Bulletin of Portuguese - Japanese Studies ISSN: 0874-8438 [email protected] Universidade Nova de Lisboa Portugal

Golvers, Noël DISTANCE AS AN INCONVENIENT FACTOR IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE JESUITS IN (17TH / 18TH CENTURY) Bulletin of Portuguese - Japanese Studies, vol. 18-19, junio-diciembre, 2009, pp. 105-134 Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisboa, Portugal

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DISTANCE AS AN INCONVENIENT FACTOR IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE JESUITS IN CHINA (17TH / 18TH CENTURY)

Noël Golvers K.U. (Fac. of Arts, Dept. Sinology) – F. Verbiest Institute

Abstract

Distance was a key element in the existential situation of the European Jesuits in China in the 17th-18th century. In addition to the linguistic and cultural distance they had to overcome, we will reflect here especially on the geographical distance (with consequences in terms of time and money), as a contribution to the historical research on the scientific communication from Europe to China, more precisely on the basis of a selection of contemporary testimonia. Therefore, I focus on three precise questions: (1) how seriously the geographical distance did affect a smooth communication of Western scientific innovations (through mail and books) to China; (2) which initiatives the Jesuits took to counter these problems of communication and to optimize the conditions for an adequate supply of books and information from Europe (by organizing a network of control ‘in via’; looking for sponsoring; ratio- nalizing their demands; etc.); (3) and how efficient these initiatives were, especially measured from the time lapse between a book’s publication date in Europe, the date of shipping to China and its first mention there (in the best conditions from ca.3 years in the early 17th to less than 12 months in the 18th cent.).

Resumo

A distância era um elemento-chave na situação existencial dos Jesuítas europeus na China, nos séculos XVII-XVIII. Para além da distância linguística e cultural que tinham de ultrapassar, reflectiremos aqui especificamente sobre a distância- geográ fica (com consequências em termos de tempo e dinheiro), enquanto contribuição para a pesquisa histórica sobre a comunicação científica da Europa para a China, mais precisamente tendo por base uma selecção de testemunhos contemporâneos. Centrar- ‑me-ei portanto em três questões precisas: (1) em que medida é que a distância geográfica afectou uma comunicação eficaz da inovação científica ocidental (através de correio e 106 Noël Golvers

livros) para a China; (2) quais as iniciativas tomadas pelos Jesuítas para contrariar estes problemas de comunicação e optimizar as condições para um fornecimento adequado de livros e informação da Europa (organizando uma rede de controlo de entra- das; procurando patrocínios; racionando os seus pedidos; etc.); (3) e até a que ponto estas iniciativas foram eficientes, especialmente quando medidas a partir do espaço de tempo entre a data de publicação de um livro na Europa, a data do seu envio para a China e a primeira referência ao mesmo neste país (nas melhores condições, cerca de 3 anos no início do século XVII a menos de 12 meses no século XVIII).

要約

距離は17世紀から18世紀の中国におけるヨーロッパのイエズス会に実存 した重要な要素だった。 彼らが超えなければならなかった言語的及び文化的な距離に加えて、我 々は特にヨーロッパから中国へのサイエンスコミュニケーションの歴史 研究への貢献としての地理的距離（時間と金銭への影響）を当時の選択 されたより正確な証に基づいて研究した。 したがって、具体的に次の３つの問題に焦点をあてた: (1) 地理的な距離は西洋の科学革新の中国への効果的なコミュニケー ション(郵便や本による)にいかに影響を及ぼしたか; (2) イエズス会がこれらコミュニケーションの問題に、またヨーロッ パからの書籍や情報の適切な供給のための条件の改善（経由地制御の組 織化; 支援の獲得; 要求の合理化; 等々）に、どのように取り組んだか; (3) このような取り組みはどのような効果をもたらしたか、特にヨー ロッパでの書籍の出版日付からの時間経過、中国への出荷日付と到着先 での最初の記録（17世紀初頭では最上の条件下で3年、18世紀では12ヶ 月未満）から。

Keywords:

Jesuits, China mission, history of science, 17th and 18th century, scientific communi- cation

Jesuítas, missão da China, história da ciência, séculos XVII e XVIII, comunicação cien- tífica

イエズス会士 – 中国のミッション – 科学史 – 17世紀および18世紀 – サイエンス コミュニケーション Distance as an inconvenient factor 107

“(…) Je n’ay entendu parler de rien, et il faut qu’en chemin ils se soient perdus. Paris et Pékin sont loin l’un de l’autre, et dans une si grande distance, il faut bien s’attendre que plusieurs choses ou se perdent ou changent entièrement de nature” (A. Gaubil, on 9.IX.1725 to Jean-Baptise Du Halde [R. Simon, Le P. Antoine Gaubil, S.J., Correspondance de Pékin, 1722-1759, Geneva, 1970, p. 82]).

“Je vous ay, ce me semble, averti que je n’ai jamais receu la vie de Gentchiscan, je vous ay aussi envoyé le catalogue des livres que je n’ay jamais receus, et que vous dites pourtant avoir été envoyés par vous. De votre chambre à la mienne, il y a bien loin, et bien des endroits dangereux à passer” (A. Gaubil to E. Souciet, on 5.XI.1730 [R. Simon, ibid., p. 271]).

*

Distance was a key element in the existential condition of the Jesuits (and other congregations) in China in the 17th-18th century. First in the most literal, geographical – and, by consequence, temporal – sense: by the ‘via Lusitana’ or ‘Goana’ the distance between Europe, say (the only starting point for Far Eastern ‘excursions’), and (the main harbour of arrival) was about two years, depending on weather conditions and the peripetia en route; this was the proverbial “90.000’ or ‘100.000” li the Jesuits mentioned in their Chinese reports regarding this intercontinental distance; in the late-17th and especially the 18th century, thanks to technological inno- vations, this route was seriously shortened – up to a period of about 8 months – by the ‘via Batavica (Jaquetrensis)’, the ‘Via Gallica’, etc.; but from the reports of the Jesuits, traumatized by the meteorological conditions during the transit, the living conditions on board, sea monsters, etc. we can under- stand how immense this distance was felt by those who survived the journey (about 6,8% died); for Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688), as for many of his fellow fathers, the sea journey itself was part of the palm of ‘martyrdom’ they could gain in the Chinese / Japanese mission anyway.1 After installation in China, they were confronted with the ‘cultural’ distance, which manifestly existed between the Humanistic European civi- lization and the contemporary Late-Ming, Early Qing-culture (albeit with some remarkable concordances, such as the central position of book culture). The linguistic situation certainly contributed considerably to reinforce this feeling of distance and alienation, and the study of Chinese was felt as a ‘tedious’, albeit unavoidable commitment; I mean the study of Mandarin

1 H. Josson & L. Willaert, Correspondance, 252 – 253. 108 Noël Golvers

Chinese – the only possible vehicle of communication with the Chinese lite- rati, the target group by excellence of Jesuit strategies. Already since - Terrentius (1576-1630) in the , we find – in pri- vate letters to Europe – expressions of some clear ‘disgust’ towards this study, only supportable in view of the final missionary commitment:

“Already for two years I am occupied with (the study of) this language, and I still don’t speak it, nor do I understand books, so difficult is the language. The origin of the problem is that we are learning at the same time the language and books, and it looks like we are studying three languages. Because the language itself one learns within two years, so that one can speak it conveniently, not in another way that one speaks Polish, or Hungarian, or Turkish. For the study of the characters, one year does not suffice. After two years I have still not perfectly learned 3000 characters: ‘sie flieg aus und ein wie die Tauben im tauben sich lag’. Even if one under- stands characters, one does not understand books. One has to guess from the individual characters what their intention is [etc.]. I have to work hard for another one or two years more, until I have some understanding of books. Within one year, I hope I will speak suffi- ciently, not without many errors, but enough to understand and to be understood”.2 (Terrentius, in a letter of 22 April 1622 to the physician Johann Faber in ).3

Compare this with another statement, of some thirty years later, from François de Rougemont, S.J. (1624-1676): “We are occupied in the mean- time with the study of the language and almost innumerable characters. It is an enormous and wholly tedious work, if it were not undertaken for God and the Souls” (in a letter of 23.XII.1658 to Jean Bollandus).4 In addition to this subjective feeling, there was also a more objective factor: according

2 “Iam duos annos occupor in ista lingua, sed necdum vel loquor vel libros intelligo, tanta est linguae difficultas. Caussa rei est, quod simul discamus linguam et libros, et perinde est ac si tres lingas disceremus. Nam lingua sola discitur intra duos annos, ut quis commode loqui possit, non minus quam quis apud nos linguam Polonam aut Hungaram aut Turcicam. Pro litteris discendis non sufficit unus annus. Ego intra duos annos nondum novi perfecte 3000 characteres: ‘sie flieg aus und ein wie die Tauben im tauben sich lag’. Intellectis characteribus, nihil in libris intellegitur. Oportet in singulis characteribus divinare quid velit, (etc.). Adhuc annum unum alterumve sudare oportet, donec libros aliquod intelligam. Intra annum spero me locuturum sufficienter non sine multis erroribus, sed ita ut intelligam et intelligar”. 3 G. Gabrieli, “Giovanni Schreck”, 506. 4 Bosmans, “Lettres inédites”, 30: “Vacamus interim addiscendae linguae et characteribus prope innumeris; ingens et taedii plenus labor, nisi esset Dei et animarum causâ susceptus”. Distance as an inconvenient factor 109 to common belief among China-Jesuits (and Franciscans!), 40 years was the maximum age, after which it was supposed to be impossible at all to start studying Chinese.5 Last but not least, both this geographical reality and the perception of an enormous cultural gap will have caused a feeling of psychological distance and isolation: the presence of a few dozen European , dispersed over so enormous an area, and the brutal confrontation of these bearers of a Teaching they regarded as the only Truth with a rather xenophobic culture which considered itself the Middle of the World was certainly not always an amusing personal experience. It is obvious that the geographical distance especially had a deep impact on many aspects of the Mission’s life: not only on verbal communication with Europe, with a far-reaching influence on the exchange of information and points of view, and on the transmission from Rome, etc. of ‘political’ deci- sions, but also on questions so vital to the subsistence and the organization of the Mission as the arrival of new recruits and the necessary financing, always for an important part dependent on Europe and contacts with Macau. In the following notes I will focus especially on (1) the central position of science in the Jesuit mission in China, and consequently the ‘strategic’ need for per- manent updating of the scientific communication; (2) how and to what extent the missionaries in China tried to realize this, despite the geographical dis- tance and material inconveniences, and (3) to what extent they succeeded/ failed in this purpose. For this I rely on two types of sources: (a) the evidence I collected during my investigation of the Jesuit sources from China, roughly in the period 1650-1750, including approximately 1,300 Western book titles, of which about 210 are titles on science that were cer- tainly at hand in 17th or 18th-century China.6 (b) In addition, there are the extant books on science in H. Verhaeren’s catalogue of the Beitang library, several of them with inscriptions, which inform us on the circumstances (including dates) in which they were acquired in China.

5 “Dos religiosos pido a nuestro hermano Provincial de los que truxere nuestro hermano Fr. Matheo, que sean de poca edad, para aprender mejor esta dificultosa lengua; que en entrando a apren- derla de 40 años, no la pueden aprender, la experiencia lo enseña”: Blasco Ibañez, in: Alcobendas, Las misiones franciscana, 129. On Jesuits and their study of Chinese in China, see Brockey, Journey to the East, 243-286. 6 For a correct understanding: these are the some 240 titles on science mentioned in the sources from China, minus those which are only known as ‘wanted’, without more information on their actually having arrived. 110 Noël Golvers

1. The strategic need for a permanent updating of scientific information

1.1. The position of Western science

Shortly after the establishment of the Jesuit mission in China around the turn of the 17th century, (1552-1610) had already concluded – and on many occasions also stressed in his letters to Europe – how instru- mental and positive the influence of European science, especially in the fields of and astronomical calculation and prediction, was on the Chinese, with a very positive overflow into the cause of the mission itself (H. Bernard).7 Therefore, he urgently asked both for experienced although not necessarily specialised mathematicians, and for the basic study books and manuals which, according to his own statements, were missing in his own luggage when he left for China. With the return of (1577- 1628) to China, after his ‘journey of recruitment’ through the European continent in 1616-1618, with a proverbial ‘7,000 vols.’ of Western books, afterwards distributed over a series of residences, these desiderata were to a large extent – at least temporarily – satisfied.8 Indeed, although there are serious doubts on this unusually high number, there are at least about 500 vols. still extant, in the present Beitang collection, now in the ‘Rare Books Room’ of the Municipal Library of Peking, which for material reasons (cover; binding; armouries; inscriptions) can be traced back to the Trigault journey (H. Verhaeren); among them are large groups of books on science, from astronomy to medicine.9 Almost all of these extant volumes appear to have been assigned since the very beginning (i.e. the early 1620s) to the Peking Jesuit residence, shortly later called Xitang, and from the early 18th century Nantang. Peking was indeed the main (though not the only!) centre where the Jesuits were occupied with science, and this because of the imme- diate neighbourhood of the Court City. Just to correct this all too strict limi- tation of Jesuit science in China to the Court, I would like to recall that Western books on science were also mentioned, in different circumstances

7 Among the many ‘classical’ authorities for this fundamental conclusion of Ricci’s, see the monographs by H. Bernard (1935) and J. D. Spence (1984), 132 ff. 8 For the passages in Chinese sources, all referring to this number: P. D’Elia, “Scienze occiden- tali”, 62-63. The only narrative and coherent report, written by N. Trigault himself, was published by Lamalle, “La propagande du P. Nicolas Trigault”, 49-120. The books first arrived in Macau in 1620; they were temporarily stocked there until 1623 (Verhaeren, Catalogue, p. X); on the subse- quent division of these volumes over the existing residences in mainland China, I know only one explicit testimony, of about 60 years later, of F. Verbiest, in Archivum Romanum Societatis Jesu [henceforth: ARSI], Congr. Prov., 81, f. 219/1. 9 All this material has in fact been still poorly studied from the point of view of book history, contents, provenance: for one section, viz. the ‘medical’ books, see Bernard, “Notes”, 228-230, and esp. “Bibliothèque médicale”, 99-118. See my article in print in EASTM 2011. Distance as an inconvenient factor 111 and degrees which I cannot discuss here in further detail, (a) in Macau, both in the private collection of Diogo Valente, S.J., bishop of Japan († 1633) with only 2 or 3 books on science out of 300, i.e. about 1%10, and in the main residence library; (b) in the early 1640s in Wenzhou, later in (Martino Martini, S.J.); (c) in the same period (ca. 1645) in Nanking (cf. Nico- las Smogulezcky, S.J.); (d) in Canton; (e) in Xi’an (Christian Herdtrich), S.J.; (f) in the library of Willem Van der Beken, S.J. (after 1694, in the Huai’an mission), to name just the most important ones. Due to historical develop- ments at the end of the 18th century, only some of these books had the chance to enter the ca. 1860 re-established Beitang collection (Peking); the others were lost.11

1.2. Need for permanent updating

In the second half of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, we see (a) a growing ‘professionalization’ of the Jesuits, but also (b) a constant chal- lenge, if not pressure from the very demanding Chinese-Manchu Emperor and his entourage to demonstrate new inventions, together with (c) the rapid evolution in European sciences and technology; all this meant that the need to ‘update’ their information, and a steady renewal of the ‘old’ basic stock of Trigault books – all of which dated from before 1618, the year when Trigault had left Europe – remained an urgent desideratum. This we can easily read in the Jesuit letters from China, in which the demand for ‘novissima’ or ‘recen- tissima’, especially books, and to a lesser extent instruments, is a recurrent theme. These desiderata were often formulated in very general, ‘open’ terms, speaking of the constant need of the ‘most recent’ publications; see, for instance, the demand of Prospero Intorcetta, S.J. (1625-1696), in his letter of 18 Oct. 1671:

“per sapere rispondere agli amici e devoti, quando desiderano sapere che cosa potrebbono offerirci che fosse d’uso nelle missioni, sappiano che sono le cose seguenti: (…) libri matematici, special- menti i più moderni et quidquid novarum prodiit in astronomicis et calculis eclipticis (…)”.12

10 For the most recent evaluation of this collection see my contribution: Golvers, “Library Cata- logue”, 7-43. The Western books on science in that collection are limited to a copy of Clavius’ Epitome arithmeticae practicae, a book by Mesue on medicine, and an anonymous Repêrtorio dos tempos. 11 For the peripeties of these books, see, a.o., Verhaeren, Catalogue, Introduction. 12 Archivio della Pontificia Università Gregoriana [henceforth: APUG], 570, f. 65r.-66v. 112 Noël Golvers

In many other cases, however, the request is for particular, well defined titles, sometimes even specific editions, and there are also some real want lists, containing a whole series of authors’ names and titles of books wanted. Unfortunately, only some of these items have been preserved. From these letters, it emerges that in the 17th century China mission the desire for ‘new’ publications was felt as particularly urgent in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, first of all with regard to newly published astronomical tables, with corrected calculations covering a range of time to come in the near future. These could largely facilitate the Jesuits’ work in the calculation of the , and the exact prediction of eclipses, two domains in which they were in latent but continuous competition with their native colleagues. This competition was a constant threat, after the Chinese- Muslim astronomers had lost control of this important Central Office and of the Chinese calendar with the installation of the Manchu dynasty and the appointment of the Jesuits at the head of the Astronomical Bureau in 1644. The careers of Adam Schall von Bell, S.J. (1592-1666) and F. Verbiest in Peking, and more specifically the ‘Calendar case’ of 1664/5 (but also later episodes in 1676 and 1681), sufficiently demonstrate that the ‘keepers’ of the native tradition were always in search of ‘revenge’, waiting for an occasion to return to their previous positions. In these circumstances, characterized by slumbering opposition and alert suspicion, the Jesuits had to avoid every error. In the evidence I collected from the Jesuit sources from China, roughly in the period 1650-1750, requests are found for several series of Tabulae, either consecutive, but often also running parallel, not rarely overlapping each other and used complementarily, though some shorter periods also remained uncovered. Between the Tabulae Alphonsinae (ca. 1252-1270) and the Tables of Eustachio Zanotti (1709-1782), I found 21 different Tables men- tioned in China that were wanted or circulated anyway. These were, in alpha- betical order: the Tabulae Alphonsinae (, S.J. on 29.06.1682; cf. s.v.), those of Andreas Argoli (the basis of a.o. Verbiest’s calculations.), the so-called Tabulae Carolinae (published by Thomas Streete in his Astrono- mia Carolina, 1705), those of Dominique Cassini; Nicolas-Louis De la Caille; Philippe Desplaces; the Ghislerianae of Antonio Ghislieri; those of Philippe de la Hire, also called Ludovicianae; those of Philip Van Lansbergen (used in the 1640s by Nicolaus Smoguleczy, and by Martino Martini, S.J., in his Novus atlas sinensis), of Nicasius Grammatici, S.J. (based on I. Newton and introduced by Ignatius Kögler, S.J.); of Edmond Halley (used a.o. by August von Hallerstein, S.J.); of Pierre-Charles Le Monnier; Eustachio Manfredi, Flaminio Mezzavacca, James Pound (appended in J.L. Rost, Astronomisches Handbuch, 1726), the Tabulae Ricciolinae (published by Giovan Battista Riccioli, S.J. in his Astronomia reformata, 1665); the Tabulae Rudolphinae, Distance as an inconvenient factor 113 published by Tycho Brahe and Joh. Kepler; the Tabulae Tychonianae in the new edition of Albert Curtz, S.J. (Augsburg, 1666); those of Vincent Wing, by William Wisthon, and of Eustachio Zanotti. To illustrate the cumulative ‘battery’ of Tabulae some Jesuit scholars had at their disposal in Peking and could use simultaneously and complemen- tarily, I recall a passage from a letter of Karl Slaviçek, S.J. of 13.VIII.1723 (from Nanchang), which mentions the “Rudolphinas, Carolinas, Ricciolinas, Wisthonianas, Ludovicianas (Domini de la Hire), quas omnes in usu habe- mus & quarum nullae semper cum observationibus consentiunt, nullae aberrant semper”13, or another from Antoine Gaubil, S.J. in his letter of 27 Nov. 1749: “J’ai (…) les tables d’Argoli, les Carolines, celles de Wing, celle de Mr. Cassini”.14 Apart from these, a whole series of mathematical monographs are among the explicit desiderata, especially in the 18th century, either in the domain of ‘pure’ or ‘mixed’ mathematics: to mention just a few names, I can refer to such professional mathematicians as Isaac Barrow, Nic. Grammatici, Isaac Newton, Ign. Gaston Pardies, Charles-René Reyneau, Joh. Chr. Sturm, André Tacquet, Antoine Thomas, John Wallis, etc. With these names, also algebra, logarithms, infinitesimal calculation, etc. were represented in the Jesuit libraries in China. 15 I would like to stress that this was not wholly an 18th century ‘innovation’, but was in line with a tradition already represented in local Jesuit milieus in China since the first decades of theth 17 century; indeed, the first Jesuit to write a book on logarithms in China was the afore- mentioned Pole Smoguleczki.16 This also illustrates that Jesuit mathematical science was not only a question of practitioners. F. Verbiest, in several important letters to Europe in the 1670s, also emphasizes how necessary it was for Jesuit missionaries of the future generations to be well-versed, not only in the ‘practical’, but also in the ‘speculative’ i.e. theoretical aspects of astronomy and mathematics:

“Those who like to take mathematical disciplines as companions on their journey to China, should try first to take with them both

13 Vrastil & Kolmas, Karel Slavicek, 126. 14 Simon, A. Gaubil, 605. 15 For algebra, see the names (works) of Alexis-Claude Clairaut, Guisnée (?); Michel Rolle; for logarithms, see William Gardiner (tables); Bartholomaeus Pitiscus, Adrianus Vlacq; for infini- tesimal calculation I must mention Jean-Pierre de Crousaz, Guillaume F.A. L’Hôpital, Edmund Stone, Gilles Personne de Roberval. 16 Szczesniak, “Note”, 344 ff. (copy imported by Michael Boym, S.J.). A Chinese pupil of Nic. Smoguleczki, working in Nanking, published ca. 1645 the Tianbu zhenyuan (Tien-po chin-yuen), the first book in China in which Western logarithms are introduced. 114 Noël Golvers

theoretical and practical astronomy, and to be familiar with all the mechanical sciences, both theoretical and practical.”17

This was not only because of a strong ‘suspicion’ of the Chinese, reported on several occasions. A theoretical basis was also important and necessary for the periodical didactic presentations of Western mathematics. After a first start in the period of A. Schall, this is best illustrated in the moreor less systematic mathematical instruction given by F. Verbiest to the in the summer months of 1675, and, on a more systematic scale, to the officials of the Astronomical Bureau. One could also recall A. Thomas’ Synopsis mathematica (, 1685), a true ‘Handbook’ or ‘Companion’ of basic Western mathematics, which he translated into Chinese, and the math- ematical instructions offered by Joachim Bouvet, S.J., c.s. to the Emperor around 1700. In all these cases, theoretical knowledge went hand in hand with practical exercises. Progressively, first by F. Verbiest (cf. hisAstronomia Europaea, Dillingen, 1687), and afterwards in the French mission (after 1688), the spectre of interest was much widened, and opened to recent progress made in other sciences and technical professions. A quick glance at the monumental correspondence of Antoine Gaubil, S.J. (1689-1759) suffices to demonstrate this: European works on flora and fauna, entomology, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, etc., as well as a broad interest in recent technical manuals, in all kinds of professional domains, such as lathe-turning, are all represented. It is especially in this more ‘scientific’ correspondence, not only that of A. Gaubil (in China between 1717-1746) of the ‘French’ Beitang residence, but also of Ignaz Kögler (in Peking between 1722-1759), of the “Portuguese’ Nantang residence, or in the inventory of the private library of Jean-François Foucquet, S.J. (Beitang, between ca. 1711-1720), that we are also informed about the motives for the interest in this or that title, the circumstances in which the request was formulated and – more importantly – the direct link between the demands and the ‘work in progress’ of the respective Jesuits. I will illustrate this with one example, returning to the late 17th century. When in 1670 the missionaries, banished for the last five years to their Canton Residence, were informed of their imminent restitution, Jesuits such

17 “Quicumque mathematicas disciplinas in expeditione Sinica sibi comites esse desiderant, imprimis conentur ut astronomiam tam speculativam quam practicam (…) secum afferant; (…) et mechanicas omnes tam speculativas quam practicas sibi familiares habere” (Josson & Willaert, Correspondance, 241 – 242); cf. other expressions in a 1677 letter of the same to General Giovanni Paolo Oliva: “Illi autem, qui ad Curiam Pekinensem destinati essent, id est in ea utiles esse possint, plane opus est ut in astronomia tam speculativa quam practica non mediocriter sint versati” (ARSI, Jap-Sin., 109, II, p. 123). Distance as an inconvenient factor 115 as Christian Herdtrich (1625-1684) started preparations for their return. In his case, these included writing a very long letter to his preferred contact in Europe, Philip Miller (1613-1676), private Confessor to Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705) at the Court in Vienna. In this letter, Herdtrich mentions a series of book titles, which he wanted sent to him from Europe, in order to restart his mission in Xi’an. Apart from a series of spiritual books (to be discussed elsewhere) these titles also included a number of books on (mathematical) science, viz. Observationes Tychonicae seu ephemerides ac tabulae Tychonicae of T. Brahe (recently [1666] edited by Albert Curtz); some of the “opera curio- siora” of Athanasius Kircher, S.J. (1602-1680), the ‘showpiece’ par excellence of Jesuit science in the 17th century; Giovanni Battista Riccioli’s Tabulae astronomicae, bound in 1 fol.-vol, ed. in 1665 in Bologna, his Opus geographi- cum (1661), his Crux et mappa pro calculandis eclipsibus (1643); Kaspar Ens’ Thaumaturgus mathematicus (1636 and 1651) & his Recreationes mathema- ticae, a ‘ghost’-title, which was indeed announced but never appeared. This detailed request is revealing in many respects: (a) first for the outspoken ‘Jesuit’ character of the selection of scientific books; (b), second, it (again) proves that even outside the capital and Court City, in casu in Xi’an (Prov. Shenxi), Western mathematical science was present and practised as well, an observation not without importance; (c) third, this specific demand points to ‘practical’ mathematical science, especially to activities in the domain of observational astronomy, the prediction of eclipses and the calcu- lation of the calendar, all conventional occupations of the Jesuits in China, and the basis of their position there; (d) the desiderata also have connections with the search for the ‘theatrical’ effects of science, represented by K. Ens, Jean Leurechon, S.J., and especially A. Kircher, and finding its expression in experiments with optical effects (a.o. in the domain of anamorphosis, refrac- tion etc.), automata of all kinds, including driven by pneumatic forces, etc., not rarely inspired by the recently (re)discovered late-Hellenistic works of Hero and Pappus.18 Although this ‘theatrical’ aspect represented only a side-effect of Jesuit science in China, it was important for its impact on the Chinese and, consequently, on the position of the mission; (e) probably most important of all is the rather ‘recent’ character of the information on which Herdtrich’s demand is based, as it refers to Riccioli’s 1-vol. Tabulae, of 1665, and the Tabulae Tychonicae of A. Curtz, of 1666, i.e. only 4 to 5 years before the request. Yet some inaccuracies show that this information was at the same time somewhat defective: the Tychonian tables, allegedly published ‘shortly before by A. Curtz in Munich’, were in fact published in nearby

18 On the availability of Hero in this period, see: Schmidt, “Heron”, 197-214, and Boas, “Hero’s Pneumatica”, 38-48. 116 Noël Golvers

Augsburg, and the title description of Ens – with the curious variation on the author’s name: Ensl – is due to a wrong understanding by Herdtrich (or his source?) of a detail on the title page of the first (1636) or second (1651) edi- tion of the Thaumaturgus. All this well illustrates the tantalizing situation of Jesuit scientists in the China mission, ‘caught’ between their strong, both intrinsic and extrin- sic motivation to introduce updated science from Europe to China on the one hand, and on the other hand the geographical distance and communica- tion problems in general, which raised almost insurmountable obstacles to a rather convenient acquisition of the information and new issues they so desperately needed.

1.3. The acquisition

Here I must distinguish between (1.3.1) the acquisition proper in Europe, and the questions of who was responsible for this, who made the selection and detection in the book market, in libraries etc., who was respon- sible for the purchase, payment and shipping, etc., and (1.3.2) identifying the supply lines used to ship books from Europe to China.

1.3.1. As to the acquisition proper (i.e. the persons involved; the selection and ‘detection’, the purchase / donation)

The acquisition was in principle the responsibility of the Procuratores missionum Indiarum in Europe (= professional acquisition level); these could rely on the Jesuit network in Europe to look for books through the whole of Europe, sometimes supported herein by the General, the Assistants, etc., and scientifically advised by Jesuit and non-Jesuit authorities in the field, such as Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, etc. This Jesuit net- work covered most of Europe; it also had access to countries which were peripheral to the Jesuit world: in the first decades of theth 18 century, the French scholar J.-F. Foucquet could get in Peking books from England, and he had on his shelves such authors as Isaac Barrow, David Gregory, John Keill, Isaac Newton, John Wallis and the Transactions. In 1728 A. Gaubil also obtained – through Ingolstadt and Ign. Kögler – manuscript materials from England, concerning I. Newton’s system, James Pound, etc.19 In addition, there existed among the Jesuits also more informal, indi- vidual networks, and many China missionaries had direct contacts with per- sonal acquaintances, mostly within their own SJ Province (or Assistancy):

19 Simon, A. Gaubil, 219. Distance as an inconvenient factor 117 e.g. A. Gaubil got most of his books through Etienne Souciet, S.J., librarian of the Collège Louis-le-Grand (Paris); Prospero Intorcetta sought the publica- tions of G. B. Riccioli and Gaspar Schott, S.J. through the Indipeta Annibale Marchetti, S.J. (Sienna); etc. Side by side with this Jesuit network there existed, especially since the early 18th century, another academic network, revolving around non-clerical scientific institutions: in St. Petersburg (the Academia Imperialis since 1725: mainly with Theophilus (Gottlieb) Siegfried Bayer; Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, etc.); in Germany (e.g. the Academia Leopoldina Naturae Curiosorum in Schweinfurt (since 1652); in France (the Académie des Sciences; Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres [Nicolas Fréret; Dortous de Mairan], the Observatoire de Paris); in England (Royal Academy of Sciences [Thomas Birch; Cromwell Mortimer, a.o.]; the London Philosophical Society). Although these were in principle ‘lay’ milieus, occasionally some Jesuits were also involved: for example Thomas Gouyé, S.J. (1650-1725), the intermediary between (especially) Antoine Thomas and the Académie des Sciences. Here, the ‘motor’ of the acquisition system was the implicit principle of mutual exchange: in return for first-hand information on Chinese language, astronomy and chro- nology, and the transmission of Chinese books, maps and naturalia, new, up-to-date books from Europe were sent to China. For the sake of completeness, one must also mention the contacts with relatives and friends outside the Jesuit or academic orbit, as occasional providers of books.

1.3.2. The supply routes

Both to gather information and acquire the actual books, the Jesuits in China were completely dependent on the normal transcontinental routes – which were basically maritime routes (partly successive, partly also parallel and competing lines / ‘viae’). By this, the book acquisition was subject to the costs, risks and technical possibilities / shortcomings connected with these lines. I need not refer here to the more commonly known lines; let me just recall one, rather ephemeral but not unimportant line exploited by the ‘Ostend Company’ (the ‘Via Ostendana’), roughly in the period between 1718 and 1728. During my research, I found a whole series of indications on the sending of books, especially from Central Europe to Antwerp in Brabant, and from there to the Jesuit residence in and the Flemish port of Ostend. On the other side of the world, the evidence from China clearly reports on the boxes of books – sometimes also unwelcome books – but also images, etc. that arrived with the “naves Ostendanae”. The Jesuit occupation with this line apparently had to do with the fact that the Provincial of the Provincia 118 Noël Golvers

Flandro-Belgica, who resided in the Antwerp Professed House, Petrus Maelcamp, S.J. (1679-1741), was a relative of the main shareholders of this line. Its success was highly promising, but international diplomatic pressure put an unexpected end to its activities in the early 1730s.20 The only overland route was the Siberian one. Despite Verbiest’s explicit opening to the Moscow Tsar in the Summer of 1676 through Nikolaj Milescu Spatharij (1636-1708) and the sending of a substantial gift of books of technological import, a copy of which was rediscovered21, it lasted until the early 18th century before the common caravan routes between Moscow and China over Siberia were also used more systematically for book transmis- sions. This implied a huge gain of time and money (?), and included a much smaller risk of losses ‘in via’. This route – which took only 6 months at most – became especially fruitful for the communications with the Academia Imperi- alis in St. Petersburg, opened in 1725. Numerous testimonies of this mutual communication in both directions are found in the letters of (a.o.) Antoine Gaubil, Karl Slaviçek, Andreas Pereira and in the archives of said Academy, signalled for the first time in the early 20th century, after the 1911 ‘expedition’ of François-Marie Gaillard, S.J. (1852-1927) to St. Petersburg and Russia.22

2. Jesuit initiatives to counter the problems of communication and to optimize the conditions for an adequate supply of books and informa- tion from Europe

2.1. Mobilizing (a.o.) reliable fellow-fathers at strategic points along the communication routes, in order to ‘control’ the supply lines

In order to control and protect the acquisition of books along these lines (‘viae’), the Jesuits had developed a parallel, well-organized ‘system’, with fixed points at both ends of the common routes. The most strategic persons were the aforementioned ‘Procuratores Missionum Orientalium’, first in Lisbon and – afterwards also – in Paris on the European side, and their respective counterparts in Macau and Canton on the Asian side, with a pivotal in-between point in Goa. The ‘procurator’ in Lisbon was responsible for collecting the materials that converged there from the rest of Europe, he paid the bills, and orga-

20 Curiously enough, this – well documented aspect – escaped the attention of Parmentier, 2002. 21 Now in the National Library of Athens: N. Golvers & Efthymios Nicolaidis, Ferdinand Verbiest and Jesuit Science in 17th Century China. An annotated edition and translation of the Contantinople manuscript (1676), Athens-Leuven, 2009. 22 Gaillard, “Ma mission”, 132-331. Distance as an inconvenient factor 119 nized the shipping. A similar position was exercised in Paris by the French ‘Procureur des Missions Orientales / Extrême Orient’, some of whom had a great reputation, a.o. Antoine Verjus, S.J. († 1706), who worked in direct con- nection with the private Confessor of Louis XIV, François d’Aix de la Chaize (1624‑1709).23 More than his Portuguese colleague, he was also involved in actively collecting materials, through donations and acquisitions on the book market, and in assembling ‘funds’, stimulating sponsoring and creating other forms of communication between the China Jesuits and important persons in Europe.24 Occasionally, however, we also hear some criticisms from China, for instance when A. Gaubil jealously mentions a large donation by the same A. Verjus of medical books to Filippo Grimaldi, S.J. which arrived (against the donor’s intention) in the ‘Portuguese Nantang residence’25, or when he refers to the supposed ‘négligence’ on the part of Charles Defrémont, S.J., one of Verjus’s successors in this function (1727-1736).26 If the ‘via Lusitanica’ was used, Goa was a necessary ‘stop’; there, another ‘Procurator’ of the China mission saw to the ‘sorting’ of the books for the China/Japanese Mission from those addressed to India and other regions. Finally, in Macau, as in Canton, another Procurator received the books; in Macau the Procurator of the China mission assigned the books to the indi- vidual addresses, if any. In this way, the whole transmission was supervised (controlled) by Jesuits, and, at least in principle, the risk of loss was reduced to a minimum.

2.2. Appropriate detection of the books they wanted to have in China

Because the updating of the local book supply was dictated by the practical utility of the books in the Chinese context, it was necessary to send correct information to Europe on what precisely was needed in China, or not, and, to have information in China itself about ‘recent’ (i.e. after their departure from Europe) new issues and titles. The main instruments for informing Europe were specific want lists, called ‘Catalogues’ in the French Mission, drafted by the Procurator of the individual residences, and after receipt grouped by his colleague in Canton. With these lists, the Jesuit contact persons in Europe, whoever they were, knew exactly which books were needed in the China mission. Only some of these lists are preserved, and thus far I have found almost no ‘Catalogues’ of the French mission, which are probably still hidden in the ‘economic’ archives

23 See the list in Dehergne, Répertoire, p. 317. 24 For his role in this respect cf. Golvers, “Concern about Consolidation”, 347-403. 25 A. Gaubil, in Simon, A. Gaubil, 336; 339. 26 A. Gaubil, in Simon, A. Gaubil, 290; 296, 297, 427-428. 120 Noël Golvers of the Collège-St.-Louis in Paris – the ‘mother house of the ‘5 mathématiciens du Roy’ and many of their successors –, waiting to be found again. The basis of these want lists, and of every adequate (and up-to-date) demand in Europe, necessarily consisted in correct, reliable information on ‘new issues’ in Europe, and for this the Jesuits in China were dependent on their sources in Europe itself, either (a) the professionally responsible ‘procurators’ within the S.J. in Europe; (b) the common ‘commercium litte- rarum’ with fellow fathers or non-Jesuit scholars, (c) newly arrived ‘recruits’ for the China mission (who often also brought new books with them), (d) Procurators who returned from Europe. Obviously, still other relatively ‘new’ titles could be found in the bibliog- raphy or other parts of recently arrived new books.27 A very important source of information was scientific or academic periodicals. In the 17th century letters, up to the time of F. Verbiest and A. Thomas, the references to periodicals only concerns ‘news-papers’, French, but often also Dutch ones (‘Mercurii Hollandici’), delivered from Batavia, and read / translated / excerpted by the Flemish Jesuits, either in Macau, Canton or Peking for their colleagues. Since the early 18th century, however, this landscape quickly and radically changed, and academic periodicals from European institutes arrived in China, or were continuously ordered and reclaimed, precisely in order to get up-to-date information on the latest inventions, book reviews, etc. These references we find in the letters of the French in the Beitang, but also in those from the Nantang, especially those of Ignaz Kögler (1680; Peking 1717-1746), where the claim for overdue issues of a pleiad of journals becomes a recurrent and common theme, and one is impressed by the efforts the Jesuits in Peking made to complete their collec- tions and series, and even to get back issues. The most sought after periodi- cals are many: from Germany, the Acta eruditorum, also called “Leipzig”; the Miscellanea curiosa medico-physica Academiae naturae curiosorum (since 1670), also called Ephemerides, etc. (since 1670), of the Academia Leopol- dina, the Miscellanea Berolinensia; from France the Histoire et Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, the Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, the Mémoires de Mathématiqes et de Physique; Mémoires de l’Observatoire and Connoissances des Temps, the Journal des Sçavans; but also the Jesuit Mémoires (or: Journal) de Trévoux; from Italy, the Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell’Accademia del Cimento (since 1667); from England, the Transactions of the Philosophical Society in London; from Russia, the Acta Academiae Petropolitanae and the Commentarii Academiae Scien-

27 This may have been the origin of Chr. Herdtrich’s interest in K. Ens’ Recreationes mathema- ticae, etc., wanted in Canton in 1670, as I discussed supra. Distance as an inconvenient factor 121 tiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, both from St. Petersburg Imperial Academy. The Jesuits exchanged letters with their secretaries, in which they appear as interested in the contemporary Res Publica Litterarum, and eager to receive new information, particular books; elsewhere, they discuss with Euro- pean correspondents the content of certain articles, etc. In addition, more ‘general’ periodicals had given important information on new issues; the most important of them certainly was the Gazeta de Lisboa, with its reviews and announcements.28 Even these European periodicals – arriving in China at a rather irregu- lar pace – did not suffice to counterbalance the inconveniences of distance in space and time, and to follow the new publications on the European book market. Therefore, the Jesuits asked reliable scholars in Europe, with whom they were in epistolary contact, either to select on their own initiative new books they considered necessary for the Jesuits and their scientific work in China, or at least to advise the professional Jesuit book providers in Europe on the books they had to acquire. Such reliable persons were, for instance, Joseph-Nicolas Delisle (first in St. Petersburg, since 1747 in Paris) and T. S. Bayer (in St. Petersburg since 1726). See, for instance, this request from Joachim Bouvet to G.W. Leibniz, on 8.XI.1702: “Obligez-moi d’indiquer au Père Verjus les livres que vous jugez les plus propres à me favoriser dans ces sortes de recherche”.29 Many years later, A. Gaubil, in his letter of 12 November 1752, asked J.-N. Delisle, with regard to the then ‘procureur des missions orientaux’ in Paris, Louis-Alexandre Le Houx, S.J.:

“J’espère que vous continuerés d’ayder notre R.P. procureur pour nos commissions, et de l’animer à nous fournir ce que vous croirés nous être nécessaire sans attendre que nous le demandions. Nous sommes ici [in Peking] trop loin, et trop peu instruits, vous êtes sur les lieux et j’espère que le R.P. Procureur trouvera des resources pour les frais nécessaires.”30

2.3. Rationalizing their demands, in view of a book’s particular util- ity in the Chinese context, its comprehensiveness, its clarity, also thanks to diagrams, etc.

It is clear that, in these circumstances, unproductive costs should be avoided as much as possible. This was pursued in various ways.

28 For the influence of this Gazeta, see my: Portuguese Books and their Readers in the Jesuit Mission of China (Lisbon, 2011), pp. 168; 169-171. 29 Widmaier, Der Briefwechsel, 389-390. 30 Simon, A. Gaubil, 702. 122 Noël Golvers

The first criterion for acquisition should be quality, and, probably even more, utility for the practical conditions within China: books which were not useful should be refused, even when these were offered gratis. Modesty in expectations was a compulsory attitude, as I found mentioned, for instance, in a letter of 1679 sent by Francesco Xaverio Filippucci, S.J. (1632-1692) from Canton to his European correspondent, Maurizio Xaverio Antonelli, S.J. in Rome31; in it, he reminds that he wants to receive: “Libri non molti, ma seletti e necessari (…)”. The same pious advice is also repeated at the end of his letter, referring more exactly to ‘moderation and modesty’:

“Il mio intento principale è dar notizia di cio che qui [i.e. in China] serve. Nell’esecutione del buscare il sopprad(ett)o ben veggo ch’è necessaria moderatione, modestia e amor della povertà.”32

In these circumstances, I think it is quite significant that one often asked for a ‘Summa’ or a companion, both in the scientific and non-scientific domain, which on its own covered a whole domain, and by this saved money, room for storage, and time for reading. It was apparently considered prefer- able to collect a small ‘hand-library’ of well-chosen instruments, rather than to establish a large library. This was certainly the case in the smaller mission posts in inland China, but did not necessarily bear on the major residences, especially not those in the Court City of Peking. The preference for such ‘Summaries’ or companions is evident from a quite remarkable initiative of the Italian Jesuit mathematician Mario Bettini (1582-1657). He composed, in the 1640s, two volumes, in-fol., viz. Apiaria universae philosophiae mathematicae (…), published in Bologna, 1642, and his Aerarium philosophiae mathematicae (…), published in Bologna, 1648. According to their prefaces (“Praefationes ad lectorem”), these comprehen- sive – and huge – syntheses on mathematical sciences were composed pre- cisely with the intention to replace, for the (Italian) Jesuits in China, a whole library of more or less specialized mathematical books, which were lacking in the Chinese residences, and probably also too expensive to be acquired anyway. In the Apiaria, indeed, the Preface says:

“The author to the best of his abilities has seen that the scholars of his religious Congregation (staying) in China would have at hand and dispose of in these Apiaria (“bee-hives”), like in some Math- ematical Deposits, most selected topics in all kinds of mathemati-

31 APUG, 292, pp. 438-439. 32 APUG, 292, p. 440. Distance as an inconvenient factor 123

cal sciences, especially those topics which were very easily demon- strated from the first 6 books of . The pious wish of the Author is, that these scholars would use these deposits, without the mass and the costs of many and more obscure books, for the so pious ministry of the Souls, which should be brought to the True Religion and Happiness.”33

In the 1st part of the Aerarium, on the other hand, it is formulated in similar terms by one Ioannes Antonius Rossenus:

“Rightly and justly the Chinese occupy here the first accesses; this Aerarium (“Treasury”) is constructed for the benefit of that very ingenious people, especially interested in mathematical sciences, in order that those who thoroughly enjoy the Euclidean Elements (…) would have the rich contents of this Aerarium of Mario (Bettini), as a substitute for many other of our volumes on math- ematics, which these Oriental areas are missing.”34

This answers to the ideal of an “integra in uno volumine bibliotheca” (a ‘complete library in one book’), as André Tacquet, S.J. calls it with regard to G. Riccioli’s Almagestum novum. In scientific books, economy of space and clarity of explanation could be realized together by appropriate diagrams. This was the reason why in the domains of mathematics, mechanics and other applied mathematical sciences, books with a wealth of diagrams and other figurative representa- tions were largely preferred, as we know from one of the many letters of Ign. Kögler:

33 “Pro viribus igitur curavit Author, ut Religiosae suae familiae apud Sinas Doctores in hisce Apiariis, velut in Mathematicis quibusdam promptuariis ad manus haberent ac circumferrent lectissima in omni mathematicarum scientiarum genere argumenta, eaque facillime demonstrata e prioribus fere sex libris Euclideis. Quibus promptuariis, sine multorum & obscuriorum librorum copia & dispendio, uterentur ad tam pium ministerium animorum verae religioni, ac felicitati traducendorum. Pium hoc Authoris votum”. 34 “Iure ac merito Chinensis primos hîc aditus occupat: in eius enim ingeniosissimae atque in primis mathematicarum scientiarum studiosissimae nationis gratiam exstructum est hoc Aerarium, ut qui Euclidianis Elementis (a Sacrae Memoriae Admod. Rev. P. Matthaeo Riccio Maceratensi Soc. Iesu iam pridem Chinensis linguae cultu donatis) perfruuntur, habeant etiam Mariani huius Aerarii opes pro copia plurium aliorum nostratium voluminum Mathematicorum, quibus orien- talia ea regna destituuntur”. 124 Noël Golvers

“What I desired concerning mechanics (were books), which are representing newly invented instruments in diagrams, with a suit- able and clear explication, which lead to an easy imitation.”35

In addition, drawings had also another, very welcome advantage: they were recognizable for the Chinese, who could not read nor understand Euro- pean languages, but were very receptive to the ‘power’ of the illustrations, and often it was precisely these illustrations which started the process of inter-cultural communication, just as the Jesuits wanted. This is attested, a.o., for books with drawings of technical “instruments” (a.o. Agostino Ramelli or Fausto Veranzio), for unidentified books on ballistics – the start of the Jesuit’s commitment in the domain of gun production –, for books in the domain of anatomy (Ambroise Paré; Thomas Bartholin, a.o.), in that of European fauna (Ulisse Aldrovandi; Konrad Gessner and Joh. Jonston, a.o.), etc. There was only one restriction for the general success of these drawings: in all circumstances, ‘obscene’ illustrations should be avoided, i.e. images with nudities of various kinds, be it the representation of antique marble statues, of angels and putti, or even Christ on his Crucifix: all this hurt, even shocked the feelings of the Chinese. Yet the Kangxi Emperor had ordered one explicit exception, viz. for books on anatomy and surgery, which for their practical purpose should show ‘every intimate detail’, even when this would to some extent hurt the Jesuits’ ‘Institutum’.

2.4. Looking for sponsors, to help bear the expense for the transit of luggage, including books, first through Europe, and especially overseas

On this aspect I found so far only very little evidence (N. Trigault; M. Martini). For the same reasons, free gifts / donations of books – provided that these books were useful for the mission – were very much appreciated, and even somewhat solicited, from people friendlily disposed to the Jesuit Missions. My research shows that the contribution of the donators (who I tried to identify as much as possible) was considerable: books donated come first from within the Society, where unused doubles and triples from Jesuit residence libraries were requested, and the offering of ‘complimentary copies’ by Jesuit authors was considered more or less a moral duty. But free books were occasionally also expected – and obtained – from outside the Society.

35 Berlin, Staatsbibliothek – Preussisches Kulturbesitz (hereafter: SBB-PKB), Ms. lat., Fol. 604, f. 113r.: “Quae de mechanicis desiderabam, (erant libri) qui nova quaedam inventa organica in figuris exhibent, cum commoda et dilucida explicatione, quae ad facilem imitationem inducant (…)”. Distance as an inconvenient factor 125

To give just one example: the copy of A. Tacquet’s Opera mathematica (Antwerp, 1669), which the Emperor Leopold I, shortly before 1678, offered to F. Verbiest in Peking. In all probability this copy had entered China in 1674, and was brought from Europe by Prospero Intorcetta, who in 1671/2 had had, from Italy, many contacts with the Court – and the Jesuits – in Vienna. Also these ‘free gifts’ helped to overcome the financial burden for the mission.

2.5. Taking measures to physically protect the books during shipping

Some requests concern the material form of the books sent to China, and may have been inspired by the intention either to ‘protect’ the precious and expected books, or to avoid extra costs after their arrival in China. As it was apparently hard to find bookbinders bibliopagi (‘ ’) in China who were able to bind European volumes with their covers (sic Ign. Kögler), one expected in China that the books were either ‘bound’, often also in compounds, in Europe, but if not, that they were sent at least sewn (“broché”), this also to protect them from loss of pages, etc. Yet, in some other cases, we have infor- mation on issues of the Histoire de l’Académie “en blanc”, i.e. “sans reliure” (Furetière) or ‘in-plano’, stocked in the private apartments of J.-F. Foucquet in the Peking (ca. 1710-1720), and also on payments for bindings entrusted to “livreiros” in Macau, thus, for instance, for books sent by Michael Boym (1612-1659) from Europe to China. In some other cases, European books were bound in Peking (A. Gaubil); as we have no precise information on the material conditions of these volumes, we cannot discern precisely how they differed from the general rule, which was that of sending books bound or “broché”. All in all, it is clear that all these desiderata, measures and precautions, etc., had only one intention, viz. to reduce in any possible way the loss of the way possible the loss of the investments made in Europe for the acquisition and shipment of these books over so long a distance. It is also against this background of economically and technologically imposed quantitative limi- tations that one looked quite ‘desperately’ for possible alternative, and less risky, etc. communication routes.

2.6. Completing their book supply by mutual exchange and borrowing books from other Jesuit collections

This happened especially within Peking, between Nantang and Peitang, apparently on a rather limited scale. Thus, Ign. Kögler (Nantang) reports on 22 Oct. 1741 that, thanks to the copy available in the Peitang, he had consulted 126 Noël Golvers the Physices elementa mathematica (1720-1721) of Wilhelm Jacob’s Grave- sande, De gnomone (…) & observationibus in aede Sancti Petronii Bononiae (1736) of Eustachio Manfredi, the Praxis astronomiae (1735) of Petrus Horrobovius.36 Conversely, in 1751 A. Gaubil (Beitang) reports to Cromwell Mortimer, Secretary of the Royal Academy in London, to have seen the copy of James Hodgson’s Theory of Jupiter’s Satellites, with the Construction and Use of the Tables for Computing their Eclipses (1750), thanks to A. Von Haller- stein, Superior of the Nantang, who had temporarily put it at his disposal. In the extant evidence, however, such examples of mutual collaboration are rather scarce, and late.

2.7. Other complementary ways of being informed

An alternative less expensive and faster way to get information on new findings, was certainly letters. This path of information was already preferred by Johann Schreck (Terrentius) (1576-1630), as early as the 1620s. See his remark in his letter of 1623 to the mathematicians of Ingolstadt:

“It takes too long to wait for these books; they are very easily kept back or perish, as they are not sent through different (i.e. comple- mentary) ways. A letter is easier (to manipulate), and it arrives here more quickly, even within three years (sic).”37

A particularly telling example illustrates the virtual speed of letter exchanges within the world-spanning Jesuit network of correspondence: the China mission was informed in 1614 of the first experiments with the telescope, within one or two years after its discovery in Europe (1610; 1611‑1612).38 The reason for this relatively ‘rapid’ transmission was that letters were a more flexible and mobile medium than, say, parcels of books; therefore, not only ‘en route’, but also in China proper, letters were delivered faster than books. This was still the situation in the middle of the 18th century, as we hear from A. Gaubil’s advice: “Les lettres viennent de Canton ici par la poste; les livres, ou gros paquets, viennent sur les barques de l’Empereur, ce voyage est de près de 8 mois”.39

36 SBB-SPK, Ms. Lat. Fol. 640, f. 146r./v. 37 Gabrieli, ‘”Giovanni Schreck”, 510: “Eos (sc. mathematicos) libros expectare nimis longum est, facillime detinentur aut pereunt, quod non mittantur pluribus viis; charta facilius est et citius huc pertingit nimirum intra tres annos”. 38 Leitão, “Manuel Dias”, 99-121. 39 A. Gaubil, in: Simon, A. Gaubil, 802 (26 Nov. 1754). Distance as an inconvenient factor 127

3. How efficient were the described methods of acquisition

The preceding observations bring us to our last question, namely how ‘efficient’ this system of information and acquisition was after all, in terms of Jesuit ‘control’ over the shipping and arrival of the books wanted (3.1), and the average speed with which these books bridged the distance between Europe and China (3.2).

3.1. Regarding the control of the shipping of the books, and their arrival and distribution in China

The ambiguous effects of these tentative measures of the Jesuits to ‘con- trol’ the transfer of European books to China can be described around mainly two points, which display partial successes, and partial failures. In spite of all possible precautions, books frequently ‘got stuck’ on the way, and quite ironically, this often happened precisely in other Jesuit stations. This could first occur in Goa, where the books for the ‘Vice-Province of China’ were put separately from those destined for India, in order to be transmitted on a following occasion, often with a long delay of time, or even at risk of the loss of items, due to all kind of circumstances we are not informed of in detail. After the transfer, they traditionally arrived in Macau, later also in Canton, and had to be assigned to their Chinese destination, if any. This was the responsibility of the local Procurator. Also Macau – with its central institutions and schools of Jesuit instruction – and Canton, its French coun- terpart (since 1692) – were potentially risky in this respect. See, for example, A. Gaubil, in his letter of 22 Sept. 1732, concerning Canton:

“Il y a longtemps que nous avions demandé l’Histoire de la Com- pagnie de Jouvanci; je viens d’apprendre qu’elle est depuis long- temps à Cantom, où sans doute elle leur est nécessaire (…); ainsi, il faut en achepter d’autres exemplaires.”40

Also J.-F. Foucquet, who between 1710-1720 continuously ordered from Peking books in France and England, ‘missed’ many ‘new arrivals’, which had never left Canton, where they were stocked for the ‘general utility’ of the mission, although there is also some chance that this was a sign of some organized obstruction against his work because of his various controversial projects. At least one such list of 1720-1721 we find in Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana [henceforth: BAV], Borg. Lat., 565, f° 593r., with scientific items

40 Simon, A. Gaubil, 332. 128 Noël Golvers such as the Transactions d’Angleterre, Acta Lipsiensia, Histoire et Mémoires de l’Académie; the Elements of Astronomy by David Gregory. Finally, books were occasionally also delivered to the wrong address; this could even happen already at the moment of donation; see, e.g., what happened (in the percep- tion of A. Gaubil) to the medical books offered by A. Verjus to F. Grimaldi, which arrived in the Nantang residence, while the donor’s intention had been to offer them to the Beitang residence.41 Also the policy to ‘limit’ the acquisition of books to those books that were actually or urgently needed, or at least appropriate to the mission’s necessities, was not completely successful. During his systematic screening of the shelves of the Peitang library in September 1732, A. Gaubil mentions domains which were over-represented: “Nous sommes bien en livres de théorie, d’algèbre, géométrie, astronomie, etc.”; “On est bien en livres de médecine, botanique, chirurgie, histoire naturelle, physique”42; other domains were really under-represented: “Nous manquons des livres pratiques pour les arts, comme sur le tour, horologer, émail, verrerie et semblables, utiles ici; nous en avons, de reste, et même inutiles, sur l’architecture”.43

A major cause of concern for the Jesuits was that in the early 1720s heterodox, more precisely Jansenist books, infiltrated China, a subject I cannot further discuss here, as it falls beyond the domain of science. Last but not least, a sign of occasionally failing control was the peri- odical arrival of Western books in China through Moscow and direct delivery to prominent Chinese, who thus acquired a (limited) parallel, non Jesuit- controlled access to Western books. That books on science arrived in Peking via this way we also know with regard to a copy of a Western book of anat- omy: “One should specially note that the Emperor was given the occasion to resume this work through a book on anatomy, which some Mandarin had bought from the Moscovians and offered to the Emperor”, etc.44 See also the 11 books which the Kangxi Emperor offered in 1717 to Kilian Stumpf, S.J., of which 5 are still extant in the Beitang library, all with the book inscription referring to this donation45; the Chinese date suggesting a ‘New Year’ present from the Emperor.

41 Simon, A. Gaubil, 336. 42 Simon, A. Gaubil, 334. 43 Simon, A. Gaubil, ibid. 44 “Notandum autem specialiter ad hoc opus resumendum datam Imperatori occasionem per librum anatomicum, quem mandarinus aliquis a Moscovitis emptum Suae Majestati obtulerat”, 1714; JapSin., 176, f. 98r. 45 Verhaeren, Catalogue, nos. 172; 869; 1560; 2256; 3206; 4083. Distance as an inconvenient factor 129

3.2. With regard to the time the books needed to cover the distance between Europe and China

Precisely given the overall stress on “recentissima” and “novissima” in the Jesuit sources from China concerning the science books they needed, wanted and used, I was very curious to know to what extent this desidera- tum was also actually fulfilled. An answer to this question would also give a more clear idea of the ‘quality’ of the science Jesuits had introduced and put into practice in China: were they mainly / only relying on ‘old’ books, or, and to what extent did ‘new’ publications also enter the country, and, if so, how quickly did they bridge the distance from Europe to China? For an answer to this question, I made three random checks. First, I tried to measure the time that passed between the date of publication of a book in Europe and the first appearance of the same in China. Of course, this can be only an approximate method, as the first men- tion does not necessarily coincide with the date of arrival. Of the 210 items on science in my evidence, 27, or 12%, certainly had arrived there within the first 10 years after their appearance, many of them also within the first 5 or 6 years; in 2 special cases (James Hodgson; Pierre- Louis Moreau de Maupertuis), the book arrived within the same year of its publication. To put it in another way: at least one of every ten books on science in the S.J. libraries in China was less than 10 years old. Second, I checked the time between the date of publication of a title and the date of donation of a copy to the China mission, when this is mentioned in Verhaeren’s catalogue. A simple comparison of the date of the edition itself and that of the signed donation gives a clear idea about the ‘age’ of the books offered. Of course, this too is an approximate method, as the date of the donation of a book is not the same as that of its arrival in China; still, it demonstrates at least the intention of the donors to respond to the mission- aries’ demand to send them ‘up-to-date’ information. Some random checks among the donations that can be recognized prove indeed that they (also) included very recent materials, together with many that were older. So, for example, in the case of a donation by a less well-known Jesuit ‘coadjutor temporalis’, Francisco Pereira from Coimbra († 1656), of the 8 books – 5 of them mathematical books46 – four items were less than 10 years old at the

46 Viz. Verhaeren, Catalogue, nos. 1170 (Cabei Nicola, In 4 Libros Meteorologicorum Aristotelis Commentaria, 1646), 1290 (Clavius, Algebra, 1609); 2239 (A.Metius, Arithmeticae et geometriae Practica, 1611), 2283 (J. Mesua, Opera… His accessere Plantarum in Libro Simplicium Descrip- torum Imagines, 1649); 2357 (W. Oughtred, Arithmeticae… Institutio, 1631), 2677 (Savonarola, Triumphus Crucis, 1633), 2879 (Strada, De Bello Belgico, 1648), 3342 (Lunadaro, Relatione della Corte di Roma, 1654). 130 Noël Golvers moment of the donation, viz. no. 3342 (1654); 2283 (1649), and no. 1170 (1646)47; – the donations of Dazio Agliata (Palermo, 1656; † 1657): of the 8 books he offered to the mission, and which are still extant or recognizable as such, 5 were, at the time they were offered to the mission, between 0 and 7 years old48; A special group here are the ‘complimentary books’ offered, often at the moment of their appearance, to the China Mission, both by Jesuit and non- Jesuit authors. A further patient comparison of all the data has revealed, and still will reveal more significant examples, which I have to pass over here for reasons of time. Third, I checked the composition of one ‘closed’ group of books, on which we are relatively well informed, viz. the approximately 300 Western books which J.-F. Foucquet (1665-1741) had at his disposal in his apart- ment in the Beitang between ca. 1710 and 1720, of which I found some lists. 54 titles concern scientific topics in the domain of mathematics, etc. I think it might be relevant for our purpose to report that 21 of them, i.e. about 37%, were published in 1690 or later, and some books had indeed arrived very recently: thus David Gregory’s Astronomiae & physicae elementa of 1702, the anonymous Application de l’Algèbre à la Géographie, probably by Guisnée (1705), and John Keill’s Introductio ad astronomiam of 1718. In addition, the same library also owned some recent issues of the Histoire et Mémoires de l’Académie, viz. those of 1708, 1709 and 1710 “en blanc”, i.e. unbound. The combined results of these three random checks confirm that at least since the second half of the 17th century books, including books on science, occasionally arrived in China within the first decade after their appearance. Measured against the contemporary standards, and reckoning among others on the time necessary for request, acquisition and transfer, this looks like a rather fast arrival. From the aforementioned examples it emerges that the Jesuits – thanks to improved conditions of communication – had indeed realized to some extent one of their desiderata with regard to a relatively ‘quick’ communica- tion of ‘new’ books, which were important to their mission in China. From the sources, we occasionally get an impression of the immediate, positive effect of the arrival of such ‘new’ information on the scientific / technologi- cal achievements of the same Jesuits. Thus, after Adam Schall, F. Verbiest’s

47 Other copies date back to 1633 (no. 2677), 1631 (no. 2357), 1611 (no. 2239); 1609 (no. 1290). 48 The numbers are: Verhaeren, Catalogue, nos. 2723, 3186, 3224, 3293, 3408, 3425, 3801, 3997, of which only 3997 is a book on science (Claudius Aelianus’ De Animalium Natura); the publication date of the books he offered is 1656 (no. 3224); 1655 (no. 3408 and 2723), 1653 (no. 3293), 1649 (no. 3425); 1618 (no. 3186). Distance as an inconvenient factor 131 immediate predecessor, had in 1661 lifted up very heavy weights, Verbiest in 1663 succeeded in advising and surpassing his ‘instructor’, precisely because he had the recently arrived mechanical work of Paolo Casati, S.J., Terra machinis mota (Roma, 1655) at his disposal (related by F. de Rouge- mont from Canton, certainly on the basis of a direct report of F. Verbiest from Peking).49 Of course, there is a reverse side to this positive fact, which is echoed in the periodically expressed experience of how fickle the communication was of instruments so vital for the mission’s position such as, for instance, Western astronomical tables. Urging the correspondents in Europe to quickly send new issues of tables when the tables in Peking approached their end is indeed a constantly recurring theme in the letters from China. To describe this process of sticking continuation in the case of the two main Jesuit residences in Peking:

– in the Beitang (the French residence): one started app. with the tables of Desplaces and Manfredi; in 1724, A. Gaubil was still desperately looking for the continuation of the tables (with a ‘dead line’ in 1725), for the period 1726‑1737 (R. Simon, p. 34; 86). In 1729, they disposed of the “Eph. de Manfredi et une partie de celles de Desplaces” (p. 240). From them, Manfredi’s tables covered the period 1726-1737 / 1738-1750 (ed. 1725), and Desplaces ended in 1725-1734 (ed. 1727); from these two, it was apparently Manfredi who constituted the continuation. Therefore, precisely in 1749, i.e. one year before its end (1750) we find the demand for a prolongation of Manfredi, or for de La Caille as its alternative; in fact, in 1750 one received vol. IV of de La Caille in Peking, covering the period 1741-1755; in 1753 arrived the tables of Zanotti (on the period 1751-1762). All in all, there was no visible interruption [Manfredi (1750) > de La Caille (1755) > Zanotti; (1762)];

– in the Xitang, later called Nantang (the ‘Portuguese’ residence): Argoli (until 1700) > Mezzavacca (to 1701); interruption up to at least 1707; then continued to be used to 1720; in 1719, i.e. just in time Manfredi Vol. IV arrived, on the period 1715-1725, and thus useful for the next 6 years to come; in 1724 Ghislieri arrived, for the period 1721-1740; 1741-1756, although reputedly of minor quality.

In still other circumstances, the lack of appropriate (up-to-date, Western) books had prevented the Jesuit achievements in China from being ‘up-to-date’ according to European standards. For instance, the interruption of contacts

49 F. de Rougemont, Historia Tartaro-Sinica nova (Lovanii, 1673), p. 168. 132 Noël Golvers with the West in the mid-1660s (the Calendar case) may have been the reason why Verbiest’s astronomical observatory, both in its first phase (1664) and its final stage (1669-1673), was deprived of the innovations introduced in observational astronomy in Europe in the 1650s and 1660s (A. Chapman).50 That on the level of individual book titles a ‘perfectly’ functioning acquisi- tion system was not always realized is obvious; one has only to mention the great frustrations, ventilated in many letters, when long waiting periods and expectations were in the end unsuccessful, and the books did not arrive for whatever reason, or were wrongly delivered. In this last case, the practical problems were sometimes ‘overcome’ by using other books, also when of minor quality, or by consulting / borrowing the volumes from other Jesuit residences. For both practices I have several examples in my evidence. All in all, the global picture seems to be that on the basis of a main stock of older books, published 15, 20 or more years before, selected items of recent date were acquired and used, in exceptional cases even within one year of their appearance. These books, together with a highly wanted and representative series of European scientific periodicals and a greatly devel- oped “commercium litterarum”, kept the Jesuits, in this “extremo terrarum orbis limite” (F. X. Filippucci) and despite the “100.000” li distance, in con- tact with recent European science. Thanks to their well-developed network and communication circuit within Europe, the Jesuits in China could acquire books from Spain, Portugal, Italy, German Mittel-Europa, the Low Countries, and, more peripherically, England and Russia. That books from these latter countries were actually, if only occasionally used, also emerges from the presence of English and Russian grammars and lexica. When looking at the continuous efforts the Jesuits made to update their scientific library, and, more in general, at the evidence I have investigated so far, there can be no longer any place for the suspicion – often expressed, especially in the past – that the Jesuits intentionally transmitted second-hand, and ‘old-fashioned’ science to China.

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