The work of Miot is not well known, but the following references may be of some help to researchers.
Four photographs of Newfoundland Micmacs by Miot, identical to the prints in the Musée de l'homme, Paris. The one print in the Musée de l'homme but not in the Musée d'Orsay is C 64-9103-173 (see above). It should be noted that these are in the museum archives, not in the Archives of the Ministère des affaires étrangères at the Quai d'Orsay.
Five photographies, identical to those in the Musée de l'Homme, Paris. Pitt Rivers Museum Musée de l'Homme
1951.11.63.316 C64-9104-173 1951.11.63.317 C64-9104-173 1951.11.63.318 C64-9103-173 1951.11.63.319 C64-9086-173
In his work carried out under Cloué, Miot assisted in the production of a significant number of hydrographic charts published by the French navy. Below are details of those charts available in the Public Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador. Cloué's work Le Pilote de Terre-Neuve (Paris: Lainé, 1869 et Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1882) gives details of more charts on which Miot collaborated. All of these charts are remarkable for their precision and detail. Plan de la baie d'Ingornachoix (côte nord-ouest de Terre-Neuve) levé en 1860 par Mr. G. Cloué, capitaine de frégate, commandant l'aviso à vapeur le Sésostris, secondé par MM. Ch. de Freycinet, Testu de Balincourt, E. Miot et Pillet, lieutenants de vaisseau. Promenades au musée de la marine, P.-E. Miot, (1898?). An extremely rare brochure, the only copy of which known to us is in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. We thank the Museum for providing this information. Contesse, Georges, La Marine d'autrefois. Tours: Mame, 1897. Préface by Miot, pp. 7-8. Articles Tessier, Guy, "The Portfolio: Nineteenth-century French photographs of Newfoundland." Archivist (Magazine of the National Archives of Canada), 108 (1995): pp. 5-12. Includes eight Miot photographs from these archives. Wilkshire, Michael and Gerald Penney, "Five Micmac Photographs." Newfoundland Quarterly, 3, LXXXVI (Spring 1991): 12-16. Includes five Miot photographs from the Musée de l'homme, Paris. Wilkshire, Michael
and Gerald Penney, "Paul-Émile Miot: 19th century photographer of
Newfoundland." Newfoundland Quarterly, 4, LXXXVIII, 4 (Summer
1994): pp. 3-4. Includes three Miot photographs from the Bibliothèque
nationale, Paris. Books A Gentleman in the Outports: Gobineau and Newfoundland. Edited and translated by Michael Wilkshire. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1993. A translation of Gobineau's Voyage à Terre-Neuve, a short story, La Chasse au caribou, and a number of diplomatic dispatches, with an introduction. This book includes some of the photographs from the Musée de l'homme as well as the three from the Public Record Office. Castelain, Jean-Pierre et Yves Leroy, Images de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Le Havre: Le Volcan, 1990-91. 126: brief biography of Miot, including an anonymous photograph of him dated circa 1875. This book also includes reproductions of three Miot prints from the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, (pp. 13, 77 and 78). These are the same as those in the National Archives of Canada: PA-194625, PA-194629, and PA-188212. Chomette, Michèle et Pierre-Marc Richard, Paul-Émile Miot (1827-1900), un marin photographe. Four booklets with numerous Miot photographs: I Terre-Neuve 1857-1859, II Amérique du Sud 1868-1870, III Océanie 1869-1870 et Sénégal 1871, IV La croisade de l'Astrée 1868-71. Paris: Éditions Galerie Michèle Chomette, 1995. The best and most comprehensive study of Miot's photographic work. Cloué, Georges-Charles, Le Pilote de Terre-Neuve. Paris: Lainé, 1869 & Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1882. Contesse, Georges, La Marine d'autrefois. Tours: Mame, 1897. Preface by Miot, pp. 7-8. Taillemitte, Etienne, Dictionnaire des marins français. Paris: Editions Maritimes et d'Outre-mer, 1982. P. 236: brief biography of Miot. Tréfeu,
Etienne, Nos marins. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1888. Pp. 375-80: section
on Miot. There is also a section on Cloué (pp. 101-8). Tréhin, Jean-Yves. Tahiti. L'Éden à l'épreuve de la photographie. Paris: Gallimard, 2003. A collection of old photographs of Tahiti, including 17 Miot sepia reproductions.
Various Letter from Cloué to Mazères, St. John's, Newfoundland, 27 September 1857; Archives nationales, Paris; MAR BB4 797. Copy certified as accurate by Mazères. (Cloué was Miot's commanding officer that year and the letter describes the young officer's photographic work.) Extracts from Gobineau's Voyage à Terre-Neuve published in Le Tour du Monde in 1863, 1er semestre, pp. 401-16. (The text is accompanied by illustrations drawn from photographs, some of which appear to have been by Miot.) "Terre-Neuve". Article by O'Brig in 2 parts published in L'Illustration, journal universel. Part 1: 19 March 1859, pp. 183-6. Part 2: 2 April 1959, pp. 215-218. Engraving in L'Illustration, journal universel, September 1860, p. 160. Title: "Entrée du prince de Galles à Saint-Jean de Terre-Neuve. - D'après une photographie envoyée par M. E. Miot, lieutenant de vaisseau." (Entry of the Prince of Wales into St. John's, Newfoundland. - From a photograph sent by Mr. E. Miot, Lieutenant.) "Portrait de Paul-Émile Miot" — anonymous photographic portrait of Miot in Images de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, p. 126. Photograph of a bust of Miot, Archives du musée de la marine, Paris. Photo no. 2764 (also given the reference 410A50). In addition, the Service historique de la marine at Vincennes has a fine album of photographs by Miot taken after his years in Newfoundland, largely of people and scenes in the Pacific. Catalogue for a sale by auction of Miot prints in November 2001 containing reproductions of many of the photographs: "IIe Partie: Photographies Paul-Émile Miot, Ensemble de 25 photographies de son premier voyage à Terre-Neuve, 1857. Beaussant Lefèvre, Commissaires Priseurs Associés, Paris-Drouot, jeudi 15 novembre 2001." Finally, in an
unpublished letter dated 3 April 1962, the Directeur des musées de
la marine, Captain Vichot, says that Miot was believed to have written a
printed work entitled Promenades au musée de la marine dated
1898. However, Vichot also mentions that no trace of the work was found in
the Musée de la marine or in the Bibliothèque nationale. (Letter
in the Archives du Musée de la Marine, Paris.) Nor is this work
in the British Museum catalogue or the National Union of Catalogue (pre-1956
Imprints). It may have been an ephemeral publication with limited circulation.
If anyone has any information on the existence of this work
we would very much like to hear it. Web Exhibits Library and Archives Canada has all of the Miot photographs that they own available online; click here to consult the database (ArchiviaNet: online research tool). Or click here to go to their Miot exhibition. Page composed by Lucien Girardin, a photographer from St-Pierre. This site contains a portrait of Miot and several photographs not available from any of the above sources (see "Iceberg dans la baie de KIRPON", "Officiers et Marins au bord de l'eau", and "Pêche à la morue à l'aide d'une seine"). |