TEUNIS WILLEM VAN HEININGEN (ED.) WOUTER VAN DOEVEREN AND PETRUS CAMPER IN PARIS Paris Travel Diaries and Related Correspondence Illustration on cover: Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet, ‘A View of Paris from the Pont Neuf’ (1763). Oil on canvas. Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program. Digital publication of the Dutch - History of Science - Web Centre (www.dwc.knaw.nl) of the Huygens ING (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences - KNAW) The Hague, The Netherlands Available in ‘Printing on Demand’ at Uitgeverij U2pi BV - JouwBoek.nl Voorburg (www.jouwboek.nl), The Netherlands ISBN 978-90-8759-467-1 © DWC- Huygens ING (KNAW) – Digital edition 2014 / PoD 2014 WOUTER VAN DOEVEREN AND PETRUS CAMPER IN PARIS TRAVEL DIARIES, KEPT IN THE YEARS 1752-1753, 1777 & 1787 AND RELATED CORRESPONDENCE Teunis Willem van Heiningen (editor) The Hague 2014 Dutch - History of Science - Web Centre (www.dwc.knaw.nl) Digital series: Tools and Sources for the History of Science in the Netherlands, vol. 4 Series editors: Huib Zuidervaart & Ilja Nieuwland, Huygens ING (KNAW) Vol. 1 Teunis Willem van Heiningen, The Correspondence of Sebald Justinus Brugmans (1763-1819) (The Hague, 2010/2011). 354 pp. Ill. [English extracts of 550 letters]. ISBN 978-90-8759-158-8 Vol. 2 Teunis Willem van Heiningen, The Correspondence of Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854) [Part One: 1802-1819 | 1820-1854] (The Hague, 2011). 728 pp. Ill. [English extracts of > 1.000 letters]. ISBN 978-90-8759-206-6 (Part 1) and 978-90-8759-207-3 (Part 2) Vol. 3 Marlise Rijks (ed.), The Correspondence of Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop (1610-1682) (The Hague, 2012). 412 pp. Ill. ISBN 978-90-8759-271-4 Vol. 4 Teunis Willem van Heiningen (ed.), Wouter van Doeveren and Petrus Camper in Paris. Travel diaries, kept in the years 1752-1753, 1777 & 1787 and related correspondence (The Hague, 2014). 348 pp., ill., index. ISBN 978-90-8759-467-1 CONTENTS Introduction Preliminary remarks on this edition PART I – VAN DOEVEREN I. Short biography of Wouter van Doeveren (1730-1783) II. Van Doeveren’s travel diary to Paris, 1752-1753 III. Unedited correspondence of Wouter van Doeveren, 1752-1776 PART II – CAMPER IV. Short biography of Petrus Camper (1722-1789) V. Camper’s travel diary to Paris, 1777 VI. Camper’s travel diary to Paris, 1787 VII. Unedited correspondence of Petrus Camper, 1750-1789 Index [ 1 ] The general hospital of Paris, the ‘Salpêtrière’, in the early 19th century. Steel engraving by C. Reiss [ 2 ] INTRODUCTION Wouter van Doeveren and Petrus Camper During the late seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth, many foreign students, drawn by the opportunity to attend the lessons given by Herman Boerhaave (1668- 1738), traveled to Holland in order to study medicine at the University of Leyden. As the Album Promotorum of Leyden University shows, especially students from England, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland found themselves drawn to the United Provinces. The Album’s first entries on obtained doctorates of foreign students date from around 1575, shortly after the university had been established. Boerhaave attracted students from all over Europe. After his death, students kept coming to Leyden in order to attend the lectures given by the most renowned scientists of the country, including Frederik Christiaan Winter (1712-1760), the brothers Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770) and Friedrich Bernhard Albinus (1715-1778), Willem Jacob ’s Gravesande (1688-1742), Petrus van Musschenbroek (1692-1761) and Hiëronymus David Gaubius (1705-1780). Many students, who wished to improve their medical skills, were attracted by the practical approach to the study of medicine. Bedside teaching flourished under Boerhaave, his colleague Winter organized the first out-patient clinic in Leyden, and Gaubius and Adriaan van Royen (1704-1779) taught a collegium clinicum. While it was possible to start one’s medical education at a university level in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Franeker, Groningen and Harderwijk, most students decided to finish their studies at Leyden University and to obtain their doctorate of medicine there. Furthermore, many young surgeons, after having been trained as an apprentice of a qualified surgeon, decided to complete their education at a university. However, in the course of the eighteenth-century, the Dutch professors of medicine almost completely confined themselves to theoretical lessons, mostly by reading texts written in Latin. Apart from the anatomists Frederik Ruysch from Amsterdam (1638- 1731) and Govert Bidloo from Leyden (1649-1713), only a few others continued to teach practical medicine. Examples of these are the famous anatomist Bernard Siegfried Albinus and the renowned surgeon Johannes Jacobus Rau (1658-1719). After Boerhaave had died, more and more Dutch medical students traveled to Paris and London, in order to satisfy their lust for getting familiar with new developments in practical medicine, surgery and obstetrics. The famous hospitals of London and Paris were the place to be, especially from late summer until late spring. In 1746, Petrus Camper (1722-1789) obtained his doctorate of medicine and started to practise as physician in the city of Leyden. After his parents died, he decided to travel to London and Paris in order to improve his practical skills. This journey took him about a year. Soon after his return from Paris, he was appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Franeker in Friesland. In October 1753, Wouter van Doeveren (1730-1783) obtained his doctorate of medicine at the University of Leyden, after having spent more than 10 months in Paris. He attended several courses of surgery and obstetrics in the French capital, given in the hospitals by the most famous professors. After returning to the Netherlands, Van Doeveren [ 3 ] followed a prosperous career, first as a physician in Leyden and then as a professor of surgery and obstetrics at the universities of Groningen and Leyden. Like Camper and Van Doeveren, many young and ambitious Dutch medical students spent a couple of months in Paris, before obtaining their doctorate at home. They wanted to attend the practical courses given in its famous hospitals and medical schools, such as the Salpêtrière, the Hôtel-Dieu, the Bicêtre, the Charité and the Saint-Côme. This book describes the careers of two renowned Dutch scientists, who decided to travel to Paris. Their story stands for the careers of many other ambitious and successful Dutch and foreign students, who, once returned to their native countries, oversaw new developments in the teaching of practical medicine, surgery and obstetrics. Usually they obtained a professorship of medicine at a university, shortly after their return. As a consequence of their unforgettable experience made in Paris and London the medical profession changed considerably. Moreover, medical doctors increasingly decided to practise surgical and obstetrical operations, which until then had been the exclusive domain of those surgeons who were members of a guild. Medal depicting the dome of the surgical school of the Paris hospital of Saint-Côme [ 4 ] PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THIS EDITION This transcription is a text edition and it focuses mainly on the content of the travel diaries. Therefore, the so-called critical normalization method is used. This means that the document is transcribed as accurately as possible, but that punctuation and capitalization have been adapted to modern use.If the identity of a person is beyond any doubt, the spelling of the family name has been standardized. In addition, phrases and words placed between brackets ( ) have been added by the original author of the journal, while words intended to improve the readability of the texts, have been placed between square brackets [ ]. Dates are underscored. Additions by the editor, such as summaries, but also book titles, anatomical names and medical terms (often in Latin) have been italicized. Expressions used and remarks made by the original author of the manuscript are placed between citation marks: ‘…’. Furthermore, we have tried to identify the names mentioned in the travel journals and letters. Identified persons are given in STANDARD CAPITALS. When a person is first mentioned in the text, the name has been highlighted BOLD, and a explanatory footnote has been placed. Unidentified persons are given in ITALIC CAPITALS. Sometimes, the original author did not fill out names, dates and places. In those cases, the sentence is interrupted by an ellipsis…. Words that turned out to be illegible are marked with an ellipsis between square brackets: […]. Much assistance to the preparation of this edition has been provided by Florine Weekenstroo, Ilja Nieuwland and Huib Zuidervaart, all from the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands in the Hague. ABBREVIATIONS UVA: UB Library of Amsterdam University (Amsterdam, NL) UBL BPL Leiden University Library, Bibliotheca Publica Latina (Leyden, NL) KB Royal Library, (The Hague, NL) ARC Académie Royale de Chirurgie (Paris, FR). The archives the academy are kept in the Académie Nationale de Médecine (Paris, FR). [ 5 ] Part I Wouter van Doeveren (1730-1783) [ 6 ] I. SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF WOUTER VAN DOEVEREN (1730-1783) Introduction In 1787, the Société Royale de Médecine (established in Paris after a Royal Decree had been issued on 26 April 1776) published the eulogy dedicated to Wouter van Doeveren, professor of medicine at Leyden University and foreign member (associé étranger) of that society. This memorial address had been written by Félix Vicq d’Azyr, first secretary for life of the society founded by him and by Joseph-Marie-François de Lassone, surgeon to King Louis XVI.1 Van Doeveren passed away on December 31, 1783. Biographical note Wouter van Doeveren was born on 16 November 1730 in the town of Philippine, in Zeeuws Vlaanderen.2 On 7 October 1747, after having been educated at the grammar school of Goes (Zeeland), he enrolled as a student of Medicine at Leyden University.