The Correspondence Between Johannes Hevelius and Pierre Des Noyers, As the Mirror of Scientiﬁ C Novelties

DOI 10.4467/0023589XKHNT.19.006.10114 Chantal Grell Université de Versailles France

The Correspondence between Johannes Hevelius and Pierre des Noyers, as the Mirror of Scientiﬁ c Novelties

Pierre des Noyers (1608–1693), a disciple of Gilles Personne de Roberval, is the most important correspondent of Johannes Hevelius. Their correspondence consists of 257 letters, in a corpus of 2700 letters, i.e. about 10% of the total. Pierre des Noyers came to Poland with Queen Louise-Marie de Gonzague. During his Polish travels he spent some time in Gdańsk (December 1646) and met the astronomer who was a prominent member of the city elite, as one of the most important brewers. During this period, Hevelius was comple- ting his Selenographia (1647) and Pierre des Noyers was very helpful in expanding a Eu- ropean network that already included Marin Mersenne and Pierre Gassendi. The relations between the two scholars were very intense. After the death of the Queen (1667), des Noyers stayed in his friend’s house. The last letter is dated October 1686. Hevelius died in January 1687. Pierre des Noyers remained in Poland where he died in 1693. At this point I would like to present some conclusions based on my analysis of this correspondence, thereby introducing the third volume of the series Correspondance de Johannes Hevelius to be published in 2019.

Keywords: Johannes Hevelius, Pierre des Noyers, Louise-Marie de Gonzague, astronomi- cal correspondence, Republic of Letters Słowa kluczowe: Jan Heweliusz, Pierre des Noyers, Ludwika Maria Gonzaga, korespon- dencja astronomiczna, res publica litteraria

Pierre des Noyers is Hevelius’s most important correspondent. In the present state of research, the corpus consists of 257 letters, 158 from des Noyers and 99 from Hevelius. All Hevelius’s letters are in Latin; the letters of des Noyers are in French, except for the two ﬁ rst ones. In the third letter, des Noyers chose to write in French: “Je crois que je m’expli- queré mieux en françois qu’en latin et vous en entendez assez pour me permettre de ne plus vous escrire en une autre langue” (11 January 1647).

KWARTALNIK HISTORII NAUKI I TECHNIKI • T. 64 • 2019 • nr 1 • s. 117–123 117 118 Chantal Grell General remarks rest todesNoyers)andthepublicationof today lost.Thereare,though,someepisodesworthmentioning: dence hasbeenpreservedinfullandsomeletterscontainallusionstodocumentsthatare mation networkcenteredinWarsaw, whichquicklybecameindispensabletoHevelius. allowed himtobecomeapartnerscientistsandthekeypersonofaninternationalinfor- in July1647isunambiguousthisrespect.However, thescienti Their correspondenceabouttheexperimentsonvacuumperformedbyFather Magni 1646 andthecelebrationsweremagni ground andmanyconnectionsinParis, hewasneverconsideredbyHeveliusashis ground and accompaniedhertoPoland, wherehedied.Althoughhadasolidscienti of theQueenPoland. HehadbeenamemberofhercircleinbothNeversandParis himself asapupilofthemathematicianRoberval,wasindeedexecutivesecretary disdain, atleastthebeginningoftheircorrespondence.DesNoyers,whointroduced a scientistrenownedinallthecountriesofEuropeandconsidereddesNoyerswithsome while thelettersfromdesNoyersvary2–3linesto3–5pages. des Noyerssurvivedhimbyafewyears;hediedon26May1693,attheageof85. 1686, isprobablythelastletterhewroteinhislifetime.Heveliusdiedon28January1687; sage fromdesNoyers)wasissuedin1646;thelastletterbyHevelius,dated18October language. TheroyalcortegestayedinGda Louise-Marie deGonzagueinGda de JohannesHevelius with ausefulsupplement tothe (1668) wasdelayedbythequarrel. HerethecorrespondenceofdesNoyersprovides us of Toscany, whereHeveliusdefendshiscalculations.Thepublication of inaccurate observationbyHevelius thatwascontestedbythewholescienti spondence oftheQueen,wasnowaveryhelpfulfriend. able toexpandhisnetworkanddesNoyers,whowasin charge ofthediplomaticcorre- of theSunandMoon.Following thepublicationof rous books,hisownobservations,aswelltheobservations ofhisfriendsontheEclipses friends ofdesNoyersasDavissonandBurattini.Des passedontoHeveliusnume- the diffusionofbookanditspresentationtoKing andQueen. Prodromus Cometicus nity. From 1663onwards,Heveliusreceived grati 1647: thecontroversyovervacuum(ofslightinterest to Hevelius,ofprimaryinte- The exchanges,however, arenotregular. Asamatteroffact,notallthecorrespon- The statuteofthecorrespondentsisalsofarfromsymmetrical;Heveliusclaimedtobe This correspondenceisnotsymmetrical:thelettersfromHeveliusarefrequentlylong, The correspondencecoversaperiodoffortyyears. Pierre desNoyershadtheopportunitytomeetHeveliusduringJoyousEntryof 1665–1666 istheperiodofcontroversyoncomet of1664–1665andan 1653–1655: TheenteringofSaturninLeo.Heveliusbecame acquaintedwithsuch andwithinformation onChapelain,thedispenser ofColbert’sgra- (1666), dedicatedtoColbert, and fi le analyzed involumeIIofthe series ń sk, andheacknowledgedhismasteryoftheFrench fi cent, Gda ń Selenographia. sk fortendaysfrom16February to20February, fi ń cations fromFrance. Hepublishedthe sk beingaverywealthycity. HeveliusentrustedtodesNoyers Selenographia fi Mantissa rst letter(ashortundatedmes- fi c trainingofdesNoyers , dedicatedtoLeopold , Heveliusbecame Correspondance Cometographia fi c commu- c alter ego fi c back- c .

The Correspondence between Johannes Hevelius and Pierre des Noyers, as the Mirror of Scientifi c Novelties 119 sk and ń Machina Korybut Korybut ł rst husband of fi sk was a major com- ń eld of information. fi by the ideas of Hevelius’s rejection nal fi fought against his nancial loss, Hevelius fi that were transcribed and dispatched by that were transcribed and dispatched . Hevelius wanted to dedicate his wanted to dedicate . Hevelius historiolæ sk where Pierre des Noyers was living and performing sk where Pierre des Noyers was living and ń c community. He was unable to print his observations He was unable to print his observations c community. fi ces. They often gave loans to the King. The Italians were fi maximus tubus maximus nally Syndic and secretary of the Chancellery (Lwów). He fi and his own attempts to build the longest possible tube with to build the longest possible tube and his own attempts re of 1679 that destroyed his observatory, his printing workshop, his printing his observatory, re of 1679 that destroyed fi sk, which was a Lutheran city with an important German community ń oculo nudo rst Councilor and fi to Louis XIV. In this work he described his observatory and his instruments, and his instruments, described his observatory In this work he XIV. to Louis ts Hevelius got from this correspondence in the fi niowiecki to the throne of Poland (1669–1673), the “French party” belonged to the (1669–1673), the “French niowiecki to the throne of Poland Let us now have a closer look at the relationship between the two scientists and to the Let us now have a closer look at the relationship For some years the information is very poor. For instance, in the period known as the instance, in the period known as the For is very poor. some years the information For Among the friends of des Noyers three Italians were of special importance. Girolamo Italians were numerous, especially during the reign of Ladislas IV, the the reign of Ladislas IV, Italians were numerous, especially during With the Polish Court: With the Polish conclusively demonstrated, Queen Louise-Marie de Gonzague had As Karolina Targosz 1672: is the time of the 1672: is the 1681: After the ś cations, as well as with criticism from the young Académie des sciences (founded in (founded sciences des Académie the young criticism from as with as well cations, fi Wi opponents and took refuge in Gda bene observations with Hevelius. a minority in Gda Swedish Deluge, des Noyers followed the court in exile and the royal troops. After the Swedish Deluge, des Noyers followed not far from Gda the starosty of Tuchola, death of the Queen in 1667, he inherited and a powerful minority of Dutch and Calvinist origin. Although Gda in 1644, he Pinocci from Lucca was a merchant of precious textiles. A citizen of Cracow became of the comet of 1681, but he wrote Pierre des Noyers. after the election of Micha Moreover, had to remain there to defend his rights. also exploi- Louise-Marie. Most of them were tradesmen, especially in luxury goods. They ted mines and managed post of and Cracow. Italian trading networks were mainly present in Warsaw mercial city, of Ma- was entrusted with important diplomatic tasks such as preparing the candidacy some of his observations and caused him heavy some of his observations being marginalized in the scienti being marginalized organized a so-called “learned court”. The networks of Pierre des Noyers Royal Society. Des Noyers supplied complementary observations from his Italian network, from his Italian network, observations supplied complementary Des Noyers Royal Society. Jesuits. from Cassini and the especially ti the and Petit, Auzout and from particularly 1666), the help of Burattini. Cœlestis of his observations controversy about that, despite the was to demonstrate and his aim of the world, compared he owned the best performing instruments the comet of 1664, des sciences (e.g. Cassini, Picart, Auzout, astronomers of the Académie with the French Cassini had been had been active since 1671 and Observatory Paris and Huygens). The Hooke to surpass the achievements of But Hevelius also claimed appointed as director. praised the accuracy of the by Newton in 1668. Hevelius and the telescope introduced observations 120 Chantal Grell effort bystampingcoppercoins.Thisresultedin the JagiellonianUniversity, StanislasPud various technologies.WhenhearrivedinCracow, hebecameassistanttotherectorof instruments builtbyEustachioDiviniandGiuseppeCampani.Hewasalsointerestedin also Father RiccioliinBologna,andCassini.Hebecamewellacquaintedwiththenew Queen duringtheso-calledSwedishDeluge.DuringthesetravelshemetdeMedicibut fi matic missions:inParis withdesNoyersin1650,butalsoItalyordertomakethe in turnlaunchedaseriesoftrialsagainsthim.Healsowaschargeseveraldiplo- Galileo anddevelopedhishydrostatictheoriesin 1658 hebecameaknightandwasawarded the mathematicianPaolo delBuono,masteroftheRoyalMintinCracow. On30August the miningconcessionsofOlkusz(1652)andZawadów(1653).Finally, hebecame,with to theprotectionofQueen,hewasappointedasRoyalArchitectin1652andreceived years inEgypt(1637–1641)beforecomingtoCracowandstartingabrilliantcareer. Thanks lymath, hewasmoreinterestedinscienceandantiquitythantradespentfour especially plentiful.BurattinivisitedhiminCracow1642. greatest and thias deMedicitothethroneofPoland andotheraffairsinEnglandHolland1658 constructed hisfamous“ (lenses, servatory andworkshopsatUjazdównearWarsaw. HeprovidedHeveliuswithapparatus telescopes, polishinglenses,toopticsandobservationsoftheheavens.Hebuiltanob- des Noyerswas alsoveryhelpful.DesNoyers himself, aswelltheQueen ofPoland, had rence, Lucca,Genovaandof course theJesuitgroupinRome. vice versa. hence Grattawasneverinahurrytodeliveranyletterssent byHeveliustodesNoyersand des Noyersconstantlyreliedonhim,butHeveliusdidnotlike him.Thisfeelingwasmutual, (1664) andhadtoorganizethemailservicesinRoyalPrussia, CourlandandLivonia.Pierre to hisconnectionswiththecourt,hewasappointedhead ofthepost Company, atraderingrainandtherepresentative oftheGrandDukeTuscany. Thanks belonging toafamilyoftheDuchyMilano.Hisfatherhad begunhiscareerintheNeri aware oftheItalianscienti ers wascloselylinkedtoeachofthemandusedtheirnetworks extensivelyinordertobe 1666); Burattinimorefrequently(nineteenlettersintheperiod 1650–1682).ButdesNoy- only makecontactwithhimthroughdesNoyers. rst contactswithMathiasdeMediciandalsotonegotiatethesaleofjewels Having fullresponsibilityoftheMintin1659,hehelpedKingto Niccolo TitoLivioBurattiniisanotherimportantpersonality. Anadventurerandapo- As aLutherian, Heveliushadveryfewcontacts withtheJesuits.Inthis world,Pierre With theJesuits: Thanks tohislargenetwork, des NoyerswasabletomobilizescientistsinVenice, Flo- The thirdpersonalityillustratingtheItaliannetworksofdes NoyersisFrancesco Gratta, Pinocci isnotoftenmentionedinthecorrespondenceofHevelius(threeletters, 1659. Hewasawarded maximus tubus libraries inPoland wherebooksofmagic,alchemy, astrologyandastronomywere ) but,aboveall,hewasafriendofdesNoyersandHeveliuscould fl ying drake”buthedevotedmostofhistimetoconstructing fi c novelties andtoinformHeveliusaboutthem. indigenate (noble citizenship) in 1662. He owned one of the (noblecitizenship)in1662.Heownedoneofthe ł owski. Itwastherethathestudiedtheworksof indigenate fl Bilancia sincera ation, ruiningthenobility, which . (1645).In1647he fi fi nance thewar ces inGda ń sk The Correspondence between Johannes Hevelius and Pierre des Noyers, as the Mirror of Scientifi c Novelties 121 of Pascal. of Pascal. . It was only after sk, in March–April ń . She corresponded corresponded . She sk. Des Noyers asked ń Provinciales Prodromus Cometicus Fréquente communion Fréquente to the King and his entourage during his stay in Paris in 1664 (29 February in 1664 (29 February his stay in Paris to the King and his entourage during uence among his French friends in order to get the promised money. After having in order to get the promised money. friends uence among his French fl the question of remuneration and asked des Noyers to use re of 1679 that he raised fi With France: to des Noyers about the Hevelius does not utter a single word In his correspondence before des Noyers wrote on his behalf during Hevelius was in contact with Boulliau his friend Gratta to give them to Hevelius to read before sending them back to him. As far his friend Gratta to give them to Hevelius to read before sending them back to is concerned, des Noyers was useful but not indispensable. as the relationship with France reserved for himself the while Hevelius He simply made the exchange with Boulliau easier, and the other agents of Colbert. exchanges with Chapelain, Perrault a strong sympathy towards Jansenism, the Queen contributing to the diffusion in Poland Poland in to the diffusion Queen contributing the Jansenism, towards sympathy a strong Arnauld’s and of Jansenius works of of the edition of the who gave her an with Mère Angélique regularly but he remained, above all, the correspondent of des Noyers. As and then in September, of letterbox. His position at the court allowed him a matter of fact, des Noyers was a sort many contacts to dispatch books and packages. to use diplomatic mails and to rely on who often mentions his interventions in his letters Boulliau was also a friend of Chapelain no question of that in the letters between Hevelius and des to Hevelius. There is, however, that Hevelius kept to himself the delicate Noyers, although there is also some evidence A good number of the letters sent by of France. question of his contacts with the court in other Boulliau were destined for des Noyers who in turn passed them on to others; as enclosed cases there are only fragments or isolated observations sent by des Noyers (1672–1678), the letters of few are still extant. Even before the Holland War pieces. Very but were sent directly to Gda Boulliau did not go through Warsaw letters he exchanged with Gassendi and Mersenne (although des Noyers new Mersenne). with Gassendi and Mersenne (although letters he exchanged about the delays. The he had already received, and complained He would ask for books and with Chape- of France observed about his intrigues at the court same silence can be this was only a technical des Noyers about the titles of Colbert, lain. When he questioned of his question in connection with the dedication Boulliau was travelling in 1650. At the beginning of the correspondence, his visit to Paris Gassendi informed Hevelius about that. Later in Italy and in the Levant (1646–1647). to Hevelius, mostly via des Noyers with whom he on, Boulliau used to send observations in 1661, invited by the Boulliau came to Poland conducted a weekly exchange of letters. of des Noyers. He stayed twice in Gda on the advice Queen of Poland Nevertheless, the Jesuits played a prominent role at the court thanks to the support of to the support at the court thanks a prominent role the Jesuits played Nevertheless, As diplomat surrounded by Jesuits. himself who lived a former Jesuit Casimir, King John re- networks and welcome in the Jesuit des Noyers was of the court, and representative (Riccioli), from received from Bologna the observations he on to Hevelius gularly passed Germany (Cologne and Munster for instance). de Gottignies) or even from Rome (Kircher, activities and publications Hevelius was informed of the research Thanks to des Noyers, of the Jesuits. the his in he nevertheless requested his friend to offer his being listed for the said remuneration, Selenographia 1664). 122 Chantal Grell mainly inaccompanying letters.Scienti other documentscanbefound intheirchronologicalplace,butwithoutanynumber. bered. Theencloseddocuments aredescribedatthebottomofletterinquestion.The The problemoftheencloseddocuments papers illustratedbydrawings.Itisinfactverydif dence. Amongtheremainingones,Libricommittedanumberofthefts,especially were usedbyHeveliusforhisownpublicationsandwithdrawnfromthecorrespon- only allowedtoborrowthem. wrote phonetically).SomebookswerepersonallysenttodesNoyersandHeveliuswas exchange ofbooksfromabridgedtitlesorwrongspellingsnames(desNoyersoften of HeveliusworksinItalyandtheHolyRomanEmpire. packages, orbookswhichneverarrived.DesNoyerswasindeedinchargeofthediffusion by himtotheirscienti lius onhispartsenttodesNoyerslastpublicationsorobservationsbedistributed transmit”, andallthelettersweresenttogetherwithpackagesorpiecesofworks.Heve- tions forHevelius.Themostfrequentverbsoccurringinthelettersare“tosend”and ten intheLibripapers,becausedesNoyersexplainedthat a CampaniTelescope (forLeopoldodeMedici)thanks toanobservationofSaturn,forgot- a documentwrittenbythirdperson(ifavailable).Iwasabletoidentifythedrawingof nationale deFrance volumes,theyhavenotbeenidenti that hehadtodrawitagain. But suchanidenti discover oneofthem,Iaddedtheappropriateinformationatbottomletter. chronological order, butonlythelettersof HeveliusanddesNoyers (taking intoaccountthenumber offootnotesthatthisrequires).Thelettersareedited in lius–Boulliau correspondenceshouldbeanecessarycomplement tothepresentvolume. France mostlycontainsthe lettersreceived(notthesent).AneditionofHeve- Hevelius andChapelaindid)theBoulliaucollectionof theBibliothèquenationalede edited inthepresentvolume. directly addressedtoHevelius.Suchletters,apartfromrare exceptions,havenotbeen tiques Hevelius (senttohimasencloseddocuments).Intheinventory ofthe ments. were copiedbyhimforHevelius.We havedonesomebriefeditorialworkonthesedocu- future. For instance,letterscontainingobservationswhichwereaddressedtodesNoyers reproduced bytheBibliothèquenationaledeFrance copyists.Butthismayhappenin the In conclusion, this correspondencewasvery importantforHevelius,but itconsists The questionofencloseddocumentsissomewhatdifferent.Numerousobservations The packagesweremailedseparately. Onecanonlymakeconjecturesaboutthe As saidabove,desNoyersspentquitealotofhistimecollectingbooksandobserva- Although someoftheencloseddocumentshavebeenreproducedinBibliothèque My editionoftheHevelius–des Noyerscorrespondencewillconsistoftwovolumes On theotherhand,Boulliaudidnotpreserveminutes ofhiscorrespondence(like Finally, desNoyersreceivedfromBoulliauletters destinedforhim,buttobeusedby , theyarelistedundertheheadingBoulliau.Healsoreceived fromBoulliauletters fi cation isalwaysdelicate.Thedrawings, however, haveneverbeen fi c partners.Agooddealofthecorrespondenceconcernsmail,lost fi c debatesarerarelydealt with.Buttheseletters fi cult to connectaparticularletter fi ed. WhenIwasluckyenoughto fi rstmailhadgotwetand stricto sensu Prolégomènes cri- arenum- The Correspondence between Johannes Hevelius and Pierre des Noyers, as the Mirror of Scientifi c Novelties 123 , , Cor- ques fi , ed. by , ed. by , Milan 1983. , 2014) and recently rst volume of the series fi Prolégomènes critiques c information before and after the founding the founding and after before c information fi ( , Huddinge 2017. sk ń aw 1982. ł , Wroc is a Professor of early modern history at the University of Ver- is a Professor of early modern history , Amsterdam, Maarsen 1994. nel Seicento ci e uomini d’affari italiani in Polonia fi Ismaël Boulliau (1605–1694), astronome, épistolier, nouvelliste et inter- épistolier, Ismaël Boulliau (1605–1694), astronome, In their Majesties’ Service. The Career of Francesco de Gratta (1613–1676)In their Majesties’ Service. The Career of que fi La Cour savante de Louise-Marie de Gonzague et ses liens scienti La Cour savante de Louise-Marie de Gonzague Traf Lo scienzato Tito Livio Burattini (1617–1681) al servicio dei Re di Polonia Lo scienzato Tito Livio Burattini (1617–1681) After the Deluge. Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War, 1655–1660 War, and the Second Northern After the Deluge. Poland-Lithuania respondance de Johannes Hevelius published the second volume, devoted to the correspondence of Hevelius with the published the second volume, devoted now on the correspondence between Hevelius Court (2017). She is working French and Pierre des Noyers. E-mail: [email protected] CHANTAL GRELL CHANTAL intellectual history and the history sailles. Her research focuses on historiography, of the of the European courts. She is the editor Nellen H.J.M., K., Targosz Salamonik M., I. Tancon, I. Tancon, Correspondance de Johannes Hevelius. Tome II: Correspondance avec la cour de II: Correspondance Johannes Hevelius. Tome Correspondance de Mazzei R., Correspondance de Johannes Hevelius. Tome I: Prolégomènes critiques I: Prolégomènes Johannes Hevelius. Tome Correspondance de Frost R., Frost as a Royal Servant and Trader in Gda as a Royal Servant and Trader médiaire scienti 2006. Trento avec la France, 1646–1667 France et ses agents avec un dossier sur la querelle de la comète de 1664–1665 avec un dossier sur la querelle de la France et ses agents Ch. Grell, Turnhout 2014. Ch. Grell, Turnhout 2017. Ch. Grell, Turnhout Cambridge 1993. Bibliography allow us to follow the circulation of scienti the circulation us to follow allow was isolated, Hevelius who for interest was of primary This information Academies. of the relations with clever in his diplomatic and not always very a peripheral city working in avoid helped him to Pierre des Noyers as rivals. Obviously, he often considered colleagues many quarrels.