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The History of the Oldest Planetarium in the Netherlands: the Sphaera Movens, Nicknamed the Leyden Sphaera

The History of the Oldest Planetarium in the Netherlands: the Sphaera Movens, Nicknamed the Leyden Sphaera

The History of the Oldest Planetarium in the : The Sphaera Movens, nicknamed the Leyden Sphaera

Hans Hooijmaijers and Huib Zuidervaart

Abstract look at the history and context of the A planetarium depicting the Copernican Sphaera. configuration of the planets was built in Representing Copernicus: in around 1670. In 1710, this the motivation behind the scientific instrument was presented to planetarium University. The Sphaera incom- parabilis, as it was then known, under- In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published went an intense refurbishment and was his book De revolutionibus orbium placed in the university library, where coelestium (‘On the Revolutions of it could be admired until the beginning the Heavenly Spheres’). In this book, of the nineteenth century. After being he described a new vision of the solar housed for more than a century in the system where the sun was at the cen- building of Obser- tre, in contrast to the prevailing view vatory, the instrument was presented that the Earth was at the centre of the to the new for the History of universe. It took a century and precise and (the predeces- by Johannes Kepler and sor of the present ) Galileo Galilei before this heliocentric in 1931. Recently, the planetarium was worldview began to find acceptance in restored. This project triggered new re- . This included the Netherlands, search into the origin and history of the where it became widespread in both in- 2 instrument, the results of which are pre- side and outside academic circles. From sented in this paper. the middle of the seventeenth century, Copernican beliefs about the celestial Reason for this Paper motions became more or less common- Museum Boerhaave’s collection con- place among enthusiasts. tains a number of unique pieces, one One good example being Adriaen Vro- of which immediately catches the eye: esen, then mayor of Rotterdam, who de- a planetarium taller than a person, nick- cided to make mechanical images based named the Leiden Sphaera (Museum on the heliocentric world view.3 He Boerhaave Inventory Number 9619).1 was not the first to try this, but certainly This showpiece has had an eventful his- the most ambitious in the Netherlands. tory, originating in Rotterdam where it A Copernican mechanical planetarium was made in around 1670, before be- had already been designed in 1598 by ing moved to Leiden University forty Johannes Kepler.4 A derivative, known years later. When the predecessor to as the ‘tellurium’, a tool that mimics the the Museum Boerhaave opened in 1931, revolution of the earth around the sun, the University presented it with the actually originated in the Netherlands. Sphaera. This mechanism was probably invent- ed around 1600 by the mathematician The central location of the planetarium Adriaen Anthoniszoon from Alkmaar, in the present permanent exhibition and was first described in the Astrono- always hindered a thorough investiga- mia Instaurata (, 1617), an tion into its condition. A temporary ex- edition of Copernicus’ Revolutionibus perimental exhibition in the museum published by the Groningen professor room meant the planetarium had to Nicolaus Mulerius.5 Such devices were be dismantled, which was the perfect produced in series by the Amsterdam opportunity to carry out some further instrument maker and cartographer studies into the instrument. The results Willem Jansz, who later changed his of these indicated that restoration was surname to "Blaeu". Jansz was a pupil required; the movement needed clean- of the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe, ing, there was corrosion and no protec- one of the first astronomers who devel- tive layer on the brass, and evidence of oped precision instruments for celestial careless repairs which had been carried . Around 1650, however, the out in the distant past. Over a period of most sensational attempt was the ‘Got- two years, the Sphaera was completely torp Globe’ in Fredriksborg (Schleswig cleaned and restored where necessary. Holstein), an impressive Copernican The planetarium is now proudly dis- planetarium the size of a person, housed played in all its former glory in the mu- Fig. 1 The Sphaera, after the recent restauration in a globe-shaped sphere with a diam- seum (Fig. 1). The restauration offered in Museum Boerhaave, Leiden. Photos Museum eter of 1.27 m displaying the signs of the us a great opportunity to take a closer Boerhaave. zodiac.6

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 13 Fig. 3 Photo of the – in 1940 destroyed – oil painting of Steven Tracy († Fig. 2 Sketched map of Pennsylvania (USA) indicating the position of the land of 1703) by Adriaen van der Werff (who ‘Adrian Vrouzen & Benj[amin] Fidler (a misrepresentation of the name Furly). From a worked in Rotterdam between 1676 letter of William Franklin to his father Benjamin Franklin, 12 June 1772 [William B. and 1696). Tracy is depicted with a Willcox, ed., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 19 (New Haven and London, 1975), celestial globe and his Sphaera on the pp. 170-172]. background. (From: Rotterdamsche Kunstkring: catalogus der tentoonstelling van oude schilderijen in particulier bezit The Initiator: Adriaen Vroesen put his estate in Pennsylvania in America at (Rotterdam, 1907), no. 75. Photo RKD. Adriaen Vroesen (1641-1706), the initiator the disposal of free-thinking people, Furly of the Rotterdam planetarium, was a descen- actively started recruiting new immigrants in 1682. Via Furly, Adriaen Vroesen also ac- dant of a Remonstrant family of Rotterdam Was Vroesen inspired to build a planetarium quired a large area of land in Pennsylvania, mayors and aldermen. His father bore the by the meetings at Furly’s home? It seems adjacent to Furly’s property, in the same same name, while his mother was Johanna probable. It cannot be ascribed to the post- year (Fig. 2).10 He sold the land in 1704 Snel van Royen, the daughter of Adriaen’s humous influence of his grandfather Snel- through Benjohan Furly, Benjamin Furly’s grandfather Willebrord Snel van Royen, lius, because although the latter expressed son11, so it is clear that Vroesen and Furly better known as ‘Snellius’.7 Adriaen’s con- sympathy for the Copernican system, he knew each other well. Vroesen also had nection with Snellius meant he could enrol never showed real conviction.16 It is also access to the intellectual society in which for free at Leiden University in 1656 as a possible that the young Adriaen Vroesen Furly was involved. In Furly’s house, the student of philosophy.8 After completing went on a Grand Tour after completing his thinkers and sources of inspiration of the his studies, Adriaen initially followed in the studies, and came across the Gottorp plan- early Enlightenment met each other: Pierre footsteps of the Vroesens, and abandoned etarium or a similar mechanism, such as the Bayle, John Locke and his pupil Anthony academia for a career in administration. In one designed by the Dane Ole Rømer who Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, not 1662, when alderman of Schieland, he mar- was active in Paris. Planetarium investiga- forgetting others such as Philippus van Lim- ried Susanna Knaeu. Two years later he was tors King and Millburn have in any case borch, Jean Leclerc, Algernon Sydney, Tobias appointed secretary of the Rotterdam City pointed to a similarity in the basic design Ludwig Kohlhaus, Pieter Rabus, Hermanus Council. When his father died in 1669, Adri- between the Rotterdam Sphaera Armilaris Lufneu and Franciscus Mercurius Baron aen was chosen as mayor of Rotterdam. Automatica and the planetary mechanism van Helmont. The latter proves once more by Rømer and his companion Horrebow.17 As a rich regent, Adriaen did not limit his the link between Furly and Vroesen; when Whatever exactly happened, it is clear that activities to administrative affairs, but also staying with Vroesen in Schoonderloo in the Sphaera had to be a showpiece which made a mark in the social and cultural cir- 1686, Van Helmont drew up his will. Both commanded admiration: possibly for God’s cles of his times. For example, he regularly Furly and Vroesen were mentioned, with creation, but certainly also to reinforce visited ‘De Lantaarn’, the home of English- 500 guilders bequeathed to Furly, while Vroesen’s leading position in Rotterdam. man Benjamin Furly an intellectual centre Vroesen inherited his library and a ring, and of Rotterdam. Furly was the leader of the Vroesen’s wife Susanna Knaeu two silver Other Contributors to the Sphaera Quaker community in the Netherlands, flasks.12 Van Helmont also reserved a quan- 1. Steven Tracy and a successful merchant.9 From 1665, tity of money for the publication of one Vroesen requested Steven Tracy (also Furly regularly organized discussions at his of his books, which usually dealt with al- known as Thraci; †1703) to actually build home, where natural philosophy was one chemy, and where he instructed Vroesen to the Sphaera.18 This Rotterdam clockmaker, of the items on the agenda. It is likely that act as executor.13 The catalogue of Furly’s who was born in Great Yarmouth in Eng- Adriaen Vroesen was one of the members library, moreover, shows that Van Helmont land, was a prominent instrument maker.19 of Furly’s ‘society’. A commercial activity did indeed leave him various objects after In 1769, the Bataafsch Genootschap der confirms the relationship between Vroesen his death14, and Vroesen must have also re- Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte te Rot- and Furly. As a friend of William Penn, who ceived a part.15 terdam (‘Batavian Society for Experimen-

14 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) tal Philosophy at Rotterdam’), which was cal data used to design established by Tracy’s grandson Steven the Sphaera correspond Hoogendijk, received a celestial globe made to those presented by Van by Tracy, which was driven by an interior Nierop, the mechanism movement.20 Tracy was so proud of his two can be dated after 1653. devices that he had his portrait made by Further, the circumstance the elite Rotterdam painter Adriaen van der that in Tracy’s specifica- Werff, together with these instruments (Fig. tions both Saturn’s ring 3). Furly also owned a ‘very beautiful wall and Saturn’s moon Titan clock’ with astronomical indications by Tra- are not mentioned, seems cy.21 Tracy’s reputation as an ‘observer and to indicate that the de- effector of mathematical celestial drawings’ vice was designed before finally led the Rotterdam baker and histo- dis- rian Gerrit van Spaan to dedicate one of his covered these celestial many books to this ‘ingenious artist’ of Rot- phenomena in 1655.29 Al- terdam in 1701.22 though these discoveries did not immediately be- 2. Nicolaes Stampioen come known worldwide, Another important designer of the Sphaera as would be the case to- was Nicolaes Stampioen (1639-1721), sur- day, Stampioen must have veyor, sheriff of Kralingen and ‘fabricq’ been aware of them via (meaning engineer) in Schieland.23 In his network of contacts; 1689, in the capacity of mathematician, after all, his deceased fa- he joined a scientific committee which ther had actually taught advised the States General about the util- Huygens. Even so, the ity of a method to determine longitude at Sphaera must be more re- sea.24 His grandfather, Jan Jansz Stampioen cent, given the fact that in the elder († 1660), had been a teacher in 1655 Vroesen was only 14 navigation in Rotterdam since 1617. He years old. already made a Coelestum planum (celes- Fig. 4 Title page of Dirck Rembrantz van Nierop, tial map) with an accurate picture of the Nederduytsche Astronomia (Second edition, 1658). Photo A better time indica- starry sky in 1619, which map he published KB (KB401 E1. tion can be found in the with a ‘little booklet […] for educational archives of Rotterdam, purposes’.25 In 1626, Stampioen the elder which first mention the also attended the Collegium Mechanicum clockmaker Tracy in 30 of , the Rotterdam rector of 1662. Since Adriaen Vroesen took his seat the Latin School, which was set up for the in the Rotterdam City Council in 1664, and exchange of scientific information ‘for the Furly only started his meetings after his benefit of carpenters, bricklayers, skippers marriage in 1665, the instrument was prob- and other freemen, and principally gentle- ably made after the mid-1660s. On the other men and students’.26 Nicolaes’ father, Jan hand, the mechanism must almost certainly Jansz. Stampioen the younger, was a pri- be made before 1672, the year known as vate tutor of , whose pupils the Dutch ‘rampjaar’ (disaster year), when included Stadtholder Willem II, and Chris- the was attacked by four tiaan Huygens. So, Nicolaes’ interest in the countries and almost seized to exist. These mathematical was no coincidence. events sparked a revolution in the country, resulting in the instalment of prince Wil- Nicolaes Stampioen provided the gearing lem III of Orange as Stadtholder. Many re- ratios of Vroesen’s Sphaera. For these cal- publicans were removed from government, culations he used the Nederduytsche Astro- and replaced by Orangists. The republican nomia, a Dutch book on astronomy written Vroesen was one of them. He lost his by the mathematician Rembrandtsz Dirck leading status as regent to the royalists.31 van Nierop, first published in 1653 (Fig. To summarise, we can assume that the 4).27 In her study on the Leiden Sphaera Sphaera was built around 1670.32 (which strictly speaking is not from Leiden but from Rotterdam!), Elly Dekker has dis- The Fate of the Vroesens after covered that many of the orbit periods Fig. 5 Title page of Vroesen’s official 1672 used by the Sphaera are the same as those request for rehabilitation (1704). Photo After 1672, Vroesen left Rotterdam and in Van Nierop’s book. What is particularly Museum Rotterdam. sought refuge, first in Antwerp and later noticeable is that the mistakenly incorrect in Schoonderloo, a village near Rotterdam. (!) orbit period specified by Van Nierop for Dating the Sphaera Armilaris Little is known about Adriaens activities 33 Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons, is iden- Automatica there, but the couple got three children. tical to those used by the makers of the Adriaen regularly acted as a guardian or Sphaera.28 When exactly Tracy constructed the plan- caretaker for others34, changed his will35, etarium is unknown. Since most astronomi- complained about the ‘karossengeld’36,

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 15 acted together with Benjamin Furly as an provide more background about the instru- arbitrator in a dispute37, and possibly wrote ment, the Vroesens’ heir noted that Jan Vro- a posthumously published critical theo- esen’s ‘father had been the main inventor logical treatise. Today this booklet can no of the Sphaera movens, [...], after whose longer be found, but once it was in Furly’s death it ended up in the hands of Mr. Sebasti- library.38 aen Schepers’.51 This story must be untrue, because Bastiaen (Sebastiaen) Schepers In 1702, after the death of Stadtholder-King died in 1704, two years before the death Willem III, when the office of Stadtholder of Adriaen Vroesen. Moreover, Scheper’s was again abolished in , Vroesen father – the old Admiral Willem Bastiaensz saw new political opportunities. He re- Schepers (1619-1704) – had been largely quested the States of Holland and West responsible for Vroesen’s forced departure Friesland, to re-appoint him to the city from the Rotterdam city council in 1672. council of Rotterdam.39 After the failure Admiral Schepers even took over Vroesen’s of that attempt, he submitted an official re- former position in this city council, later to quest for rehabilitation (Fig. 5).40 In 1704 be followed by his son and grandsons. So, Vroesen was indeed awarded a pension by the Orangist admiral Schepers was the de the city of Rotterdam.41 At that time, Adri- facto successor to the republican oriented aen lived in , where he died in Vroesen.52 1706. He was buried in his beloved Rotter- Fig. 6 Portrait of Bastiaen Schepers (1650- dam.42 1704) as ‘bewindhebber’ (director) of the Initially, the trustees of Leiden Univer- Dutch East India Company VOC. Photo sity confused Schepers the father with Adriaen Vroesen’s philosophical milieu Museum Rotterdam. Schepers the son; in August 1710, at a sub- gets more depth when we also focus our sequent meeting of the trustees, it was er- attention to his son Jan Vroesen. In 1685, roneously announced that the Sphaera at the start of his law studies in Utrecht, recently been argued in the case of the was a donation ‘from the children and heirs Pierre Bayle, provides him with a letter of Sphaera Perfecta, a planetarium made in of Lieutenant-Admiral Willem Bastiaensz recommendation to the Utrecht professor 1735 by Amsterdam instrument maker Jan Scheepers’.53 This was, however, corrected Johannes Georgius Graevius. In this epistle, van den Dam47, who evidently was inspired later. The donation was actually made after Bayle praises Vroesen’s son as ‘un jeune by the – then Leiden – Sphaera. Unfortu- the death of Bastiaen Schepers the son, homme très brillant et très noble’.43 The nately, there are no sources which could who died shortly after his father, and who, letter shows that Bayle taught the 13-year- provide more information on this topic, but on closer inspection, was completely differ- old young man as ‘précepteur’ in philoso- it is clear that Vroesen’s Sphaera originated ent oriented compared to his seafaring fa- phy. These lessons were undoubtedly paid in an environment where, to cite Margaret ther (Fig. 6). The Latin inscription placed in for by his father Adriaen, meaning that also Jacob and Jonathan Israel, the Radical En- 1711 on the base of the planetarium clearly Adriaen had contact with Bayle. Apart from lightenment matured at an early stage.48 recognises the instrument’s origins. Trans- that Bayle’s philosophical lessons were not The Sphaera in the Hands of lated into English, it reads: ‘This instrument, in vain. Jan Vroesen Adriaenszoon would a very famous piece of jewellery, was ac- later emerge as one of the authors of the Bastiaen Schepers quired by Leiden Academy through the gen- famous Traité des trois Imposteurs, which No mention of Vroesen’s planetarium can erosity of the very honourable widow and was published in The Hague in 1712 after be found before 7 June 1710, when in a children of the highly esteemed Mr Sebas- La Vie et l’Esprit de Mr. Benoît de Spino- meeting of the trustees of Leiden Univer- tiaen Schepers’. In 1741, this provenance sa, a biography of Baruch de Spinoza. This sity is stated that, was confirmed by the university librarian much-debated treatise, a copy of which was ‘Mr Noorthey, council of the City of Rot- Van Royen, who noted at the time that: kept in Furly’s library, has been described terdam, made known to the aforemen- as ‘one of the most radical anti-religious tioned that a certain astronomical instru- ‘Mrs Timmers, widow of Mr Sebastiaen clandestine works that circulated in the Schepers, Councillor of the City of Rot- 44 ment, namely a sphera movens showing eighteenth century’. It is yet another celestial movements, had been donated terdam, has honoured the aforemen- indication of the critical-intellectual envi- to the University’.49 tioned [Leiden University Library] with a ronment in which the Vroesen family was donation, with which it can shine above submerged.45 This Daniel Noorthey was not so much all the libraries of the world, namely acting as administrator of the City of Rot- the Sphaera movens, a mechanism to Incidentally, son Jan Vroesen’s radical reli- terdam, but he was the representative of whom the honour of its invention and gious scepticism also questions the purpose Geertruy Timmers, his aunt and mother unmentionable costs are ascribed to and meaning envisioned by father Adriaen in law, at that time already a widow for Lord Mayor Adriaen Vroezen, where the Vroesen for his Sphaera. Had the mecha- quite some time of Bastiaen Schepers glory of its conservation and generosity nism perhaps some theological – or even (1650-1704), former governor of the Dutch to allow it to be viewed by the public is deistic – meaning? After all, it is known that East India Company (VOC) for the Rot- thanks to Mr Schepers and his heirs’.54 especially in the 1660s a fierce theological terdam chamber. It appeared that in 1710 debate was going on in the Dutch Repub- Vroesen’s Sphaera was in the possession of It was Bastiaen Schepers, therefore, who at lic about the reality of the Copernican sys- the Schepers family.50 How they acquired some point had acquired the planetarium, tem. At stake in these discussions was the the planetarium is not recorded. When and probably also suggested that the instru- authority of the Bible, in which could be many years later (in 1726) the trustees of ment be donated to Leiden University after read clearly that the earth stood still and his death. After all, this was his alma ma- 46 Leiden University approached Vroesen’s the sun moved. That planetariums could heirs with inquiries, asking if they could ter, when he successively had studied phi- play a role in theological discussions has losophy and law in the years 1668-1673.55

16 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) His friendship with the Leiden Professor of moved to The Hague.62 It seems that Rot- The Sphaera at Leiden University Law, Johann Friedrich Böckelmann (1632- terdam and the surrounding area no longer The Leiden trustees sent the instrument 1681), also dated from that time. In 1679, had anything to offer to liberal thinkers. maker Jan van Musschenbroek with a reg- the latter dedicated his innovative textbook The events of 1692 had no lasting effects istrar to Rotterdam in order to collect the Compendium Institutionum Justiniani , on Bastiaen Schepers. Thanks to the influ- Sphaera and to give Schepers’ domestic among others, to his ‘very good friend’ Bas- ence of Schepers’ father, the admiral who staff three double gold ducats as a gesture tiaen Schepers.56 brought stadtholder Willem III to his crown for their support.71 At the meeting held on Even though Bastiaen Schepers and Adri- in England in 1688, Bastiaen Schepers was 8 November 1710, the trustees recorded aen Vroesen came from families with op- rehabilitated to his post as councillor in that the Sphaera had been provisionally posing political tendencies, their intellec- 1698, to be followed in 1702 by his eleva- placed in the university library because tual interest was similar. Both men studied tion to governor of the Dutch East India there was no room in the Theatrum As- philosophy in Leiden, and both were ac- Company.63 tronomicum (the name used at the time quainted with Pierre Bayle, because Basti- for the observatory on top of the Acad- aen Schepers also belonged to Bayle’s lib- A Showpiece in Scheper’s Library? emy building at the Rapenburg). Mayor eral circle.57 Bastiaen was also a patron for When and how Vroesen’s Sphaera came Coenraad Ruysch, administrator of the one of Bayle’s former students at the Illus- into the hands of Bastiaen Schepers is un- Theatrum, Jan van Musschenbroek, and trious School in Rotterdam, the young phi- known. However, since a pedestal was ‘others, experienced in astronomical stud- losopher and Bernard Mandeville missing when the Sphaera was donated ies’, were asked to make a plan and budget (1670-1733), son of a Rotterdam doctor. in 1710, it is likely that the Sphaera was a for restoring the Sphaera.72 permanent fixture in Schepers’ library in Mandeville would be later acclaimed in A month later, the university commissioned his house in Rotterdam Hoogstraat, where England as the author of the social-critical the clockmaker Bernard van der Cloesen he lived from about 1688 to about 1700.64 book Fable of the Bees (1705/1714). To ac- († 1736) from The Hague to restore the In 1696, this library and various ‘other cu- knowledge the support given by Bastiaen planetarium. This clockmaker was selected riosities’ of Schepers were praised as an Schepers, Mandeville dedicated his Leiden because he had been used previously ‘by 58 important place to visit by Italian globe- medical thesis to him in 1691. Mr Huygens’ for ‘making astronomical in- maker Vincent Coronelli.65 Unfortunately, struments’.73 An unnamed carpenter was In 1692, Schepers befell the same fate as he mentions no details, but it is most likely also commissioned to produce a suitable Adriaen Vroesen when he was deposed that the Sphaera was placed in a library pedestal, since, as already mentioned, the by the stadtholder as council member, city or collection of curiosities. In the Muse- planetarium’s original was missing. Van der secretary and pensionary of Rotterdam; um Museorum, a guide on how to layout Cloesen restored the instrument to its for- this because of Schepers’ alleged involve- private and public collections, published mer glory in his workshop in The Hague. ment in riots that had plagued the city two in 1704, it is stated that a Sphaera armil- In 1712 the planetarium was transported years earlier. It was suspected, probably laris copernicana, such as the one in Got- to the library, after which it could be ad- rightly, that he and several others (includ- torp, would be a valuable addition to a mired by the public. It was placed in a glass ing Mandeville the elder and his son), had ‘Kunstkammer’.66 A possible scenario is case, to which only Wolfert Senguerdius, conspired against the bailiff of the city, Ja- that when Schepers bought his house on 59 the professor of philosophy, and Jan van cob van Zuylen van Nievelt. The latter’s Hoogstraat, Vroesen’s Sphaera was already Musschenbroek, the administrator of the corrupt policies met with considerable re- there; in fact, Adriaen Vroesen also lived in scientific instruments, had the key.74 Neat sistance, both among the common people Hoogstraat in Rotterdam at the time of his 60 Latin adorning the foot of the pedestal still and the more liberal regents. In 1690, marriage in 1662.67 Vroesen probably dis- indicates what had happened: an intervention of the bailiff led to an as- posed of this house in 1687, shortly before sault on his home, after which Van Zuylen Schepers moved to Hoogstraat.68 The pri- ‘Although left badly damaged by the pas- initially was removed from office. However, vacy of a house can also explain why the sage of time and the carelessness of the thanks to the protection of the Stadtholder- Sphaera is not described anywhere before inexperienced, the skilled instrument King Willem III, Van Zuylen recovered his it arrived at Leiden University. The fact that maker Bernard van der Cloesen recently position, and in the purge that followed the structure of the planetarium indicates restored it, going beyond the original liberalist free-thinking in Rotterdam was that the timepiece originally had a 4-metre condition and actually introducing some severely restricted. Not only Schepers and long provides evidence that the improvements, so that the instrument a number of supporters had to step down instrument originally was installed high in now really seems to have reached the from their offices, Pierre Bayle lost his pro- a building.69 peak of perfection’.75 fessorship at the Illustrious School of Rot- terdam. Bayle even was no longer allowed Further, it is worth noting that Nicolaes Gratitude is also expressed on the other to give private lessons, such as those previ- Stampioen, the mathematician who car- side of the pedestal to two others who ously given to Jean Vroesen. However, this ried out the calculations for the Sphaera, helped in the restoration of the planetari- measure allowed Bayle to concentrate on worked for Bastiaen Schepers and his fam- um. The first was Leiden mayor Coenraad his monumental Dictionaire Historique et ily from 1701 to 1708. Stampioen took Ruysch (1650-1731), who supervised the Critique. In this almost encyclodedic work over the tasks of steward and secretary of entire restoration and who also advanced Bayle also discussed the Copernican system the Schieland Hoogheemraadschap (water the costs. He was famous as a ‘benefactor of the planets, but unfortunately, does not board) for the still very young son Willem of the liberal arts’, and acted as scientific mention Vroesen’s mechanical model, al- Bastiaensz Schepers (1684-1750).70 Perhaps patron until his death in 1731. From 1726 though Bayle must have known the instru- this involvement with the Schepers family to 1731, for example, Ruysch financed the ment.61 Anyhow, it was also in 1692 that was the reason why in 1710 Stampioen was publication of the meteorological observa- Adriaen Vroesen disposed of his country es- not involved in handing over the then rather tions of Coenraad Zumbach de Koesfelt, tate in Schoonderloo, probably because he delapidated Sphaera to Leiden University. who was only too pleased to dedicate this

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 17 device by issuing a pamphlet about the Sphera Automatica from 1714 onwards79, which for the convenience of the many foreign visitors was published not only in Latin and Dutch (Fig. 7) but also in English and French. The text was later also includ- ed in some German and Danish books.80 In addition, a new catalogue of the univer- sity library with an engraving and descrip- tion of the new acquisition was issued in 1716.81 Countless travel journals show that the ‘Magnificent Copernican Machine’ in the Leiden library was famed internation- ally, and remained so throughout the eigh- teenth century.82 In 1717, for example, the German professor Johann Gottlieb Deich- sel admired how the Sphaera had been set up in its new glass case to the right of the librarian’s desk83, while in 1777 the Danish astronomer Thomas Bugge wrote of the planetarium, ‘this is a very beautiful piece’.84 It is not surprising that many exag- gerated stories about this showpiece began to circulate at the time. Englishman John Ratcliff, for example, wrote in 1734 dur- ing his visit to the Leiden library that this ‘noble instrument’ had once been person- ally examined by the Russian Tsar ; he had been so clumsy with it that it had stood idle for a long time afterwards, but fortunately it had now been repaired and kept in a glass case.85 In 1770, Rus- sian prince Alexandre Kurakin admiringly reported in his travel journal that he had heard that the construction of the Sphaera had required 70,000 guilders.86 It is clear that Vroesen did not cut any corners when he made the Sphaera, but that amount of money would have been easily enough to buy three country estates at the time. The planetarium could be admired by li- Fig. 7 The short description of the Sphaera published for the first time in 1714. Photo brary visitors throughout the eighteenth University Library Leiden. century. It was initially maintained by Jaco- bus van der Cloese[n] (1692-1767 – the son of Bernard), and later by Bernard’s grand- publication to this ‘promoter of all the arts in Arnhem. Ham was no ordinary student, son Bernard van der Cloesen the younger and honourable sciences’.76 and remarkably he is the same man who (1726-1780). After his death, management was the first in the world to discover the of the device was transferred, first to Leiden Until now, it had never been noticed that, spermatozoa in 1677.78 In August of that clockmaker Louis Pasche (1782-1793), and besides Ruysch, another person with ‘expe- year, Ham visited the renowned microsco- then to the scientific instrument maker rience in astronomical study’ contributed pist Antony van Leeuwenhoek in , to Felix Meylan (1793-after 1809).87 In total, to the restoration plans. This person’s name whom he revealed his own microscopic between 1710 and 1810, the maintenance is absent in the resolutions of the Leiden discovery. Van Leeuwenhoek immediately of the Sphaera costed the university about trustees, but is explicitly mentioned on the made the discovery public by sending a eight thousand guilders, a very consider- base of the Sphaera. It concerns ‘the out- letter to the Royal Society. This same Ham able sum at the time.88 standing mathematician Johannes Ham, is thus immortalised on the base of the Council of Arnhem, very noble and very In 1823, the Sphaera was moved from the Sphaera, only this time honoured for his wise representative of the Mighty States- university library to the attic of the new mathematical monitoring of the work by General of the United Netherlands’.77 This (still on top of the Van der Cloesen. Johannes Ham (1654-1725) was an alum- Academy Building), where the later direc- nus of Leiden University, where he was After all this work, the instrument was tor of the observatory, Frederik Kaiser, registered from 1671 to 1680, first studying given a new name, proudly stated on the discovered it on his appointment in 1826 philosophy then later medicine. In later life, pedestal: Sphaera Incomparabilis. Leiden in an ‘extremely neglected’ state.89 Kaiser he was listed as a doctor, as well as a mayor University also abundantly advertised the considered the Sphaera to be fairly useless

18 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) small globe of the Earth and many oth- er pieces were missing. From a nearby , as well as from the planetari- um, all screws that could be turned out by hand had been removed.’93 Kaiser now quickly decided to bring the old apparatus to the new observatory building, and have them restored and cleaned, but this time for solely historical reasons. It is a textbook example of what Michael Thomp- son has described in his Rubish Theory: The Creation and Destruction of Value (1979).94 In this book Thompson argues that obsolete objects can regain a value only when they first are dumped from their original function, regarded as being super- seded and worthless. This is exactly what has happened with the Leiden Sphaera af- ter it had fallen into disgrace. So, to quote Kaiser again: ‘On 7 and 8 April 1868 the carpenter has transported these heavy pieces to the new observatory. […] The planetarium’s pedestal must be touched with paint, for which the English painter has been summoned. The copper parts must be polished, [an activity] with which Valk and De Lange can be entertained for a long time.’95 After its refurbishment, the Sphaera was installed in the entrance hall of the new Leiden Observatory. However, the instru- ment was neglected there once more. Ac- cording to a commentator from 1928, it had become ‘a sad symbol of a lack of reverence for ancestry’.96 But as, after all, the instru- ment had ‘the greatest artistic value’ of all the Dutch planetariums, it was fortunate that there was again ‘talk of restoration’.97 Shortly thereafter, in 1930, the rare device Fig. 8 The Leyden Sphaera as exhibited in 1931 in the ‘Nederlandsch Historisch was given on loan to the Netherlands Muse- Natuurwetenschappelijk Museum’ at the Steenstraat in Leiden. Photo Museum um for the and Medicine Boerhaave. (later Museum Boerhaave), which opened its doors in 1931 (Fig. 8).98 From that time on, the Sphaera once again became a show- for astronomy. His comment in a later an- to write a complete history of Leiden Ob- piece, albeit it now with a historical signifi- nual report of Leiden Observatory leaves servatory since 1632. In this way, he also cance, rather than an astronomical one. no room for misunderstanding: ‘This piece became interested in the old astronomi- Old Traces of Restoration of equipment [the Sphaera] is especially cal instruments.91 So, in April 1868 he re- remarkable for the fact that, without having turned to the Academy Building to inspect Before the current restoration could start, any use, it has swallowed up during half a what he had left there. Kaiser had kept the the Sphaera had to be completely disman- century all the funds that in Leiden could Sphaera and the other abandoned instru- tled. The parts that were exposed revealed have been expended on astronomy’.90 So, ments in the old observatory because – as the usage, repairs and renovations under- in the decades of Kaiser’s directorship, he explained – he ‘did not have the proper gone by the device. Some elements, how- the instrument remained hidden on the means for transport and could not make ever, could not be dated, and there were attic of the Academy Building. However, the instrument presentable’.92 In a small issues with the modifications carried out in in 1868 Kaiser’s attitude changed. Eight handwritten note Kaiser reported what he the period before the planetarium moved years before, he finally had succeeded to had seen on the attic: to the museum. The archives of Leiden Uni- obtain a new observatory building, built versity show that some necessary changes ‘I found the room full of papers, lying on a bulwark in the Hortus Botanicus. This were made to the Sphaera immediately af- on piles on the ground. […] I found the achievement had made him curious to the ter it was moved in 1710. Van der Cloesen planetarium moved to another corner history of his institute. Kaiser started to Senior, for example, was commissioned to and far more mutilated than before. The search the university archives to be able ‘put the instrument on a pedestal, as was

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 19 the following century, no expense or effort was spared on maintenance. Keeping the movement going was particularly difficult, since the clockwork was not up to the task of moving the planets, so it required lots of modifications and replacement parts. The gearing showed significant signs of wear, bearing witness to the device’s long period of functioning. In Tracy’s day, watchmakers made cog wheels by hand. Later, machines were invented which could both distribute the teeth and mill them, and the difference with the handmade gearings can be clearly seen. It bears witness to the various makers who have worked on the device and have repaired its movement. The hand mecha- nism, for instance, seems to have been made by a different watchmaker than the

Fig. 9 Old and new dials: Tracy versus Van esen made a new engraving in the middle der Cloesen. Photos Museum Boerhaave. of the new dial. Eventually he prepared drawings of the entire system of gearing in 1727. These diagrams were reviewed and approved by Willem Jacob ’s Gravesande, originally envisaged and made’.99 He bud- the astronomy professor.102 The fact that geted 350 guilders for the work, but this the trustees ordered some copies of these turned out to be insufficient because the drawings, made by mathematics lecturer planetarium had ‘become dislodged and in Willem La Bordus, indicates how proud disorder’. In the summer of 1712, Ruysch they were of the instrument. Throughout reported that he had spent no less than 1,232 guilders on the instrument; 624 guil- ders were for Van der Cloesen (who would Fig. 10 In 1711 the digits for the 17th eventually receive 700), 576 guilders for century are flattened on the back of the the carpenter (for making the base and a plates to provide new digits for the 18th glass cabinet), and finally a modest 32 guil- century. Photos Museum Boerhaave. ders for the painter.100 After the recent dismantling of the instru- ment, it was clear that the dial and en- graving were originally of a different de- sign (Fig. 9). Van der Cloesen had made a new dial to cover Tracy’s original. Initially, the movement was that of a ‘night clock’, where the hours run between the quarters and minutes. Tracy’s dial is depicted on the engraving from 1711. Van der Cloesen also modified the movement of the plan- etarium by fitting a much shorter 25-cm pendulum.101 This meant that he had to change the ratios of the gearing, otherwise a year would pass in just three months. With Van der Cloesen’s modifications, the clockwork could run continuously for 8 days after winding. Hereafter Van der Clo-

20 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) running mechanism. The latter also con- as waxing and protecting bare metal parts Notes and References tains nineteenth-century parts, such as the from rust. In addition, the wooden pedestal 1. A detailed description of the planetarium 103 escapement. The drive and attachment was restored by Atelier Mösenbacher some can be found in: Elly Dekker, The Leiden of Jupiter were also adapted, with addition- years ago, which resulted in the texts on the Sphere. An exceptional seventeenth-century al reinforcement such as an extra bracket. panels becoming readable again. In 2013, it planetarium (Leiden, 1986). Translation The oval orbit of Saturn also suffered dam- was time for a more thorough approach, by R.D. Smith of E. Dekker, De Leidsche age over the years, as is evident by a signifi- during which the Museum Boerhaave was, Sphaera. Een uitzonderlijk planetarium uit de cant amount of soldering. Further, the uni- as always, very careful. This work amount- zeventiende eeuw, (Leiden, 1985). The name versity print from 1711 depicts Saturn with ed to cleaning, removing rust, and making Leiden Sphaera is strictly regarded incorrect. a ring, and the accompanying text reads: engravings and materials visible again. A This designation is introduced by J.H. van natural shellac was used to protect metal ‘The five moons of Saturn also do not Swinden in his book Beschryving van een parts from corrosion, and the restoration move here and are connected to the konst-stuk, verbeeldende een volleedig bewe- department replaced some missing parts. same ring; which is also fixed here; this gelyk hemels-gestel, uitgedagt en vervaardigd For example, the ring with moons around could not be otherwise because of the door Eise Eisinga (Franeker, 1780) p. 47. Venus was redesigned, and the missing part smallness of the space, nor is it neces- of the Gemini constellation was fabricated. 2. For more details, see: Rienk Vermij, The sary’.104 However, the wrong direction of the signs Calvinist Copernicans (Amsterdam, 2002). Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered of the zodiac was not corrected. More im- 3. Elly Dekker, ‘Sterrenkunde in de zeven- Saturn’s fifth moon, Thetys, in 1684, so the portant than what it says about the history tiende eeuw’, De zeventiende eeuw, 2 (1985), five moons in the ring were certainly not of the Sphaera, this was because it would pp. 84-98. made by Tracy. Photographs from the 1970s have been necessary to make a whole new show a rough ring with five spheres, prob- mount for the fragile constellations. Some 4. Henry C. King & John R. Millburn, Geared ably an addition from the restoration after old welds were also reinforced because of to the Stars. The Evolution of Planetariums, World War II. Finally, the annual dial shows their vulnerability.105 The result is a magnif- Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks (Toronto/ a nice way of being economic. At the rear, icent planetarium where all the engravings Bristol, 1978), chapters 6 & 13. the dates have been changed; the sixes of are once more clearly legible. 5. Djoeke van Netten, ‘Astronomia Instau- the years 1600-1690 have been beaten flat Epilogue rata? The Third Edition of Copernicus’ De and were then changed into sevens (Fig. Revolutionibus (Amsterdam, 1617)’, Journal Recent historical research has revealed that 10). This made the movement suitable for for the History of Astronomy, 43 (2012), pp. the Sphaera originated in a fascinating Rot- the eighteenth century! 75-91. terdam intellectual environment where the In the 1920s, just before the Sphaera was Radical Enlightenment matured at an early 6. King & Millburn, Geared to the Stars, note transferred to the museum, an employee at stage. It is a miracle that the instrument 4), pp. 102-103. In the eighteenth century, this Leiden Observatory also carried out some still exists today, following so many years in globe would be surpassed by an even larger repairs. This is indicated by an inscription Rotterdam, at Leiden University and at the revolving globe in Gottorp, into which specta- below the central axis, which reads ‘made Museum, especially considering the bom- tors could even enter. It is now on display in in May 1927 J.H. Karsten’. On 11 December bardment in the Second World War. The res- the Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg. 1944, during World War II, a bomb from the toration in 2013 revealed that the Sphaera 7. H.C.H. Moquette, ‘lemma Adriaan Royal Air hit the museum. Arie de Valk, can be read like a book. The wear and tear Vroesen’, in: P.C. Molhuysen, ed., Nieuw the former head of restoration at the Mu- marks and changes made to the planetary Nederlandsch Biografsch Woordenboek seum Boerhaave, saw the heavily damaged system and the dials provide a wonderful (Leiden, 1911-1934; hereafter indicated as Sphaera through a hole in the bombed-out overview of how the planetarium was used, NNBW), 3, col. 1364-1365. E.A. Engelbrecht, wall as a child: the planetarium’s big rings right from its beginnings to the present day. De vroedschap van Rotterdam, 1572-1795 were bent, and the zodiac had become dis- What stands out is the incredible crafts- (Rotterdam, 1973), no. 177. located. When De Valk joined the museum manship of the various instrument makers, in 1952, the Sphaera was already repaired as evidenced by the cast central tubes and 8. W.N. du Rieu, Album Studiosorum Aca- by a certain ‘Algra’, an apprentice instru- the handmade gearing. It is also clear that demiae Lugduno-Batavae 1575-1875 (Haga ment maker at the Kamerling Onnes phys- several skilled craftsmen worked on the Com., 1875), p. 452 (5 October 1656). ics . This was revealed by the re- device, not only famous clockmakers, like 9. For more on Furly, see: Sarah Hutton, Ben- cent investigation of the zodiac; the figures Tracy and the three Van der Cloesens, but jamin Furly 1646-1714: a Quaker merchant are now mounted on a modern welded also unknown makers of brass parts, cop- and his milieu (Florence, 2007); JA van Reijn, frame, and are no longer in their original persmiths and painters. mount. Obviously, this Algra did not have ‘Benjamin Furly. Engels koopman (en meer!) access to the right information, since pho- Acknowledgements te Rotterdam, 1636-1714, Rotterdamsch jaar- tos of the planetarium before the war show We like to express our gratitude to Paul Steen- boekje, 9 (1985), pp. 219-246; William Isaac that the constellations were placed in the horst conservator Museum Boerhaave and Hull, Benjamin Furly and Quakerism in Rot- correct orientation, whereas in the new Tjeerd Bakker, horologist to the Queen, for terdam (Madison, 1941) and Julius Friedrich frame they are mounted in the opposite their invaluable contributions. Sachse, Benjamin Furly, an English merchant direction. at Rotterdam, who promoted the frst German This article is an English adaptation of an ear- emigration to America (Philadelphia, 1895). The Recent Restoration lier Dutch version published as: ‘Het oudst be- 10. Manuscript groups at the Pennsylvania During the years that the Sphaera stood in waarde planetarium van Nederland: de Sphaera State Archives no. 5: Deeds and Patents Col- the Museum Boerhaave, it has undergone Movens, bijgenaamd Leidsche Sphaera. Ge- lection A. Penn Deeds, 1681-1790, page. 4: 7 several maintenance interventions, such schiedenis en restauraties door de eeuwen heen’, Studium 8:3 (2015) pp. 121-141. March 1682: ‘500 acres of Land to Adriaen

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 21 Vroesen Rotterdam’. S. Tracy’. number 3461, Deed 61 (willing decree), dated 21 December 1691. 11. Hull, Furly, note 9, p. 173. 22. G. van Spaan, Gedenkwaardige geschie- denissen volgens den rang der jaren, van het 36. ONA Rotterdam, inventory number 923 12. Rotterdam City Archives, inventory num- begin des werelds tot het einde van’t jaar (nots. Philips Basteels), Deed 418/1530, dat- ber 3857 (DLFS Delfshaven), Deed 35/202, zeventien-honderd (Rotterdam, 1701). ed 21 Aug 1679. For an earlier testament, see: dated March 21 1686. ONA Rotterdam 919 (nots. Philips Basteels), 23. J. MacLean, ‘Stampioen’, De Nederland- 13. To which of Franciscus Mercurius van Deed 183/507, dated 22 October 1665. sche Leeuw, 74 (1957), pp. 323-328. Nicolaes Helmont’s books this refers is not known. In Stampioen also produced maps (for example, 37. DLFS Delfshaven, inventory number 1690, he published Eenige gedagten rakende see National Archives inventory numbers 3857, Deed 89/402, dated 17 November 1686. de Natuurkunde (Amsterdam: Hendrick Jans- 2027 and 2385), and also advised on water- ‘Karossengeld’ was a tax on the use of car- sen, 1690); As Van Helmont died in 1699, he related issues in 1699 (See Rivierenland Re- riages. has published this book himself. gional Archive, Laagdijksheemraden archive 38. Bibliotheca Furliana (Rotterdam 1714), 14. Bibliotheca Furliana (Rotterdam, 1714): Culemborg, Section 1.1.4.4). p. 357 (no. 44): Ernstig ondersoek wegens ‘Curiositatas’, numbers 13-17. 24. The members of the longitude-commit- de mogelykheid of onmogelykheid der God- 15. See also the notarial Deed dated 14 tee of the States-General were Christiaan delyke openbaringen. Opgestelt door een January 1688, where Francis Mercury van Huygens, the Leiden professor Burchard de schrander Heer A.V. (Rotterdam, 1708). Helmont writes about a dinner at Benjamin Volder and the mathematicians Abraham de 39. A. Vroesen, Memorie en vertoog aan de Furly’s home in the presence of Adriaen Graaff and Liewe Willems Graef. edele groot achtbare heeren burgermeesteren Vroesen and his wife and two daughters, 25. C. de Waard, ‘lemma Jan Jansz. Stampio- en regeerders, mitsgaders raden en vroed- together with Furly’s close friend Arent en’, in: NNBW, 2 (1912) col. 1356-1358. schappen der stad Rotterdam overgeleverd, Sonnemans and his two daughters. Text pub- by en van wegen mrs. Gerard Gael en Adri- lished in full in Hutton, Furly, note 9, p. 27. 26. C. de Waard, Journal tenu par Isaac aen Vroesen, oud-burgermeesteren derzelver Beeckman de 1604 à 1634. Volume 2: 1619- 16. Liesbeth C. de Wreede, Willebrord Snel- stede; dienende tot reïteratie, en nadere ad- 1627 (La Haye, 1942), p. 455. lius (1580-1626): a humanist reshaping the structie van het verzoek, by hare missive van mathematical sciences (Ph.D. dissertation 27. Klaas Hoogendoorn, ‘Bibliography of the dato den 14. augusti 1702. aan haar ed. groot Utrecht 2007). See also Vermij, Calvinist Co- works of Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop’, in: achtb. gedaan (UBA, sign. OTM: OG 77-74). pernicans, note. 2, pp. 43-45. Marlise Rijks, ed., The Correspondence of 40. Vroesen, Remonstrantie met de bes- Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop (1610-1682) 17. King & Millburn, Geared to the Stars, cheiden daar toe behoorende, overgeleverd (The Hague, 2012), pp. 343-385. note 4, p. 213. aan de [...] heeren Staten van Holland en 28. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, pp. West-Vriesland (Rotterdam: R. Leers, 1704). 18. C. de Waard, ‘lemma Steven Traci’, in: 11, 36. (KB sign. KW 401 E 1 1660-1710 [61]). NNBW, 1 (1911), column 1498. Tracy’s epon- ymous son Steven Tracy the Younger (born 29. Steven Tracy’s undated specifcations 41. See Rotterdam City Archive, manuscript 1675) was also a watchmaker. He moved to for building a ‘Sphaera Movens’ have been collection, inventory number 1840: Remon- England in 1695, where he appointed his fa- preserved in the archives of Leiden Univer- strance of Adriaen Vroesen, 1704. ther as sole heir to his will. ONA Rotterdam, sity. See P.C. Molhuysen, Bronnen tot de ge- 42. DTB Rotterdam, 24 september 1706. inventory number 1065 (nots. van der Ho- schiedenis der Leidsche Universiteit, 4 (The Adriaen’s wife Susanna also died in The even), deed 63/254, dated 9 October 1695. Hague, 1913) pp. 126*-127* (No. 974). Hague, and was buried in Rotterdam on 11 19. For example, there is a carpenter’s square 30. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 9, February 1707. by Tracy in the Museum Boerhaave collection citing ONA Rotterdam 815/2. 43. Pierre Bayle to Jean-George Graevius, 8 (inventory number V09051. Recently, a solar 31. H.C.H. Moquette, ‘Gehate Rotterdamsche June 1685 (Correspondence of Pierre Bayle, ring made by Tracy surfaced (now in a private regenten in 1672’, Rotterdamsch Jaarboekje No. 428). Another letter states: ‘Il a beaucoup collection). A clock dating from around 1680, (1919) pp. 65-77. d’erudition pour son age; il aime les belles signed by Steven Tracy was auctioned at So- lettres, et il a fait de grands progrez dans la theby’s in Amsterdam on 20 May 2003. 32. Elly Dekker sets the date as ‘before 1680’. philosophie et dans la jurisprudence’. Pierre Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 12. 20. H.K. de Haas, ‘Over hetgeen in de oor- Bayle to Gilles Ménage, 10 December 1687 logsdagen van 10 mei 1940 van het Bataafsch 33. ONA Rotterdam, inventory 1247, no. 923 (Correspondence of Pierre Bayle, no. 706). Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijs- (nots. Daniël de Olyslager), deed 11/68, dated The deliverers of Bayle’s correspondence ac- begeerte door oorlogsgeweld is vernietigd’, 7 April 1706. cidentally identifed Jan Vroesen (1672-1725) Nieuwe verhandelingen van het Bataafsch with his older brother Adriaen, who died 34. Namely Jean (1672), Adriaen (1675) and Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijs- soon after birth. A second son called Adriaen Susanna Henriette (1683). The couple’s pre- begeerte te Rotterdam. Tweede reeks, 12 (Rot- was born in 1675, but also died young. After vious children were Agate (1666) and Adri- terdam, 1946) pp. 3-19, especially pp. 6-7. having spent some time in Paris in 1687, Jan jaennus (1668). DTB Delfshaven & Rotter- Vroesen eventually graduated in Utrecht in 21. Bibliotheca Furliana, note 14: Curiosi- dam. 1693 with a thesis titled: ‘De Pactis inter emp- tatas, no. 13: ‘A very beautiful wall clock in 35. See, for example ONA Rotterdam, inven- torem et venditorem compositis’. Between an ebony wooden case, with eight-day move- tory number 923 (nots. Basteels), Deed 18/71, 1701-1703 he apparently worked as a diplo- ment, chiming every half hour, composed of dated 7 February 1677 [together with Arent mat. O. Schutte provides biographical infor- two dials, with quarters; indicating the day of Sonnemans]; idem, 3858 (nots. Post) Deed mation about Jan Vroesen in Repertorium der the month, the age of the moon, high water at 2/22, dated 3 January 1688; National Ar- Nederlandse vertegenwoordigers residerende various places, with copper weights, made by chives, Hof van Holland Archive, inventory in het buitenland 1584-1810 (’s Gravenhage,

22 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 1976) p. 27. muiterij binnen de stad Rotterdam, die tegens gratitude for such orders, it was normal to re- de regeering ontstaan is, mitsgaders van het ceive fnancial compensation. 44. Sylvia Berti, Françoise Charles-Daubert geen [...] voorgevallen is, zedert de maand ju- and Richard H. Popkin, Heterodoxy, Spi- 64. From 1701 until his death in 1704, Bas- nij 1672. By iemand die van gemelde muiterij nozism, and free thought in early-eighteenth- tiaen Schepers lived in a house in Haring- kennis gehad heeft (n.p. 1785). century Europe, International Archives of the designed by Adriaen van der Werff. See History of Ideas, 148 (1996) p. viii; idem, 53. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29) p. 248. L.J.C.J. Van Ravesteyn, Rotterdam tot het ‘Jan Vroesen, autore del “Traite des trois einde van de achttiende eeuw. De ontwikkel- 54. Ibid., 5, p. 121. imposteurs”?’, Rivista storica italiana, 10:2 ing der stad (Rotterdam, 1933), p. 199. Also, ( 1991), pp. 528-543; idem, ‘Scepticism and 55. Du Rieu, Album Studiosorum, note 8) see: Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant, 17 the “Traité des trois imposteurs”’, in: R.H. pp. 549, 569: enrolment 13 Sep 1668 (phi- maart 1701. Popkin & A.J. Vanderjagt, Scepticism and losophy) and 13 June 1671 (law). Sebastiaen 65. Vincenzo Coronelli, Viaggio d’Italia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Schepers completed his doctorate in Leiden in Inghilterra, 2 (Venetia 1697), p. 59: ‘La Centuries (Leiden 1993) pp. 216-229. Also, on 24 November in 1673 with a legal thesis, Biblioteca, ed altre rarità di M. Schepers, see: Georges Minois, The Atheist’s Bible: The titled: De consuetudine (Lugd. Bat.: , […] sono assai curiose’. Vincenzo Coronelli Most Dangerous Book That Never Existed 1673). (1650-1718) enjoys a high reputation for his (Chicago, 2012). 56. J.F. Böckelmann, Compendium Institu- world-famous globes. 45. This is further backed up by the fact that tionum Justiniani sive elementa juris civilis 66. Michael Bernhard Valentini, Museum in 1710 the Dutch editor of the French trans- in brevem et facilem ordinem redacta. (Lugd. Museorum (Frankfurt am Main, 1704), p. 15. lation (by Justus van Effen) of Sensus Com- Bat, 1679; numerous reprints). The other munis. An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Leiden student to whom the book was dedi- 67. DTB Rotterdam, Marriage 26 December Humour in a Letter to a Friend (1709), a book cated was the young Count Arnold Maurits 1662. written by the English moral philosopher An- Willem van Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1663- 68. Engelbrecht, Vroedschap van Rotterdam, thony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, 1701) from Steinfurt, Böckelmann’s birth- note 7, No. 229 only Schepers’ residence is dedicated to Jean Vroesen. Shaftesbury place, who came to study at Leiden University in Haringvliet where he lived after 1700. stayed in Rotterdam in 1698-1699 and 1703- in 1676. His residence in Hoogstraat is indicated in 1704. Jean Vroesen may even have been the 57. E. Labrousse et al, ed., Correspon- the Rotterdam DTB registers. According to ‘friend’ to whom the ‘letter’ was originally dance de Pierre Bayle, 9 (, 2012), Engelbrecht, Vroesen’s house on Hoogstraat addressed. pp. 222-226. See also the on-line edition was on the north side (sold 18 Feb. 1687). 46. Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans, note at http://emlo-portal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ 69. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 33. 2. collections/?catalogue=pierre-bayle 70. Stampioen also performed these duties 47. Huib J. Zuidervaart & Charlotte C.S. 58. André Hanou, ‘Mandeville en zijn Fabel earlier for Hendrik Caspar Selkart when he Rulkens, ‘De Amsterdamse mathematicus Jan van de bijen’, Mededelingen van de Stichting was still a minor (from 1693 to 1701). See: E. van den Dam (1706-1770) en zijn vernuftige Jacob Campo Weyerman, 31 (2008), pp. 89- van Wiersum, ‘Ergerlijk-komisch nepotisme’, planetaria’, Jaarboek van het Genootschap 106, esp. p. 91. Rotterdams Jaarboekje (1946), pp. 43-48, Amstelodamum, 106 (2014) pp. 120-163. 59. G. Mees Azn, Het Rotterdamse oproer esp. p. 45. 48. See Margaret C. Jacob, The Radical En- van 1690 (Amsterdam, 1869). R. Dekker, 71. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, p. 248. lightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Re- ‘“Schijnheilig atheïst”. Bernard Mandeville publicans (London and Boston, 1981, 20032); als pamfettist tijdens het Costermanoproer 72. Ibid. Jonathan I. Israel, Radical Enlightenment. in Rotterdam in 1690’, Holland. regionaal- 73. Ibid., p. 249. Philosophy and the Making of Modernity historisch tijdschrift, 26:1 (1994), pp. 1-17. 1650-1750 (Oxford, 2001). 74. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, p. 131: 60. For Bastiaen Schepers involvement in ‘Instruction for Mr Senguerdius’. 49. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, p. 248. the 1690 riots, see: RM Dekker, ‘Het Kos- termanoproer in 1690, complot of spontane 75. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 20. 50. Daniel Noorthey (1670-1721) was the beweging?’, Rotterdams Jaarboekje (1981), son of Jacob Noorthey and Maria Schepers. 76. See Zumbachs commission to Ruysch in pp. 192-207. His mother was an older sister of Bastiaen his Ephemerides et observationes. Meteoro- Schepers, who was therefore Daniel’s uncle. 61. See H.H.M. van Lieshout, Van boek tot logicae of Beschreivinge van Weer en Wind In 1691, Daniel dedicated his Leiden Dispu- bibliotheek. De wordingsgeschiedenis van (Leiden, 1730). See HJ Zuidervaart, Van tatio de Testamentis to Bastiaen Schepers, de Dictionaire Historique et Critique van Konstgenoten’ en Hemelse Fenomenen Ned- among others. After Schepers’ death, Dan- Pierre Bayle (1689-1706) (Ph.D. diss. Nijme- erlandse Sterrenkunde in de Achttiende Eeuw iel Noorthey married Bastiaen’s daughter in gen, Grave 1992). For Bayle’s remarks about (Rotterdam, 1999), pp. 367, 528. 1705, who was his frst cousin Maria Jacoba Copernicus, see his Oeuvres diverses, 4 (La 77. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 21 Schepers (1682-1744). Her mother was Geer- Haye, 1731), pp. 398-403. truy Timmers. 78. J.W.J. Lammers ‘Johan Ham, de ont- 62. F.J. Kleyn, Beschrijving en geschiedenis dekker van de zaaddiertjes’, Nederlands Tijd- 51. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, p. 30: van Delfshaven, benevens die van Schoonder- schrift voor Geneeskunde, 118:21 (1974), pp. Remark of Jan van Couwenhoven, heir of the loo en het slot Spange (Delfshaven, 1873). 784-788. Also, see: Schutte, op. cit., note 43, late Jan Vroesen Adriaenszoon. 63. For the Rotterdam publisher Barent Bos, p. 207. 52. Engelbrecht, Vroedschap Rotterdam, note this appointment was probably reason to dedi- 79. The frst edition in 1714 had a print run 7, nos. 184 and 229. See also the report of the cate the Dutch translation by Pieter Rabus of of 600 copies. See PG Hoftijzer, Pieter van events, attributed to Adriaen’s brother Wil- the book Kerkelyke History (Rotterdam, 1702) der Aa Leids drukker en boekverkoper (Hil- lebrort Vroesen, Waaragtig verhaal van de by Sulpicius Severus to Bastiaen Schepers. In

Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017) 23 Current and Future Events

versum, 1999), p. 57 et al, Frederik Kaiser (1808-1872): schep- Details of future events, meetings, per van de ‘nieuwe’ Leidse Sterrewacht (The exhibitions, etc. should be sent to the 80. See the ‘Korte Beschryving van de Hague, 2012) [Special issue of Studium, 4:1 Editor. For up-to date information of Armillare Sphera van Copernicus’ (Short (2012).]. Society’s events, see the SIS website, www. Description of the Armillare Sphera of Co- sis.org.uk. pernicus): http://adcs.home.xs4all.nl/blaeu/ 90. F. Kaiser, Verslag van den staat der Ster- leidse/leidse-1711.html (consulted September rewacht te leiden en van de aldaar volbragte Until 3 September 2017, London, UK 2016): A German description appeared among werkzaamheden in het tijdvak van den eersten Robots exhibition at the Science Museum, others in C. Lindner, Gründliche Anleitung julij 1867 tot de laatste dagen der maand junij Exhibition Road, South Kensington, zum nützlichen Gebrauche der Erd- u. Him- 1868 (Leiden, 1868), p. 16. London SW7 2DD. According to The Daily mels-Kugeln (Nuremberg, 1726) 28-32, and 91. Ibid., pp. 6-9. Telegraph: ‘A truly mind-bending array in the German translation of B. Fontenelle, of humanoid imagery’. ‘Robots reveals Gesprache von mehr als einer Welt (Leipzig, 92. Ibid. the astonishing 500-year quest to make 1738). 93. English translation from a handwritten machines human.’ For details: https://beta. 81. Catalogus librorum tam impressorum note from Kaiser’s personal archive, dated sciencemuseum.org.uk/robots quam manuscriptorum bibliothecæ publicæ 1868, now preserved in the Leiden University Universitatis Lugduno-Batavæ (Leiden: P. Library. Sunday 25 and Monday 26 June 2017 van der Aa, 1716), pp. 499-500. Discussed in Summer event and Annual General 94. Michael Thompson, Rubbish Theory. The the Acta Eruditorum (1716), pp. 540-545, esp. Meeting Creation and Destruction of Value (Oxford, p. 544. On the Sunday morning visit to Combe 1979). Mill (www.combemill.org), the original 82. J.P. Willebrandt, Historische Berichte 95. Kaiser’s personal note dated 1868 (see sawmill and workshop of the Blenheim und practische Anmerkungen auf Reisen in note. 92). Palace Estate, followed by the AGM (11.30- Deutschland, in die Niederlande, in Frank- 12.30). We urge members to attend the reich, England, Dännemark, Böhmen und 96. W.E. van Wijk, ‘Lijst van in Nederland 34th AGM and support the Committee. Ungarn (Frankfurt, 1761), p. 92. vervaardigde planetaria’, in: E. Havinga et In the afternoon visit to either the Pitt al, (eds., Planetariumboek Eise Eisinga (Arn- 83. J.G. Deichsel, ‘Reise durch Deutschland Rivers Museum (www.prm.ox.ac.uk) or hem, 1929), pp. 351-381, esp. pp. 354-355. nach Holland und England in den Jahren the Museum of the History of Science 1717-1719, 2e Abschnitt’. in: Johann Ber- 97. Ibid. (www.mhs.ox.ac.uk). nouilli, Archiv zur neuern Geschichte, Ge- On Monday visit to Waddesdon Manor 98. C.A. Crommelin, ‘Het Nederlandsch His- ographie, Natur und Menschenkenntniss, 7 (waddesdon.org.uk), leaving by coach at torisch Natuurwetenschappelijk Museum’, (1787), p. 186. 9.20 and departing at 3.00 pm. For details Oudheidkundig Jaarboek, 10:1 (June, 1930), see the flyer in the previous Bulletin 84. K. Møller Pedersen & P. de Clercq, An pp. 10-25, esp. p. 17. Observer of Observatories. The Journal of Sunday 10-Friday 15 September 2017, 99. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, p. 254. Thomas Bugge’s Tour of Germany, Holland Study Tour to South Wales and England in 1777 (Aarhus, 2010), p. 49. 100. Ibid., p. 260. A week-long programme of visits to explore the rich industrial and 85. A. Kurakin, ‘Souvenirs d’un voyage 101. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, p. 33. technological history of this area. A great en Hollande et en Angleterre à sa sortie de opportunity to view instruments in l’Université de Leyde durant les années 1770- 102. Molhuysen, Bronnen 4, note 29, pp. 30, museum stores, see coins produced at the 1772’, in: Archiv knjazja F.A.Kurakina kn. 34. Royal Mint, sample some Welsh whisky and (Saratov, 1894), pp. 331-425, esp. p. 343. 103. Dekker, The Leiden Sphera, note 1, pp. venture down a coal mine. 32-33. 86. ‘In one part of it [Library] stands a noble This is your second chance to book this instrument of the Orrery kind, whereby all the 104. ‘Korte Beschryving’, note 80. exciting tour as flyer and booking form are motions of the planets may be seen perform’d again included in this Bulletin. There are within a large Armillary Sphere. Peter Czar 105. More details can be found in Museum still some places available for those of Muscovy examined it with so much way- Boerhaave’s restoration report. members keen to participate. ward curiosity as to render it quite useless: it has since been repaired by [empty space] & Authors’ addresses: Sunday 22 October 2017, London, UK lock’d up in a Glass case’. Unpublished travel Hans Hooijmaijers Autumn Antique Scientific Instrument journal, Cambridge UL, MSS ADD 4216, Lange Sint Agnietenstraat 10 Fair at the Double Tree by Hilton, 92 f.58. Thanks, are due to Ruben Verwaal who 2312WC Leiden,The Netherlands Southampton Row, London WC1 from 10 found this document in Cambridge. email: am to 3pm. For more about the fair click [email protected] on scientificfair.blogspot.com and on 87. M. Rooseboom, Bijdrage tot de ge- http://www.scientificfair.co.uk schiedenis der instrumentmakerskunst in de Noordelijke Nederlanden (Leiden, 1950), pp. Huib Zuidervaart Friday 10 November 2017, London, UK 12, 101, 112. P. O. Box 10.855 The 5th Turner Memorial Lecture will be 100 EW Amsterdam delivered by Dr Silke Ackermann at the 88. Ibid. The Netherlands Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, 89. F. Kaiser, ‘Geschichte der Astronomie und email: [email protected]. Piccadilly, London W1J 0BE. Lecture title to der Sternwarte an der Universität in Leiden’, announced. Annalen der Sternwarte in Leiden, 1 (1865), pp. ix-x, liv. For Kaiser, see H.J. Zuidervaart

24 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 133 (2017)

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