“A Plague to the Learned World”: Pieter Gabry,F.R.S. (1715–1770) and His Use of Natural Philosophy to Gain Prestige and Social Status

See the appendix for the full text of the advertisements. The — Now lost — Catalogues were available in seven cities in the Netherlands.

Sutton Geoffrey V. , Science for a polite society: Gender, culture and the demonstration of Enlightenment (Colorado, 1995), 337. See also: Turner Gerard L'E. , “The cabinet of experimental philosophy”, in Impey Oliver MacGregor Arthur (eds), The origins of museums: The cabinet of curiosities in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe (Oxford 1985), 214–22, and Robert Anderson, “The status of instruments in eighteenth-century cabinets”, in Anderson R. G. W. Caygill M. L. MacGregor A. G. Syson L. (eds), Enlightening the British: Knowledge, discovery and the museum in the eighteenth century (London, 2003), 55–61. See also Golinski Jan , Making natural knowledge: Constructivism and the history of science (Cambridge, 1998), 134–6.

Biagioli Mario , “The social status of Italian mathematicians, 1450–1600”, History of science, xxvii (1989), 41–95; idem, “Scientific Revolution, social bricolage, and etiquette”, in Porter Roy Teich Mikuláš (eds), The Scientific Revolution in a national context (Cambridge, 1992), 11–54, esp. p. 20; idem, Galileo, courtier: The practice of science in the culture of absolutism (Chicago, 1993); Findlen Paula , Possessing nature: Museums, collecting and scientific culture in early modern Italy (Berkeley, 1996).

For the social stratification and the possibilities for a rise in social status by the pursuit of natural inquiry in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century, see Buisman Jan , Tussen Vroomheid en Verlichting: Een cultuurhistorisch en sociologisch onderzoek naar enkele aspecten van de Verlichting in Nederland (1755–1810) (Zwolle, 1992), esp. pp. 63–78, 100, 258, 383–5. See also my remarks on the social stratification and status of eighteenth-century Dutch astronomers, in Zuidervaart H. J. , Van “Konstgenoten' en Hemelse Fenomenen: Nederlandse Sterrenkunde in de Achttiende Eeuw (Rotterdam, 1999), 345–7.

[ Drijfhout Johan François ], Missive van een vriend aan Mr. Pieter Gabry, Tot antwoord op desselfs Brief of Libel van den 6. Maart 1756. Mitsgaders Bericht van Mr. Johan Francois Drijfhout aan de Geleerde Waereld, tot wederlegginge van hetzelve Libel. Met authentique Bijlagen ('s-Gravenhage, 1756), 107–8.

Lulofs to Van der Aa, 19 May 1756 (Archive Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, Haarlem).

Golinski Jan , Science as public culture: Chemistry and the Enlightenment in Britain, 1760–1820 (Cambridge, 1992); Schaffer Simon , “Natural philosophy and public spectacle in the 18th century”, History of science, xxi (1983), 1983–43; Shapin Steven , “A scholar and a gentleman: The problematic identity of the scientific practitioner in early modern England”, History of science, xxix (1991), 1991–327; Stewart Larry , The rise of public science: Rhetoric, technology, and natural philosophy in Newtonian Britain, 1660–1750 (Cambridge, 1992); Sutton , Science for a polite society (ref. 2); Walters Alice N. , “Conversation pieces: Science and politeness in eighteenth-century England”, History of science, xxxv (1997), 1997–54.

A review is in van Berkel K. van Helden A. Palm L. (eds), A history of science in the Netherlands: Survey, themes, and reference (Leiden, 1999). See also Jacob Margaret Mijnhardt Wijnand W. , The Dutch Republic in the 18th century: Decline, Enlightenment, and revolution (Ithaca, 1992); and Roberts Lissa , “Going Dutch: Situating science in the Dutch Enlightenment”, in Clark William Golinski Jan Schaffer Simon (eds), The sciences in enlightened Europe (Chicago and London, 1999), 350–88.

Cf. Bots J. , Tussen Descartes en Darwin: Geloof en natuurwetenschap in de achttiende eeuw in Nederland (Assen, 1972); and Vermij R. , Secularisering en natuurwetenschap in de zeventiende eeuw: Bernard Nieuwentijt (Amsterdam, 1991).

's-Gravesande W. J. , Physices elementa mathematica, experimentis confirmata. Sive introductio ad philosophiam newtonianam (2 vols, Leiden, 1719–21), partly translated into Dutch as Wiskundige grondbeginselen der natuurkunde, door proef-ondervindingen gestaafd: Ofte inleiding tot de newtoniaanse wysbegeerte (Leiden, 1743), i (all published). Cf. Sutton, Science for a polite society (ref. 2), 213.

van Musschenbroek Petrus , Beginsels der Natuurkunde, beschreeven ten dienste der Landgenooten, 2nd edn (Leiden, 1739), preface.

For van Mollem , see de Jong Erik , Natuur en Kunst: Nederlandse tuin- en landschapsarchitectuur 1650–1740 (Bussum, 1993), 156–89.

[ Wagenaar Jan ], “Introduction of the translator”, in Martin Benjamin , Filozoofische Onderwyzer of Algemeene Schets der Hedendaagsche Ondervindelyke Natuurkunde (Amsterdam, 1737). This was a translation of Martin B. , The philosophical grammar (London, 1735). The quotation is from the second Dutch edition of 1744.

A review of Dutch collectors of natural history specimens is given in Bergvelt Ellinoor , De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585–1735 [The world close at hand: Dutch art and cabinets of curiosity, 1585–1735] (Amsterdam and Zwolle, 1992). See also, for the motives and the way of collecting, van de Roemer Bert , “Neat nature: The relation between nature and art in a Dutch cabinet of curiosities from the early eighteenth century”, in History of science, xlii (2004), 2004–84.

Boeles W. B. S. , Frieslands Hoogeschool en het Rijks Athenaeum te Franeker, i (Leeuwarden, 1878), 421.

[ Metz C. F. ], Catalogus van eene zeer schoone verzameling van natuurkundige instrumenten, nagelaten door wylen den wel edele gestrengen heer mr. G. A. Hasselaar (Utrecht, 1776) [Univ. Library Utrecht].

Desaguliers J. Th. , De Natuurkunde uit Ondervindingen Opgemaakt (3 vols, Amsterdam, 1736–51). Tirion's dedication to Hasselaer was added to vol. i after the completion of the project in 1751. Dutch translation of Desaguliers J. T. , A course of experimental philosophy (London, 1734–44).

Instrument cabinet auctioned in 1747. Cf. de Haan J. A. Bierens , “Het huis van een 18e eeuwse ‘Mercator Sapiëns’”, Jaarboek van het genootschap Amstelodamum, xlix (1957), 110–28.

Catalogus van de … kabinetten met rarityten: Bestaande in een zeer voortreffelyke versameling van veelerly konstig gemaakte Mechanische, Hydrostatische, Optische, Astronomische en andere Phisische en Mathematische Machines en Instrumenten. Alles nagelaten by … Mr. George Clifford (Amsterdam, 1760) [Rijksmuseum Amsterdam]. See also Zuidervaart H. J. , “Reflecting popular culture: The introduction, diffusion and construction of the reflecting telescope in the Netherlands”, Annals of science, lxi (2004), 407–52, esp. p. 417.

The Dutch translation of Robert Smith's A compleat system of opticks (London, 1738), published in Amsterdam in 1753 as Volkomen Samenstel der Optica of Gezigtkunde, was dedicated to Count Willem Bentinck van Rhoon. Bentinck's instrument cabinet was dispersed around 1774. 21. Edens's instrument cabinet was auctioned in 1765. Cf. Hoftijzer Paul , “An eighteenth-century amateur of books and science in Warmond”, in van Dijkhuizen J. F. Hoftijzer P. G. Roding J. Smith P. J. , (eds), Living in posterity: Essays in honour of Bart Westerweel (Hilversum, 2004), 147–56.

On these informal societies, and their participation in astronomical research, see at length Zuidervaart , Konstgenoten (ref. 4), passim.

Walters , “Conversation pieces” (ref. 7), 137–8.

Cf. Zuidervaart , “Reflecting popular culture” (ref. 19) and H. J. Zuidervaart, “‘Zo'n mooie machine, waarvan de kwaliteit door alle astronomen wordt erkend': Een biografie van een vrijwel niet gebruikte telescoop”, in Gewina: Tijdschrift voor de Geschiedenis der Geneeskunde, Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Techniek, xxv (2003), 148–65.

Cf. Taylor Jean Gelman , The social world of Batavia: European and Eurasian in Dutch Asia (Madison, 1983).

In the early twentieth century her tomb with the Gabry coat-of-arms was still visible in the Dutch Church at Ambon. The tombstone was inscribed with the text: “Hieronder rust Vrouwe / Susanna Helena Coyett / Gemalinne Van Den Ed. le Gestr. Heer / Pieter Gabry Raad Extraordinaiie / Van Nederlands India Mitsgaders / Gouverneur En Directeur Deser Provintie / Gebooren Tot Batavia Den 30 Maart Ao 1690 / En Alhier Overleden Den 9 October 1724 / Oud 34 Jaaren 6 Maanden en 10 Daagen”. Cf. van de Wall V. I. , De Nederlandsche Oudheden in de Molukken ('s-Gravenhage, 1928) and De Nederlandsche Leeuw, 1903, col. 183.

Pieter Gabry senior left an estate of — Officially — Thirty thousand guilders, which was put into the custody of the Batavia “Weeskamer” (Orphans-chamber). Cf. Coolhaas W. Ph. van Goor J. (eds), Generale missiven van gouverneur-generaal en raden aan Heren XVII der Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (9 vols, 's-Gravenhage, 1960–88), viii [1725–29], 186 (31 Oct. 1728); 219 (8 Dec. 1728); and 234 (25 Feb. 1729: Death of Pieter Gabry Sr on 13 Feb. 1729).

Album studiosorum Academiae Groninganae (Groningen, 1915), 184: 16 Dec. 1734, “P. Gabry, Amboinae in India Orientalis”.

Gabry Balthasar Jan (1713-post 1782) matriculated as a law-student at Franeker University in 1727 and again in 1729. He matriculated again as a law-student at Utrecht University in 1738, where he received a degree the same year. His dissertation Disputatio juridica inauguralis de officio tutorum (Utrecht, 1738) is among others dedicated to Johan Fleon, “soldij-boekhouder” [= accountant] of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) at Amsterdam. Fleon was a friend of the family; in 1718 Balthasar's grandfather Jan Gabry had been the godfather of Fleon's son Jan. After his studies Balthasar Jan Gabry moved to the city of Gouda, where he married in 1743 and became a public notary in 1747, being active as such until 1778. From two marriages he raised nine children. Cf. Andreae S. J. Fockema Meijer Th. J. (eds), Album studiosorum Academiae Franekerensis (Franeker, 1968), no. 11709 [1727] and no. 11742 [1729], Album studiosorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae (Utrecht, 1886), 139–40, and Album promotorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae, 1638–1815 (Utrecht, 1936), 137.

Album studiosorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae (ref. 29), 139–40: “Petrus Gabry Amboinus” [1739]. See also Album promotorum (ref. 29), 140 [2 Sept. 1740]. Gabry's printed dissertation — Dedicated in general terms to “God, the fatherland, my tutors and my friends” — Is in the Utrecht University Library.

The name of Constantijn Gabry (1718–96) has not been found in the registers of any Dutch university. He is mentioned for the first time in 1744, then living in The Hague (NA The Hague, no. 3147, deed 203, 15 April 1744).

In January 1741 Jean Louis van Alderwerelt had acted as a guardian for the then legally still-juvenile Constantijn Gabry. Constantijn (1718–96) and his wife Suzanna Maria Van Alderwerelt (d. 1788) had one daughter, Maria Constantia Gabry, who in 1797 became the heiress of the estate of both brothers.

Municipal Archive, The Hague, “Index lidmaten”, Dutch Reformed Church, 1738–49, p. 47. Their aunt Jacoba Gabry (d. 1760) also moved in 1744 to The Hague.

Aerts Remieg te Velde Henk , (eds), De stijl van de burger: Over Nederlandse burgerlijke cultuur vanaf de middel-eeuwen (Kampen, 1998), 18.

University Library Leiden, Codex 240, B 15: Observationes meteorologicae: Observations made by several scholars, collected by Petrus van Musschenbroek. Cf. de Pater C. , Petrus van Musschenbroek [1692–1761]: Een newtoniaans natuuronderzoeker (Utrecht, 1979), 362.

Gabry P. , “Lucht-verhevelingsche waarnemingen der gesteltenisse van onzen damp-kring … waargenomen door mr. Pieter Gabry, liefhebber der natuur-, wis- en sterrekunde in 's Gravenhage”, 1747. See the appendix.

Gabry P. , “Observationes meteorologicae constitutionis atmosphaerici aëris nostri, Hagae Comitum”, 1748–68. See the appendix.

Cf. de Clercq P. R. , “Science at Court: The eighteenth-century cabinet of scientific instruments and models of the Dutch stadholders”, Annals of science, xlv (1988), 113–52.

Short J. , “Description and use of an equatorial telescope”, Philosophical transactions, xlvi (1749), 241–2. According to Short the prototype was bought by Count Bentink for the Prince of Orange.

König's scientific demonstrations at The Hague are recorded in a manuscript, “Leçons de Physique de Mr. le Prof. König qu'il a donne a la Haye, 1751–52” (Univ. Libr. Amsterdam, ms X.B.1.). After König's death, in 1758, his own cabinet of scientific instruments (578 pieces) was auctioned at The Hague. See Catalogue d'une tres belle collection des instruments, de mathematique, de physique, &c. Deslaissez par Feu, Monsieur Samuel König, Bibliothecaire de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Prince Stadthouder (La Haye, 1758), 26 pp. (Univ. Libr. Amsterdam).

For the medal, see Beschrijving van Nederlandsche historie-penningen, ten gevolge op het werk van G. van Loon, iv (Amsterdam, 1840), nos. 243 and 244. The poem is mentioned in Morton Alan Q. Wess Jane A. , Public and private science: The King George III Collection (London, 1993), 11.

This ‘Grand Orrery’ made by Thomas Wright (?–1748) and Benjamin Cole (1695–1766) is now at the Wartena Museum at Franeker. In 1785 the instrument was presented by stadholder Wiliam V as a gift to Franeker University at the occasion of its 200-year anniversary. Although the instrument bears no date, it must have been made shortly before 1748, during the short-lived alliance of Thomas Wright, instrument maker to the English King George II, and his successor Benjamin Cole. Cf. De Clercq , “Science at Court” (ref. 38), 134, 152, and King Henry C. Millburn John R. , Geared to the stars: The evolution of planetariums, orreries and astronomical clocks (Toronto, 1978), 162–3.

During his short reign (1747–51) William IV created the following honorary scientific titles: [1] “Astronomus” (Jan de Munck, town architect of Middelburg); [2] Architect (Pieter de Swart); [3] Instrument maker (Benjamin Ayres at Amsterdam); [4] “Horologist” (Lambertus Vrythof at The Hague); [5] “Oculist” (Johannes Nettis at Middelburg); and [6] “Ingenieur-Modelist” (Klaas Willem Kiers). Cf. Zuidervaart , Konstgenoten (ref. 4), 95–96.

Observationes astronomicae de via cometae anni 1748, cum nominibus et magnitudine singularum stellarum fixarum ('s Gravenhage, 1748). See the appendix. For the reception of Comet 1748-I, see my Konstgenoten (ref. 4), 135–41 and 593.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 5: “Ben altyd van het denkbeeld geweest dat Wel U. , Ed. in dit soort van Studie niet alleen buitengemeen gevordert, maar zelfs een Professor was … Heb altoos genegenheid gehad … om zo nu en dan een Experimentje by U Wel edele te zien”.

P. Gabry to A. Vosmaer, 15 December 1751 (University Library Leiden, Corr. Vosmaer, BPL 246).

Baron Fredrik, friherre Preis (1734–88), Dutch-raised son of the Swedish ambassador to the Netherlands, Baron Joakim Fredrik, friherre Preis (1667–1759). Being the son of a Swedish professor in philosophy and physics, the older baron's personal interest in scientific affairs is well documented. See for instance: Buijnsters P. J. , “Swedenborg in Nederland”, Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse taal en Letterkunde, lxxxiii (1967), 192–224, esp. pp. 195–6.

Johann Carl Creutz Friherre (1725–93), secretary to the Swedish ambassador at The Hague. He became “extraordinary envoy” in 1760 after the death of the older Baron Preis. Creutz attended the observation of the solar eclipse of 1764 at Gabry's house. (Cf. Gabry to Per Wargentin, 8 January 1765, Wargentin correspondence, Stockholm Academy of Sciences.).

This “clock maker” was the instrument-maker Lambertus Vrijthoff (c. 1690–1769), dean of the clockmakers guild at The Hague from 1754 to 1764, who had a shop at the Korte Poten. He was the official “Horologist” to the Stadholder. He also made and sold sundials, barometers and thermometers.

Kernkamp G. W. , “Bengt Ferrner's dagboek van zijne reis door Nederland in 1759”, Bijdragen en mededelingen van het Historisch Genootschap, xxxi (1910), 314–509, esp. pp. 489–91.

Gabry mentions this 4-ft Hearne-telescope in 1751 and 1753. Cf. also Zuidervaart , “Reflecting popular culture” (ref. 19).

Gabry called this instrument an “astrolabium with a tubus dioptricus”. Cf. Bennett J. A. , The divided circle (Oxford, 1987), 146–9.

Lyonet to the Académie Royale des Sciences [probably Le Monnier, his designated correspondent], 15 December 1757. This letter, eight pages long, surfaced in May 2006 in the Book Auction of Bubb Kuyper at Haarlem, catalogue no. 3163 (photo in possession of the author). I am grateful for the assistance of Mr K. Polinder in deciphering this letter.

Gabry describes his hygrometer as follows: In 1745: “Gemaakt van grof bind gaaren, hebbende de Lengte van 18 voeten en 6 duimen Rhijnl: Wijsende met sijn wijser op een cirkel van 2 voet Diameter, en in 360 graden verdeelt, tegen de Son wanneer de Lugt vochtiger & met de Son om wanneer die droger wordt.” In 1747: “is uit Touw door my t'zamengestelt, welke in 360 graden verdeelt is, te kennen de Graaden van droog weder, te weten wanneer die voorloopt, en in tegendeel terug, zoo het vochtig weder werd”.

[ D'Alencé Joachim ], Traité des baromètres, thermomètres et notiomètres ou hygromètres, par Mr. D… (Amsterdam, 1688; 2nd enlarged edn, Amsterdam, 1707). Dutch translation: Verhandelingen over de Barometers, Thermometers, en Notiometers of Hygrometers door den Heer D…. ('s Gravenhage, 1730; 1738²).

Cf. van Musschenbroek , Beginsels der Natuurkunde (ref. 12). Gabry described his own pluviometer in 1747 as follows: “is van Koper gemaakt, hebbende de wydte en hoogte van 8 Rhynlandse Duimen, wiens deksel de gedaante van een trechter heeft, en is in de open lucht gestelt”.

Cf. Jankovic Vladimir , Reading the skies: A cultural history of the English weather, 1650–1820 (Manchester, 2000), 145–6.

van Engelen A. F. V. Geurts H. A. M. , Nicolaus Cruquius (1678–1754) and his meteorological observations (De Bilt, 1985).

Roberts , “Going Dutch” (ref. 8), and Bert Theunissen, Nut en nog eens Nut: Wetenschapsbeelden van Nederlandse natuuronderzoekers 1800–1900 (Hilversum, 2000).

van Musschenbroek Petrus : “Amicus et Fautor Meus, dum viveret, eximius et plurimum observandus”, in P. Gabry to P. Wargentin, 8 Jan. 1762. See also P. Gabry to E. Mendez da Costa, 9 Jan. 1762 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, fol. 211).

McClellan James III , Science reorganized: Scientific societies in the eighteenth century (New York, 1985), 67.

McClellan , Science reorganized (ref. 61), 235.

Gabry to E. Mendes da Costa, 15 Jan. 1750 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537). See also Gabry , “Aurora borealis” (see appendix).

In Gabry's correspondence only one person is explicitly mentioned by Gabry as “amice meo”. This was Daniël Fonseca, a Jewish merchant of Portuguese descent, “a lover of experiments”, of whom little is known other than the fact that he figures during the period 1752–67 more than a dozen times in Gabry's letters. He was one of the ‘curiosi’ that attended the observation of the 1761 transit of Venus at Gabry's house and he carried several letters between Gabry and his London-based correspondent and mutual friend, Emanuel Mendes da Costa. An account by D. Fonseca of the building of the new synagogue “Honen dal” of the Portuguese Jews is preserved in the city archives of The Hague.

In 1763 Da Costa would become the Royal Society's clerk, librarian and museum keeper. See for his biography: Rousseau G. S. Haycock David , “The Jew of Crane Court: Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717–1791), natural history and natural excess”, History of science, xxxviii (2000), 127–70. See for the Royal Society at the time: Sorrenson Richard , “Towards a history of the Royal Society in the eighteenth century”, Notes and records of the Royal Society of London, l (1996), 1996–46; and Rousseau G. S. Haycock David , “Voices calling for reform: The Royal Society in the mid-eighteenth century — Martin Folkes, John Hill and William Stukeley”, History of science, xxxlii (1999), 1999–406.

Gabry to Mendes da Costa, 15 Jan. 1752 and Mendes da Costa to Gabry, 18 May 1752 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, ff. 176–7). Da Costa lists for Gabry the names of (then living) “Fellows of the Royal Society” to whom Gabry could go for assistance: Allamand (Leiden), Baster (Zierikzee), Camper (Franeker), Lyonet (The Hague), De Munck (Middelburg), Van Musschenbroek (Leiden), Van Royen (Leiden), De Ruscher (Amsterdam), Struyck (Amsterdam) and Wilhelmius (Rotterdam).

Lyonet to the Académie Royale des Sciences, 15 Dec. 1757 (ref. 53).

Archive RSL, EC 1752/33. The recommendations for Gabry's fellowship of the Royal Society of London were signed by Petrus van Musschenbroek; Jean Nicolas Allamand, professor at Leyden University; Pieter Lyonet, naturalist from The Hague; Emanuel Mendes da Costa; James Parsons; and James Short, the well-known telescope maker. See also: Gabry to Mendes da Costa, 22 Aug. 1752 and 18 Jan. 1754, and Mendes da Costa to Gabry, 7 Aug. 1753 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, ff. 178–9; 181–3; 195).

Schwencke to Van der Aa, 2 Mar. 1753 and 28 Nov, 1753; Account books HMW, pp. 17 (4 Mar. 1753); 26 (4 Sep. 1753); 28 (6 Nov. 1753); 31 (8 Jan. 1754).

de Haan J. A. Bierens , De Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen 1752–1952 (Haarlem, 1952), 330. Other candidates from The Hague, appointed member at the same time as Gabry, were Leonard Stephan de Creutznach, general of artillery, and Carolus Chais, a local vicar.

de Mairain M. , Traité physique et historique de l'aurore boreale. Suite des mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, MDCCXXXI, seconde edition. Revue (Paris, 1754), 392–3.

See the appendix.

Cf. Hublard E. , Le naturalist Hollandais Pierre Lyonet: Sa vie et ses oeuvres (1706–1789) daprès des lettres inédites (Brussels, 1910); and van Seters W. H. , Pierre Lyonet, 1706–1789: Sa vie, ses collections de coquillages et de tableaux, ses recherches entomologiques (La Haye, 1962). For Lyonet's work as a code breaker, see de Leeuw Karl , Cryptology and statecraft in the Dutch Republic (Amsterdam, 2000).

See at length de Haan Bierens , De Hollandsche Maatschappij (ref. 70), 186–8.

Statement by Lyonet , “on which he would take a solemn oath”, dated 5 April 1756, printed in Drijfhout, Missive (ref. 5), 122–3.

Lyonet to Van der Aa, 28 Dec. 1754 and 16 Jan. 1755.

Account books HMW, 4 Feb. 1755: “of men hem zal verzoeken zelf te revoceeren en indien die Heer dat niet goed vind, of men hem direct zal prostitueren als iemand die het Genootschap misleid heeft”.

Gabry to Van der Aa, 7 Mar. 1755. Also printed in Gabry , Brief (1756), 6–7. See the appendix.

Lyonet to Van der Aa, Mar. 1755. “een Jood dog hupsch man, een liefhebber van experimenten en een speciale van den Hr Gabry.” Lyonet had met Fonseca at the house of Jan Martijn Diodati, the owner of a large cabinet of scientific instruments in The Hague.

Fonseca D. to Van der Aa, 4 Apr. 1755 and M. L. Le Heulle (writing also on behalf of his father) to Van der Aa, 4 Apr. 1755, Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, Archive of the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen. The latter can be identified as Mathurinus Ludovicus Le Heulle, who in November 1757 would obtain a degree in Law at the University of Harderwijk. Cf. Le Heulle M. L. , De senatoribus (Harderwijk, 1757) and Schutte O. , Het Album Promotorum van de Academie te Harderwijk (Zutphen, 1980), 190.

Drijfhout J. F. , “Brief …, over het Luchtverschijnsel, den 18. October 1753, … in 's Hage waargenomen”, Verhandelingen HMW, ii (1755), 77–92, with one plate. Cf. Drijfhout to van der Aa, 1 Jan. 1756, Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, Archive of the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen.

Dirk Klinkenberg to Van der Aa, 7 Jan. 1756, ibid.

Bibliothèque des sciences et des beaux arts (La Haye), xv (1756), 1756–11. This periodical was edited by, amongst others, Charles Chaix , one of the three other persons living in The Hague who had become a member of the Hollandsche Maatschappij, together with Gabry. See also the Boekzaal der geleerde wereld, 1756, 177.

Account books HMW, 67 and 69 [April 1755].

Gabry to Van der Aa, 17 Jan. 1756, also printed in Gabry, Brief (1756) [see appendix], 11: [Drijfhout's publication] “in welken mijn Persoon en Eer op gansch onbetamelyke wyze voor de geheele geleerde Waerelt ten toon wordt gesteld”.

Gabry , Brief (1756). See the appendix.

Gabry , Brief (1756), 12: “… dat de Eendragt der Liefhebberen met gemeen overleg de grote Zake moet behartigen”.

Gabry , Brief (1756), 3: He has executed his observations “met de grootste oplettendheid gedaan met behulp van de allerbeste kunst-werktuigen”.

Gabry , Brief (1756), 24: “Ik zag voor zijn deur staande, met verwondering dat de stralen der zonne, noch zijn benedenste vertrek, noch het vertrek daar boven beschenen. En dat de laagste stralen alleen kwamen tot de bovendorpel van het vertrek op de 1e verdieping”.

Gabry , Brief (1756), 1: “een ongeleerde bet-weter en een neuswijze bediller”.

Lulofs to Van der Aa, 19 May 1756: “Ik reken op goede gronden Gabry onder de pesten van de geleerde Waereld, die niets doen dan de wetenschappen benadeelen: De Maatschappij diende naar mijne gedachten met weinige doch sterke bewoordingen haare verachtinge te toonen voor de ijdele pogingen van dien vercierder van waarnemingen”.

Account Books HMW, 108.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5). The 142-page-long pamphlet is divided into two parts, first a letter of an imaginative friend to Drijfhout ridiculing Gabry (pp. 1–33) and then a letter by Drijfhout in which he exposes Gabry as a fraud (pp. 33–121), the rest being attachments underpinning his argument (pp. 122–42).

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 7. Johannes Franciscus Drijfhout had matriculated at Leiden University on 12 Feb. 1725, at the age of 20. He left the university in 1728, after completing his Juridical dissertation De questionibus. Cf. Album studiosorum Academiae Lugduno Batavae, MDLXXV—MDCCCLXXV (The Hague, 1875), 897, and P. C. Molhuysen, Bronnen tot de geschiedenis der Leidsche Universiteit, v (The Hague, 1921), 221*.

Cf. Drijfhout , “Luchtverschynsel” (ref. 81), 80.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 76, 82, 113.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 37.

The appointment for instance of Jan de Munck to “Stadhouderlijk Astronomus' in 1747 was affirmed by an official charter of Prince William IV of Orange. See my “Astronomische waarnemingen en wetenschappelijke contacten van Jan de Munck (1687–1768), stadsarchitect van Middelburg”, in Worstelende Wetenschap: Aspecten van Wetenschapsbeoefening in Zeeland van de Zestiende tot in de Negentiende eeuw, unnumbered special issue of Archief: Mededelingen van het Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1987, 103–70, esp. p. 148.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 24. Apparently this idle threat was never executed.

Drijfhout described the musician who revealed Gabry as a musical plagiarist as “the Organ-player of the English Church” in The Hague. In a letter by Lyonet, written on 25 Dec. 1757, this man is identified as a certain “Meijer”, a skilled violinist. Lyonet also reveals that the concert was held at the lodgings of the famous rococo architect Daniel Marot (1661–1752), which information dates the incident as pre-1752. During the years 1749–51 some works of Solnitz were on the repertoire of the so-called “Vauxhall-concerts” organized at The Hague by J. A. Groneman, at the time organist of the Jacobskerk. I owe this information to the website of Dr Rudolf A. Rasch, University of Utrecht, which provides very detailed information about the musical life in the Dutch Republic, including a list of known public concerts in The Hague. See also Rasch R. A. , “Het Haagse muziekleven ten tijde van Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer”, Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer 1692–1766 (Hilversum and Zutphen, 1993), 121–79; and Wijsenbeek Th. (ed.), Den Haag: Geschiedenis van een stad, ii: De tijd van de Republiek (Zwolle, 2005), 240–1.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 126–31, refering to R. Smith, Volkomen Samenstel der Optica of Gezigtkunde (Amsterdam, 1753), p. 391, Tab. LII, fig. 4.

Account Books HMW, 110 (4 May 1756). Van der Aa told Drijfhout that the reason for their refusal to publish Gabry's work was that the Connoissance des temps had already published the calculations. Gabry had done no more than reduce the data to the meridian of The Hague, “zonder dat de heer Gabry eenig het minste teeken gegeven had waaruit men vermoeden kon dat het zijn eigen werk niet was”. See also: Gabry to Van der Aa, 16 Feb. 1754; Noppen to Van der Aa, Mar. 1754; and Account Books HMW, 36–37 (19 Feb. and 5 Mar. 1754).

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 132.

Drijfhout , Missive (ref. 5), 79. The reference is to G. E. Rumphius, D'Amboinse rariteitkamer (Amsterdam, 1705).

Drijfhout to Van der Aa, 11 June 1756.

Lulofs to Van der Aa, 8 July 1756.

Account Books HMW, 123 (3 Aug. 1756).

Letters of Gabry are preserved in the following archives: Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, Archive of the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen: Correspondence with C. H. van der Aa [1752–56]; British Library, Add. Mss. 28.537: Correspondence with Emanuel Mendes da Costa [1750–59] and Add. Mss. 4308: Correspondence with Thomas Birch [1756]; University Library Leiden, BPL 240: Correspondence with Aernout Vosmaer [1751]; University Library Stockholm, Archive of the Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien: Correspondence with Per Wargentin [1751–69]; and Archive of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen: Correspondence with G. C. Hamberger [1757–66] and Johan Philip Murraij [1768]; Observatoire de Paris, Obs. B-4-10: Correspondence with Le Monnier [1763] and De l'Isle [1766].

Besides the diplomats named in the main text, diplomatic contacts mentioned in Gabry's letters were: David Letocart, Dutch envoy in Stockholm (1762–63); Franciscus Brueijs, acting secretary to Letocart's successor Van Kretschmar (1765–67); Ernst Laurenzy, resident of the Electorate of Hanover and of Britain (1752–59); and his successor Wilhelm Leopold Bütemeister (1766). These diplomats were identified with the help of Schutte O. , Repertorium der Nederlandsche vertegenwoordigers, residerende in het buitenland, 1584–1810 ('s-Gravenhage, 1976) and Schutte O. , Repertorium der buitenlandse vertegenwoordigers residerende in Nederland, 1584/1810 ('s-Gravenhage, 1983).

Gabry's most expensive purchase at this auction was of a metal mirror with six figures, probably to show the effect of anamorphosic drawings (Fl. 13/15/0). The second most expensive item was a bottle with the rare metal of platinum (Fl. 10/15/0), while the third concerned a “nice apparatus to show the effect of collisions” (Fl. 9/0/0). His only purchase signed by an instrument maker was a metal eye-mirror — Probably after the design of Lieberkuhn — Made by Jacob Lommers at Utrecht (Fl. 6/15/0). Cf. the annotated copy of the catalogue of the Van Musschenbroek sale: Collectio exquisitissima instrumentorum, …, vir celeberrimus Petrus van Musschenbroek (Leiden, 1762). Municipal Archive Leiden.

Gabry , “Zon-eclips 1753”, 532: ”vele aanzienelyke persoonen”; idem, “Mercurius 1753”, 518: “zeer vele bijstaanders”; Venus-passage 1761: “observavi praesentibus com pluribus legatiset ministries extrancis, ac permultis viris nobilissimis” (Gabry to Wargentin, 8 Jan. 1762); idem, observed with “Ministris et legatus extraneis et alis multis viris curiosis” (Gabry to Mendez da Costa, 9 Jan. 1762); solar eclipse 1764: “praesentibus com pluribus legatis et ministris extraneis”, among which “nobilissimis Baron de Creuijsz” (Gabry to Wargentin, 8 Jan. 1765).

For the visit of Schlosser, who on his return from England delivered to Gabry Mendes da Costa's Historia naturalis, see: Mendez da Costa to Gabry, 28 Mar. 1758 and Gabry to Mendez da Costa, 26 June 1758 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, ff. 206–8). For Ferrner, see Kernkamp , “Ferrner's dagboek” (ref. 50), 489–91. For Mallet , see Gabry to Wargentin, 10 Jan. 1769, Wargentin correspondence, Stockholm Academy of Sciences. For “Doctor Berolinenses” Pallas, see the letter of introduction by Mendes da Costa to Gabry, 29 Mar. 1762, and the reply, Gabry to Mendes da Costa, 8 Jan. 1763 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, ff. 212–13). See also Folkward Wendland, Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) (Berlin and New York, 1992), 34: “Mr. Gabry was so taken up with shifting from his former lodgings into a new house, that I could not have the pleasure of seeing his curiosities” (letter of Pallas to Mendez da Costa, 18 May 1762). In 1764 Gabry signed Pallas's recommendation for the Royal Society, along with Laurens Gronovius, Jean-Nicolas Allamand, and — Surprisingly — Pierre Lyonet!

Kernkamp , “Ferrner's dagboek” (ref. 50), 489–91.

Gabry to Mendes da Costa, 29 July 1756, 10 Nov. 1756 and 17 Jan. 1757; Mendes da Costa to Gabry, 16 Nov. 1756 (Br. Libr. Add. Mss. 28.537, ff. 196–204).

See the appendix.

Cf. Index biographique des Membres et Correspondants de l'Académie des Sciences du 22 décembre 1666 au 15 décembre 1978 (Paris, 1979).

Gabry to Hamberger G. C. (secretary of the Societas Regia Scientiarum Gottingensis), 17 Feb. 1758, with a draft of Gabry's diploma.

Cf. Poggendorff, i, 826, referring to the Nova acta Acad. Nat. Cur., v (1759). Gabry is not mentioned as a member in the list published by Kaiser Wolfram Völker Arina , “Niederländische Leopoldina Mitglieder des 17. und des 18. Jahrhunderts und ihre correspondentz mit dem Akademiepräsidium”, Janus, lix (1972), 249–68. This list refers only to surviving correspondence of the Dutch members. Cf. the index on this paper made by Meininger J. V. , “De ‘Academia Leopoldina’ en haar Nederlandse leden uit de 17e en 18e eeuw”, Aere Perennius: Verslagen en mededelingen uit het Medisch-Encyclopedisch instituut van de Vrije Universiteit, no. 19 (April 1975), 27–37.

Gabry to Wargentin, 30 Jan. 1755.

Cf. Connoissance des temps for 1768 (Paris, 1766), 276.

See the appendix.

“Préface”, in Mémoires de mathématique et physique présentés à l'Académie Royale des Sciences, par divers savants, & lûs dans ses assemblées [= Mémoires des savants étrangers], iii (1760), 7. The comment concerned Gabry's paper on an aurora seen in 1754 (see the appendix).

See the appendix.

Lyonet to the Académie Royale des Sciences, 15 Dec. 1757 (ref. 53).

A week before his death Pieter Gabry altered his testament to include the children of his elder brother Balthasar in his last will. Cf. Notary Archive of The Hague, no. 3289 (notary Glaazer), deed no. 36 (30 July 1770), with reference to Gabry's codicil of 30 Apr. 1770.

Wildeman M. G. , De Grafboeken der Grote of St Jacobskerk te 's-Gravenhage (1620–1820) ('s-Hertogenbosch, 1898), 50: Fifth grave “is een kelder gedekt met een zark”.

In The Hague for instance collections of scientific instruments were owned by: (1) Cornelis van Tylingen, director of the fortifications of Holland (auctioned 1722); (2) Willem van Sonsbeek (auct. 1738); (3) Willem van Assendelft (auct. 1741); (4) Nicolaus van der Haer (auct. 1743); (5) Jacob Cornelis Radermacher (auct. 1749); (6) Petrus Meerman (auct. 1754); (7) Samuel König (auct. 1757); (8) Leonard Stephan von Creutznach (auct. 1759); (9) Gemmo van Burmania (auct. 1760); (10) Daniel von Cronstrom (auct. 1760); (11) Jacques Sacrelaire (auct. 1761); (12) Herman Cornelis Jan van Eversdyck (auct. 1765); (13) Thomas Schwencke (auct. 1767); (14) Jacob Arent baron van Wassenaer (auct. 1768); (15) Johan Dierkens (auct. 1771); (16) Willem Bentinck van Rhoon (dismantled 1781); (17) Prince Dimitri de Gallitzin (dismantled 1783); (18) Martijn Jacob Diodati (auct. 1784); (19) Rochus Heron (auct. 1785); (20) Frans Hemsterhuis (only optical instruments, auct. 1791); (21) Jean Jacques Blassière (auct. 1792); (22) Gysbertus Verzyl Muylman (auct. 1794); (23) The Stadholder (brought to Paris 1795); (24) Petrus Lyonet (auct. 1796); (25) J. Maritz (auct. 1808); (26) J. D. Pasteur (auct. 1808); and (27) the Fundatie van Renswoude (Pedagogic institution, founded 1754, sold to Brussels 1827).

van Eeghen I. H. , “Jan van den Dam, schoenmaker en ridder van het heelal”, Amstelodamum, maandblad voor de kennis van Amsterdam, lxx (1983), 1–5.

Zuidervaart , “Astronomische waarnemingen … Jan de Munck” (ref. 98).

Zuidervaart H. J. , Speculatie, wetenschap en vernuft: Fysica en astronomie volgens Wytze Foppes Dongjuma (1707–1778), instrumentmaker te Leeuwarden (Ljouwert and Leeuwarden, 1995).

Sorrensen , “Towards a history of the Royal Society in the eighteenth century” (ref. 65), 29.

Biagioli , op. cit. (ref. 3), 38.

Jan de Munck to Dirk Klinkenberg, 9 and 24 Aug. 1748; Klinkenberg to De Munck, 15 Aug. 1748 (Correspondence Klinkenberg, Archive Nederlandsch Instituut, Rijksarchief Noord Holland).

Handwritten remark of Mendes da Costa on Gabry's observations of the 1753 Mercury transit included in Gabry's letter of 28 Jan. 1754. “In the troo paper I gave to the Royal Society & to the Earl of Macclesfield, he had put ‘aprillis 30, Lucida β in fronte Borea M’ & in the other paper I sent to Dr Bradley, … he had put F in stella β in M”.

An interesting parallel is the case of Johannes van de Wall, an Amsterdam merchant, who ordered and in part made the largest reflecting telescope in the Netherlands, not to perform observations, but mainly to serve social purposes and to enjoy the optics and the construction of the instrument. Cf. Zuidervaart , “Reflecting popular culture” (ref. 19).

In 1761 this Stadholderly Observatory was re-modelled by the philosopher and optician Frans Hemsterhuis, who at the time was inspired by the Imperial Observatory erected in Vienna by Jean Jacques Marinoni. Cf. Zuidervaart , Konstgenoten (ref. 4), 455.

Zuidervaart H. J. , “An eighteenth-century medical-meteorological society in the Netherlands: An investigation on early instrumentation, organization and quantification of the science of weather”, The British journal for the history of science, xxxviii (2005), 379–410, and xxxix (2006), 49–66.

van Swinden J. H. to J. C. Mohr, 19 Oct. 1779 (Univ. Libr. Leiden, BPL 755).

Engelman J. to J. H. van Swinden, 5 Oct. 1780 (Univ. Libr. Leiden, BPL 755). For Engelman's role in the founding of the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, see van Valkenburg C. C. , “De mannen van het eerste uur”, in his Bevorderaars der Wetenschap (Haarlem, 1978), 88–92.

[ van den Bosch I. J. ], “Bericht wegens eene Natuur- en Geneeskundige Correspondentie in de Vereenigde Nederlanden, en de landschappen welke aan dezelve zyn geassocieerd” [dated 1779], in Verhandelingen van de Natuur- en Geneeskundige Correspondentie Sociëteit in de Vereenigde Nederlanden, i/1 ('s-Gravenhage, 1783), p. xv, and [ van Swinden S. P. ], “Bericht wegens de luchtgestelheid in eenige plaatsen der Vereenigde Nederlanden, geduurende het jaar 1779”, ibid., 62.