Top of the Mont Blanc

Descent from the Mont Blanc in 1787 by H.B. de Saussure
Copperplate engraving, by Christian von Mechel
The "Top of the Mont Blanc" on display in Teylers Museum

The so-called Top of the Mont Blanc is a collection piece on display in the Oval Room of Teylers Museum.[1] The specimen was cut off from the highest findable piece of exposed rock of the Rocher de la Tournette, 4,677 metres (15,344 ft) high on the snow covered summit ridge of the Mont Blanc on 3 August 1787, during one of the first climbs of the mountain by the Swiss scientific pioneer Horace Bénédict de Saussure.[2]

  1. ^ The Oval Room is the display location as at 2012
  2. ^ Website of the Teylers Museum on the top of the Mont Blanc Archived 2013-05-25 at the Wayback Machine