catalogue of pigeons and one of parrots, prepared in conjunction with M. de Pouancé and published after his death. His “Memoirs,” written by himself, appeared in New York in 1836.