Circles of Confidence in Correspondence: Modeling Confidentiality and Secrecy in Knowledge Exchange Networks of Letters and Drawings in the Early Modern Period Charles van den Heuvel 1), Scott Weingart 2), Nils Spelt 3) and Henk Nellen 1) 1) Huygens ING – The Hague (Netherlands)
[email protected] ;
[email protected] 2) Carnergie Mellon University Pittsburgh (USA)
[email protected] 3) Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands)
[email protected] Abstract Science in the early modern world depended on openness in scholarly communication. On the other hand, a web of commercial, political, and religious conflicts required broad measures of secrecy and confidentiality; similar measures were integral to scholarly rivalries and plagiarism. This paper analyzes confidentiality and secrecy in intellectual and technological knowledge exchange via letters and drawings. We argue that existing approaches to understanding knowledge exchange in early modern Europe – which focus on the Republic of Letters as a unified entity of corresponding scholars – can be improved upon by analyzing multilayered networks of communication. We describe a data model to analyze circles of confidence and cultures of secrecy in intellectual and technological knowledge exchanges. Finally, we discuss the outcomes of a first experiment focusing on the question of how personal and professional/official relationships interact with confidentiality and secrecy, based on a case study of the correspondence of Hugo Grotius. Keywords Republic of Letters, network analysis, circulation and visualization of knowledge Confidentiality and Secrecy in the Republics of Letters: Introduction “Networks of Trust” is the title of an article by Franz Mauelshagen, and one of many publications that discuss the concept of confidentiality in the Republic of Letters.