This thesis forms a contribution to the historical geography of botanical knowledge. It examines the writings, teaching and public engagement in botany of John Hutton Balfour (1808-1884), Regius Professor of Botany and Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) between 1845 and 1879. The thesis explores the methods and approaches used by Balfour to promote botany. It pays specific attention to his scientific correspondence, publications, teaching and pedagogical practices (including fieldwork) and to his role in promoting the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. The curriculum Balfour constructed covered the major aspects of nineteenth-century botanical knowledge: plant structure, morphology and classification as well as aspects then 'on the fringes' of becoming popular - plant physiology. In order to teach this curriculum, Balfour meticulously shaped scientific, pedagogic and social spaces into places of scientific production and discovery. Study of his published work, classroom, field sites and involvement with the public sphere together form the principal elements of this thesis. These are the central places and productive sites in which his botany was made. Balfour's published work allowed him to develop theoretical aspects in his view of botany. For Balfour, writing was an occupation about which he cared deeply both in terms of its role in knowledge circulation but also from a personal perspective. His publication of texts suitable for several distinct audiences (while financially rewarding,) was also an excellent method of circulating botanical and religious knowledge, two topics he was passionate to promote. The classroom provided the setting for Balfour to teach through practical instruction. He employed sensory stimulating objects in order to encourage students to learn the skill of botanical identification and observation. The 'field', like the classroom, was also a site of practical instruction. Balfour's construction of 'the field' was careful and deliberate. It was based on familiarity of location, experience of working in the field, and an extensive knowledge of the geographical distribution of plants in Scotland. Balfour's engagement with the public was evident in his involvement with the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (BSE), and by lectures delivered to groups with the object of moral improvement through botany. The thesis situates Balfour's work within recent literature on the historical geography of scientific knowledge, with particular attention to the importance of place and the sites of science's making. In this way, Balfour's work is illustrative of wider elements of the situated production, and variable dissemination, of scientific (botanical) knowledge.

Le présent travail porte sur les peintures de fleurs produites en Iran et en Inde entre le XVIe et le XVIIIe siècles et destinées à être montées dans des albums alliant peintures et calligraphies. Cette étude s'organise autour de trois axes de recherche. En premier lieu, l'étude de l'évolution des pratiques picturales au sein des ateliers de peinture, ainsi que la mise en évidence des différences formelles entre les centres de production. La taxonomie des peintures de fleurs a permis de mettre en évidence certains régionalismes, mais également des modes de représentation partagés entre l'Iran safavide (1501-1722), afshar (1736-1749) et zānd (1750-1794) d'un côté, et l'Inde moghole (1526-1857) et les cours provinciales de l'autre. Le second axe de recherche est consacré aux échanges entre l'Orient et l'Occident. Plusieurs peintures de fleurs persanes et indiennes sont issues d'herbiers et florilèges, imprimés en Europe à partir du XVe siècle. L'étude de l'apport européen dans ces productions de peintures permet de mettre en évidence les pratiques d'assimilation des formes exogènes par les artistes. Enfin, le troisième axe interroge le rôle tenu par les peintures de fleurs au sein des albums, ou muraqqaʻ. La compilation d'albums est attestée en Iran dès le XVe siècle, et passe vraisemblablement en Inde durant la première moitié du XVIe siècle. Les fleurs s'y déploient progressivement jusqu'à devenir omniprésentes, autant au centre des pages que dans les marges et sur les reliures. Les représentations florales revêtent des symboliques diverses qui sont à mettre en relation avec un abondant corpus poétique, mais également avec les patrons persans, indiens ou européens qui commandent ces précieux volumes. Parmi les conclusions, notons les attributions de dessins anonymes au peintre persan Shafīʻ ʻAbbāsī et une discussion sur les notions de copie et d'interprétation. / This dissertation focuses on flower paintings produced in Persia and India between the 16th and the 18th centuries to be mounted in albums, also called muraqqa'. This study is centered on three research axis. First, pictorial practices are analyzed, as well as the general evolution of floral forms on album pages. The taxonomic approach on flower paintings led to highlight regionalisms, but also depiction modes shared between Safavid (1501-1722), Afsharid (1736-1749) and Zand (1750-1794) Persia on one hand, and Mughal India (1526-1857) and Indian provincial courts on the other. The second line of research focuses on cultural and artistic exchanges between the East and the West. Many Persian and Indian flower paintings are copied from European printed herbaria and florilegia from the 15th century. The study of European input on these productions highlights assimilation practices of foreign forms. The third axis questions the role held by flower paintings in albums, or muraqqa'. From the 15th century, flowers gradually spread to become omnipresent in the center of the pages, in the margins and on the bindings. Floral representations take various symbolic values linked to an abundant poetic corpus, but also to Persian, Indian or European patrons who order these precious volumes. Among the conclusions, this thesis suggests new attributions of anonymous drawings to the Persian painter Shafīʻ ʻAbbāsī, and holds a discussion about concepts of copy and assimilation.