Clara was exhibited in Reims in December 1748, leaving on 30 December 1748 (source 4651). The permission was sought by Louis Olivier from Metz, who may have leased the animal for the occasion (source 4652).
Reims is 190 km west of Metz (France).
Literature
- Rookmaaker 1973: 50,
- Rookmaaker 1998: 65,
- Gandilhon 1980: 128
Source 4651. Notice on broadsheet recorded by Loisel
Loisel, G. 1912. Histoire des menageries de l’antiquite a nos jours. Paris, Octave Doin et fils and Henri Laurens. vol. 1, pp. 1–319; vol. 2, pp. 1–392; vol. 3, pp. 1–563.
Loisel, 1912, Menageries, vol. 2, p.278
Original text (French)
Rhinoceros arriva à Reims à la fin de l’année 1748 “dans une loge construite sur un fort chariot trainé par vingt chevaux.” … quitta Reims le lundi 30 decembre 1748 pour aller directement à Versailles.
Note: Loisel, p.50 refers to broadsheet with 4 languages “Rhinocerot”. Note: the sheet is 56 x 41 cm. A copy bought by a resident of Reims when the animal passed through the town, now in the collection of M. J. Cottreau in Paris, where Loisel saw it. Le premier proprietaire de l’estampe avait ecrit au dos quelques renseignements qui nous ont servi.
* collection Cottreau, sale 1910, has no prints
Source 4652. Lease of rhino
Gandilhon, R. 1980. Saltimbanques et comediens aux foires de Reims. Memoires de la Societe d’Agriculture du Depertament de Marne 95: 121–165.
Gandilhon (1980) from archival evidence states
A rhinoceros was shown in Reims in December 1748 by Louis Olivier from Metz, who had rented the animal from the owner Captain Van der Meer.
* His source in footnote is “B 6989” referring to departmental archives (not found online).
