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{{Short description|French traveller, writer, photographer and pioneer of the darkroom}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Louis Rousselet
| image = Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet portrait circa 1910.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Louís Rousselet<br>{{center|ca. 1910}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1845|5|15}}
| birth_place = [[Perpignan]], France
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1929|11|19|1845|5|15}}
| death_place = [[Vineuil, Loir-et-Cher]], France
| language = French
| nationality = French
| citizenship = France
| alma_mater =
| notableworks =
| spouse = Thérèse Trotignon (1853-1944)
| children = 4
| occupation = Traveller, [[Author]], [[Photographer]], [[Archaeologist]]
}}

'''Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet''' (1845–1929) was a French traveller, writer, photographer and pioneer of the [[darkroom]]. His photographic work now commands high prices. Many of his drawings and photographs were made into engravings by others.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040404062641/http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2003/05/30/cx_0530hot.html], [http://www.iphotocentral.com/news/issue_view.php/65/60]</ref>

==Life==
The son of a wealthy [[Freight forwarder]], an only child; he was educated in Paris and [[Heidelberg]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rousselet family|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/pierfit?lang=en&p=louis&n=rousselet&oc=1|website=gw.geneanet.org|publisher=Geneanet|accessdate=7 October 2017}}</ref>
He made [[ethnological]] and [[archaeological]] explorations in India and the Himalayas, He travelled to Morocco, and was a Secretary of the [[Society of Anthropology of Paris]]. His travels have inspired several books. He made various archaeological expeditions in the southern French department of [[Pyrénées-Orientales]].

==Travels in India==
[[File:Louis Rousselet portrait.jpg|left|thumbnail|160px|Portrait of Louís Rousselet dressed as an Indian native. 1867]]
[[File:Le Tour du Monde.jpg|right|thumbnail|200px|[[Crushing by Elephant]], an execution depicted in Rousselet's "Le Tour du Monde", 1868.]]
He was in [[India]] from 1864 to 1868<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010707/windows/slice.htm The Tribune – Windows – Slice of history]</ref> He spent much time in central India ([[Alwar]], [[Baroda]], [[Bhopal]], [[Gwalior]], [[Udaipur]] and several other cities in [[Rajasthan]]).

Roussellet wrote: "On 20 June 1863<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousselet|first1=Louis|title=L'Inde des Rajahs|date=1877|publisher=Librairie Hachette et cie, Paris|page=1}}</ref> I embarked at Marseilles on board the "Vectis", an English steamer bound for the East", he stopped off in Malta, Cairo and Aden, before boarding the "Malta" taking the Suez Canal to Bombay and India,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousselet|first1=Louis|title=India and Its Native Princes|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpyiEDfTbSUC&q=who%20travelled%20with%20louis%20rousselet%20in%20india&pg=PR20|isbn=9788120618879|year=2005|publisher=Asian Educational Services }}</ref> "I intended to mainly visit all the northern region, which includes, besides the English Presidency of Bengal, the feudal states of Rajasthan, the Bundelcund, the Goundwana, The Punjab and the Kingdom of Nepal".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rousselet|first1=Louis|title=Intentions for the Indian expedition|url=http://www.quaritch.com/books/rousselet-louis/l-inde-des-rajahs-voyage-dans-l-inde-centrale-et-d/T2217/|website=quaritch.com|accessdate=7 October 2017}}</ref> He arrived at Bombay on 8 July 1863.<ref>{{cite book|title=Librairie Hachette et cie, Paris|date=1877|page=3}}</ref>

While in Bombay he met "Jules Henri Jean Schaumburg" (1839–1886) a Belgian, who was to be his travelling companion from May 1865 – Sept 1868. Schaumburg was later appointed as an artist to The Geological Survey of India in Calcutta.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Murphy|first1=Sylvia|title=Jules Henri Jean Schaumburg|url=http://quivis.uk/LINKLATER/gedcom_pages/indiI213.html|website=quivis.uk|accessdate=10 October 2017|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010212240/http://quivis.uk/LINKLATER/gedcom_pages/indiI213.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His intention was for a 6-month trip but he stayed 4 years. He was only the second photographer (after [[Samuel Bourne]]) to do so. Both men's photographs were extensively made into etchings without attribution in many cases worldwide.

On arrival in India he decided to learn photography (October 1865)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rousselet|first1=Lous|title=L'Inde des Rajahs|date=1877|publisher=Librairie Hachette et cie, Paris|page=141}}</ref> in order to supplement his diaries. after visiting the ruins at Dabhoi, he realized that his pencil sketches were not doing justice to the beauty of the elaborate architecture and carving. He was to write, "It was on seeing these generally unknown masterpieces at [[Dabhoi|Dubbhoee]] that I regretted I had not the power of reproducing them by photography, and felt that it would be impossible to continue my explorations profitably without the assistance of that art. As soon, therefore, as I returned to [[Baroda]], I applied myself seriously to learn photography; and with that view I procured from Bombay all the necessary apparatus".<ref>{{cite book|last1=(Rousselet|first1=Louis|title=India and its Native Princes|date=1869|publisher=Goupil|page=122}}</ref>

He took more than 600 photographs. On his return to France he published excerpts from his Indian diary along with [[woodcut]] illustrations taken mostly from his sketches and photographs in a French weekly journal ''[[Le Tour du Monde]]''. Many of the engravings were by Émile Thérond.

[[File:LluisRousselet.jpg|right|thumbnail|160px|Louís Rousselet with Jules Henri Jean Schaumburg. 1867]] He visited the [[Datia Palace|Bir Singh Dev Palace]] and it's lake Datia (Lala ka Taal) (1867).

When in [[Bhopal]] in 1867, the two companions were presented with Sirdar costumes: "The glittering costumes ordered by the Queen consisted of long tunics of green silk gauze embossed with gold; vast petticoat pantaloons of crimson satin embroidered with silver, kumerbunds, or cashmere belts, of violet and gold, cloaks of deep scarlet-coloured cashmere embroidered with gold and silver, and to crown all, toque diadems in fine gold."

He first visited [[Varanasi|Banaras (Kashi)]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]] and Delhi in 1868.

Rousselet then left India for the last time: "...and on the 1st September 1868, I went on board the "Labourdonnais" ... I had also to say good-bye to my good and faithful companion (Schaumburg), who was detained by fresh projects in the country. My old bearer Devi, the trusty servant who had followed me for two years through so many good and evil fortunes, was there also, melted in tears, and embracing my knees. At last the moment of parting arrived; the bell rang; I saw Schaumburg, and the old bearer pushing off in the boat, and waving me their last adieu."

==After India==
On return to France, in 1868, he began to work with [[Goupil & Cie]] on a publishing project entitled "travel in India ML Rousselet", composed of one hundred sixty photographic plates. This publication, was intended to be prestigious, rare and expensive. Unfortunately the project nearing completion, was abandoned as the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870 broke out. Rousselet was then mobilized and Goupil workshops suffered significant damage. However Rousselets extraordinary set of high quality technical and aesthetic quality photographs remained.<ref>{{cite web|title=Abandoned project|url=http://www.musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr/fr/article/-le-palais-de-birsing-deo-et-le-lac-duthhia-1867|website=musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr|accessdate=7 October 2017}}</ref>

In 1873 he became editor-in-chief of Hachette's ''Le Journal de la jeunesse'', a weekly magazine aimed at educating and entertaining youths aged between 10 and 15; the advent of World War I put a stop to it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Le Journal de la jeunesse|url=http://data.bnf.fr/12356011/le_journal_de_la_jeunesse__periodique_/|website=data.bnf.fr|publisher=Hachette|accessdate=9 October 2017}}</ref>

He was also director of the new dictionary of universal geography (Hachette), an Academy Officer, and a member of the Society for the Advancement of Science

The publication in 1875 by [[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette]] of his journal, ''The Rajahs of India'' ("L'Inde des [[Raja]]s"), a compilation of his notes, drawings and photographs, was a great success with a large audience. Rousselet was to remain faithful to Hachette thereafter and make a great career.

In 1876 he got married in Paris, to Thérèse Trotignon, they would have four children born in 1877, 1878, 1881, and 1891.

Rousselet's photographs are the most copied images published worldwide of 19th century India.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gutschow|first1=Niels|title=Visualizing Space in Banaras: Images, Maps, and the Practice of Representation|date=2006|publisher=Otto Harrossowitz Verlag Wiesbaden|isbn=3-447-05187-6|pages=191, 218–220|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMJMNvvpEuYC&pg=PA219|accessdate=18 January 2017}}</ref>

His photograph collection and travel book ''L'Inde des Rajahs: Voyage Dans l'Inde Centrale, dans les Presidences de Bombay et du Bengale'' (1875)<ref>In English, ''India and Its Native Princes'', 1875, English edition 1876, revised by Buckle.</ref> documented court life. Other photographs were of monuments and temples.<ref>[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/GOUPIL/FILES/Inde.html], in French.</ref>

==Death==
Rousselet died at [[Vineuil, Loir-et-Cher|Vineuil]] and was buried at [[Bourré, Loir-et-Cher]], in France.

==Honours==
[[Legion of Honour]] (Chevalier)
[[Palmes Académiques]]

==Works==
* ''L'Inde des [[Raja]]s: voyage dans l'Inde centrale et dans les présidences de Bombay et du Bengale'' (1875)
* ''India and its Native Princes'', éditions Chapman & Hall, 1876
* Les royaumes de l'Inde (1879)
+ " The Son of the Constable of France or the Adventures of Jean de Bourbon" (1882)
* ''Nouveau dictionnaire de géographie universelle'', with Vivien de Saint-Martin
* ''Au vieux pays de France'' (1906)
* Sur les confins du Maroc (1912)
* ''L'Inde: photographies de Louis Rousselet 1865–1868'', Musée Goupil, 1992

== Collection ==
* [[Musée d'Aquitaine]], Bordeaux. The museum contains the archives (Musée Goupil) of Goupil & Cie, one of the greatest art dealers and publishers of the 19th century. The collection includes – The India photographs of Louis Rousselet 1865-1868<ref>{{cite web|title=Exhibition catalog – India photographs of Louis Rousselet in 1865 ~ 1868|url=http://www.musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr/fr/search/node/Rousselet|website=musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr|accessdate=7 October 2017}}</ref>

== Expositions ==
* 1996, Musée des beaux-arts et d'archéologie, [[Libourne]]
* 1992, [[Musée d'Aquitaine]]

==Gallery of photographs==
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px" perrow="4">
File:Tour Eiffel, Juillet 1888.jpg|Eiffel Tower under construction (1888)
File:Galerie des Machines.jpg|Galerie des Machines de l'Exposition Universelle (1889)
File:Eglise de Plozévet 1899.jpg|File:Eglise de Plozévet (1899)
</gallery>

==Gallery of works after Rousselet==
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px" perrow="4">
File:Le costume historique. Cinq cents planches, trois cents en couleurs, or et argent, deux cents en camaieu. Types principaux du vêtement et de la parure, rapprochés de ceux de l'intérieur de (14783957273).jpg|Costumes of India
File:Le costume historique. Cinq cents planches, trois cents en couleurs, or et argent, deux cents en camaieu. Types principaux du vêtement et de la parure, rapprochés de ceux de l'intérieur de (14764084285).jpg|Costumes of India
File:"Bas-relief on the left, under the gateway at Karli".jpg|Bas-relief on the left, under the gateway at Karli
File:Ambir and Sambher Hindoo Jeweller.jpg|Hindoo Jeweller
File:Golconda 1878.jpg|Golconda 1878
File:Ruins of the Palace of Feroze, Plains of Delhi - a wood engraving by E. Therond.jpg|Palace of [[Feroze]], Plains of Delhi
File:Queen's tomb.jpg|[[Sarkhej Roza]] near Ahmedabad
File:Montage Tour Eiffel.jpg|Workers assembling the Eiffel Tower 1889
</gallery>

==References==
* ''L'Inde: photographies de Louis Rousselet 1865–1868''. Musée Goupil – Bordeaux, Bordeaux. (1992)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=7806| name=Louis Rousselet}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Louis Rousselet}}

{{Early French photographers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rousselet, Louis}}
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French archaeologists]]
[[Category:19th-century French anthropologists]]
[[Category:19th-century French journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century French male artists]]
[[Category:19th-century French photographers]]
[[Category:20th-century French archaeologists]]
[[Category:20th-century French anthropologists]]
[[Category:20th-century French journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century French photographers]]
[[Category:Artists from Occitania (administrative region)]]
[[Category:Children's literature]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:French expatriates in India]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Morocco]]
[[Category:French magazine editors]]
[[Category:French non-fiction outdoors writers]]
[[Category:French travel writers]]
[[Category:People from Loir-et-Cher]]
[[Category:People from Perpignan]]
[[Category:Writers from Occitania (administrative region)]]
[[Category:French recipients of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:19th-century French male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male journalists]]

Louis Rousselet - Revision history

Freaklabsindia at 04:39, 6 May 2026