Research Appendix and Audit Trail

This appendix preserves the methodological record of the Blanche Denise dossier. It is not a narrative. It is the documentation layer that keeps the argument reproducible and allows future researchers to verify, contest, or extend the findings without starting from scratch.

The audit trail records which source categories were consulted, which claims they support, and at what confidence level. Civil records support biographical facts. Migration records support the emigration timeline. The patent database supports the post-migration professional biography. Auction and catalog records document the claims being corrected. Visual comparison material supports the stylistic argument for the early date.

The chronological record: Blanche Denise Willmann born Saint-Denis c.1880. Parents: Eugène Willmann and Blanche Marie Honorine Souquet. Marriage to Felix Jacques Ferrero: Paris, 22 March 1898. Portrait context: c.1904. Family emigration to United States: 1907. Patent filed: 29 March 1930. Patent granted: 22 December 1931. Death: 13 November 1968, Saint-Denis.

Open verification tasks: (1) Resolution of birth-date discrepancy via Saint-Denis civil register. (2) Cast-specific provenance reconstruction from creation to current location. (3) Citation-grade confirmation of Judith Cladel and wider Rodin-circle connections. These tasks do not block the current correction but must be completed before the dossier can be considered publication-ready at the highest evidential standard.