Philibert Charles Berjeau
Illustration — The Burmese peacock softshell turtle, Nilssonia formosa, illustrated by Berjeau, 1878 Philibert Charles Berjeau (10 July 1845 – 1927), sometimes referred to as Ph. Charles Berjeau, was a natural history illustrator and lithographer, active in London in the late Victorian era. His subjects varied widely, including mammals, reptiles and especially birds, as well as fossils.
Also recorded as C. Berjeau · Charles Berjeau · Ph. Charles Berjeau · C. B.
Philibert Charles Berjeau

Philibert Charles Berjeau · Public domain
- Born
- 1845
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In this article
Life and work
Life and work
• Illustration — Berjeau's reconstruction of the extinct hoopoe starling of Réunion, Fregilupus varius, 1911 Berjeau was born in Paris on 10 July 1845 to Jean Philibert Berjeau and his wife, Marceline Adolphine (Bastien). He was the eldest son and had three surviving sisters, Jenny, Marguerite Alexandrine and Lucy C.S., along with a brother Maurice. Following the coup of Napoleon III, who overthrew the French Second Republic, the family was exiled to England in 1850–1, moving to Eastcastle Street in London, W.1, where Lucy and Maurice were born. By 1861 the family had relocated to 50 Georgiana Street in Camden Town, where he was still living in 1871, aged 25. Although he had returned to live with his parents by the time of the 1871 census, Berjeau had made his way to France to help defend his native city during the Siege of Paris (1870–71). He wrote a letter to his landlady, Mrs Susanna Crockford (wife of a brewery manager), of 190 Camden Road, London, NW 10, which was sent by balloon post from Paris, dated 17 November 1870, whilst he was serving with the Artillery de la Seine (Garde Nationale), 10th Batterie 4th Piece: • "We are at the eve of a serious engagement before Paris with our pluck severely tried by our isolation from all friends and their apparent want of action on our behalf. We leave resolved to stand up to the last, and the energetic measures adopted by our chiefs give us good hope of success... • I write you these few lines from the guard house of the artillery post where I have 24 hour picket duty before me. Now to pass the time away, I read, write, draw, smoke and talk and I have some capital fellows in my battery. The hours do not seem so long as they might. You can well fancy that nursing the dark night hours and watching by the fireside, my thoughts often wander home to England and not seldom they linger with pleasure on 190 Camden Road. But I am always severely brought back to reality by the sol[itary?] hooter! of some commonalty, travelling along the water or the beat of drums echoing amongst the tall houses..." Berjeau's father was an author, editor and engraver; in 1862 he published Le Bibliophile Illustré, claiming "Texte et Gravures par J. Ph. Berjeau". His book on horses, published in London in 1864, has the list of plates in both English and French. He followed in his father's footsteps with a skill in engraving. He started to publish his own engravings at an early age (about 17) with a book of drawings of dogs (1863), soon followed by another on horses (1864). In 1866 he collaborated with his father on Beggars, Rogues, and Vagabonds: he made the drawings and his father engraved them. He made illustrations for the British Museum of Natural History, and for the journal of the Geological Society of London. He made a sketch of the Sumatran rhinoceros which gave birth in Charles William Rice's stables on Commercial Road in December 1872. He worked as an illustrator for Robert Falcon Scott's S.S. Discovery expedition of 1901-1904, and the National Arctic Expedition of 1907-1912. Berjeau married Fanny Turner in Lambeth during the first quarter of 1874. Fanny survived her husband, living at 5 Beacon Hill, Holloway, Middlesex, as her final home, and died on 13 May 1930 at 77a Highgate Hill, Highgate, Middlesex.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1845
Philibert Charles Berjeau was born in 1845.
1927
Philibert Charles Berjeau died.
Works (written and illustrated)
Works (written and illustrated)
• Illustration — Illustration of Dogs, "Antique from the British Museum", 1863 • The Varieties of Dogs, as They Are Found in Old Sculptures, Pictures, Engravings, and Books: With the Names of the Artists by Whom They Are Represented, Showing How Long Many of the Numerous Breeds Now Existing Have Been Known, London: Dulau & Co, 1863 • The Horses of Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Renaissance: From the Earliest Monuments Down to the XVIth Century, London: Dulau & Co., 1864 • Beggars, Rogues, and Vagabonds. Drawn from life by Charles Berjeau. Engraved by Jean Philibert Berjeau, 1866
Works illustrated
Works illustrated
• Illustration — Skeleton of hoopoe starling, Fregilupus varius, 1874 • Lectures on Surgical Anatomy, by John Chiene, 1878 • Tabulate Corals of the Paleozoic, by Henry A. Nicholson], 1879 • Silurian Fossils of Girvan, by Robert Etheridge Jr, 1880 • Catalogue of the Blastoidea, by Philip H. Carpenter, 1886

The horses of antiquity, middle ages, and renaissance, from the earliest monuments down to the XVIth century
Berjeau, Ph. Charles (Philibert Charles) · https: Source book page
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Philibert Charles Berjeau, revision 1364705332 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census. FindMyPast.
- 2.Western Manuscripts: MISCELLANEOUS letters, chiefly autograph; Add MS 31022 A-S; f.79. The British Library Manuscripts Catalogue.
- 3.Berjeau, Jean Philibert. Le Bibliophile Illustre. W. Jeffs, Librairie Etrangere de la Famille Royale. 1862.
- 4.Berjeau, 1864. pp. 5–8.
- 5.Berjeau, Ph. C. The Varieties of Dogs, as They Are Found in Old Sculptures, Pictures, Engravings, and Books, Dulau, 1863.
- 6.Berjeau, Ph. C. The Horses of Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Renaissance, Dulau, 1864.
- 7.Berjeau, Ph. C. and Berjeau, J. Ph. Beggars, Rogues, and Vagabonds, 1866.
- 8.University of Stuttgart. Database of Scientific Illustrators 1450-1950: Berjeau, Philipert Charles.
- 9.Rookmaaker, L. C. The birth of the first Sumatran Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (Fischer, 1814) – London Docks 1872. Rhino Resource Center.
- 10.England & Wales Marriages 1874. FreeBMD.
- 11.UK Wills 1930. Find a will.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
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