Atlas de physique et de meteorologie agricoles.

Rare atlas of meteorology and agronomy of France, Europe and the world printed by Hayet in Versailles. Illustrated with frontispiece and 13 maps lithographed in colors. The maps depict the distribution of vines, plants, cereals, rain in France, Europe and the world.

The atlas is illustrated with 13 plates drawn and engraved on stone by the author, accompanied by an explanation text. For this atlas, Nicolet obtains a critical success and receives in 1855 the gold medal at the “Universal Exhibition” in Paris, but will never be a financial success

HERCULE NICOLET (18 January 1801 - 16 September 1872) is a Swiss lithographer and entomologist (arachnologist).
He leads a eventful life. First as a pharmacist in Locle, then as a primary school teacher and engraver in La Ferrière.
In 1835 he is in Paris and works in the lithographic workshop of Mlle. Formentin. He is capable to draw everything on stone even maps. But in 1835 he marries and decides to found his own lithographic workshop “Impasse du Doyenné 3, Place du Carrousel”, and 2 years later he moves to Neuchatel (Switzerland) where he founds his Lithographic Institute. He works for Agassiz and produces the beautiful chromolithographic plates for Agassiz ’Fresh water fishes. He also produces the plates and maps for Agassiz’ work on Glaciers. He realizes the plates for Du Bois de Montperreux’s Journey in Caucasia. In 1840 he undertakes with his partners a trip in his Canton to take pictures with daguerreotypes the pictures will be reproduced in an album edited by the publisher Bachelin. He studies the insects and draws after nature a collection of spiders and publishes a work on the Podurelles. He is also interested in the moon and is in contact with the Society for natural science.
But in 1846, Agassiz leaves for America without paying most of his due and Mrs Nicolet leaves with Nicolet’s partner.
Nicolet is in a disastrous situation and will live in poverty for a few years. He comes back in France where he obtains the position of curator for the collections of the national institute of agronomy in Versailles.
He marries again and has to raise to children, in the meanwhile the institute of agronomy has been closed. To survive, he decides to write publications on entomology but it doesn’t bring enough money.
Encouraged by the professors Decaisne, Becquerel and Bandrement he met in the institute of agronomy in Versailles, he decides to produce at his own cost an atlas for physical and meteorological agriculture in order to improve the teaching of agronomy in France.

Reference: Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, n°39 (2006) : 455-458.