Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Herbette, André Paul

HERBETTE, André Paul, French iconographer, b. in Santo Domingo in 1769; d. in Paris in 1817. He served in garrison at Santo Domingo, 1787-'91, and afterward establishing himself in the island of Tortugas, made a rich collection of plants. He left Tortugas in 1798 for the United States, was employed as a master of design in Harvard college, and accompanied Humboldt and Bonpland to Paris in 1802. There, with Poiteau and Turpin, Herbette was given the task of illustrating Humboldt's publications concerning America, and had exclusive charge of the iconography, 1803-'11. He also contributed designs to botanical periodicals in Germany, France, and England, and published “Aperçu sur la situation politique de Saint Domingué” (Paris, 1809; 2d ed., with charts, revised, 1817); “Traité d'iconographie végétale des Antilles” (2 vols., 1807); and “Dictionnaire raisonné d'iconographie végétale" (1815). Humboldt acknowledges his obligations to Herbette.