Gerard Turner Memorial Lecture

13 Pages·2016·0.44 MB·English

Gerard Turner Memorial Lecture
The travel journals of Balthasar de Monconys (1608–1665) and
Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (1683–1734)
Peter de Clercq
Travel journals are a valuable source of in- a few pages.11 It was his son,
formation for historians1, and this includes who had accompanied his fa-
historians of science and technology. One ther on his final trip, who saw
travel journal I know particularly well is the travel notes through the
that of the Danish astronomer Thomas press under the title Journal
Bugge. In 2009, when the SIS had a joint des voyages de Monsieur de
meeting in Greenwich with the Society for Monconys (Fig. 1).12 The first
the History of Astronomy, I gave a talk on subtitle translates as: “In which
this remarkable document.2 In 1777, Bugge the learned will find an endless
became the director of the astronomical number of novelties on math-
observatory on top of the Round Tower, a ematical instruments, physics
building in the centre of Copenhagen that experiments, philosophical
still exists and which we visited during the argumentations, chemical curi-
SIS excursion to Denmark in 2004.3 Bugge osities and conversations with
made a study tour to the Netherlands and the famous of this age”. Further
England, a fact-finding mission to see obser- editions appeared in 1667 and
vatories and to meet colleagues and instru- then in 169513, followed in
ment makers. He kept a travel journal with 1697 by a German edition.14
many drawings, which he never published. These last two have a frontis-
The Danish historian of science Kurt Møller piece (Fig. 2) with what may
Pedersen discovered the manuscript in the have be intended as a portrait
Royal Library in Copenhagen, and he and I of Balthasar writing his travel
joined forces to prepare an annotated trans- notes.15
lation of Bugge’s journal.4
As the son wrote in his intro-
When I was invited to deliver this year’s duction, the material left be-
Turner Memorial Lecture, I decided to re- hind by his father was “a rath-
turn to the subject of travel journals. This er confused rough draft [un
type of document has always had a special brouillon assez confus] which
Fig. 1 Title page of the French edition of Monconys’
attraction for me. There was also a pragmat- the author had jotted down ev-
Journal.
ic reason for this decision. Many old travel ery evening upon arrival at his
journals have been digitized and made free- inn”. Rather than attempting to
ly available online, so we can now explore make a sanitized edition the son decided
them at leisure at home.5 to publish the ‘disorderly [tumultuaire]
journal’ as it was.16 It was printed as three
There are so many interesting travel jour-
quarto volumes of a total of some 1300 pag-
nals6 that I had to make a choice. I shall fo-
es. Most of it is a day-to-day record of the
cus on two travellers whose multi-volume
travels, but there is also a lot of other ma-
travel journals appeared in contemporary
terial. Many pages are filled with so called
editions illustrated with engravings. One is
‘recipes and secrets’, short texts often of a
a Frenchman who undertook several long
technical, medical or chemical nature, and
journeys in the 17th century, the other a
often without any relation to where the
German who toured north-west Europe in
traveller happened to be. We also find tran-
the early 18th century.
scripts of long letters written or received
Balthasar de Monconys (1608–1665), a dip- by Monconys. There is an incomplete trea-
lomat and magistrate from Lyons, had a pas- tise on algebra17, and even poems penned
sionate interest in both the occult and the by our traveller, of which one critic wrote:
natural sciences. He was in personal contact “of his sonnets and amorous stanzas, it is
and correspondence with many prominent best not to quote anything”.18 In short, the
natural philosophers, and was a member of published travel journal is a mixed bag, but
the Montmor Academy in Paris, a forerun- Fig. 2 Frontispiece of the German edition one bursting with material of interest to
ner of the Académie des Sciences.7 He was of Monconys’ Journal. historians of science and technology.19
an inveterate traveller, and while his life-
Optical instruments figure largely in the
long ambition to see India and China was
journal, both microscopes and telescopes;
never fulfilled, it is impressive what he did 1628 when he was only twenty years old10,
I shall single out the latter for discussion
manage to see. His journeys, in total lasting but his two main journeys were made in
here. Monconys bought a good many of
some five years, took him to Spain, Portugal the mid-1640s and in the early 1660s. On
them, and met with makers and other own-
and (twice8) Italy; to Egypt, the Holy Land all his travels he kept detailed notes, which
ers to analyse and compare telescopes
and Turkey; and to England9, the Nether- he intended to prepare for publication, but
and lenses. In April 1645 he met a French
lands and Germany. His first tour was in he died when he had only managed to edit
2 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016)
In Constantinople in 1648, he used his tele-
scopes for something altogether different:
to spy into the backyards of secluded hous-
es to get a glimpse of what people were
up to. He reports how, with his lunette, he
gazed at a man and a woman dining, with
Moorish servants or slaves in attendance. A
few days later ‘mon Tube fit voir des mer-
veilles’ – ‘my telescope made me see mira-
cles’: three women presenting themselves
to a man, two of them left, ‘the third stayed
for about an hour’. A few weeks later he is
at it again: ‘I read all through the morning,
and passed the time after dinner with le
tube and saw two blacks (Moors) bringing
Fig. 4 Christiaan Huygens’ second air- in a white woman; the entertainment, lit by
pump design as illustrated in Monconys’ torches, lasted until pretty late’.31 In a let-
Journal (Vol.2, Fig. 17). ter to a friend reporting on his adventures
in Constantinople he wrote ‘we watched
a few ladies through the telescope’.32 If
this makes Monconys one of the earliest
recorded telescopic voyeurs33, he was not
the first. In the 1630s a Venetian merchant
had been hanged for apparently using his
spyglass to gaze at the harem of the royal
palace.34 Perhaps Monconys was lucky not
to get himself into trouble for his curiosity!
together they tested and compared tele- So much for telescopes, and what one could
scopes.24 Perhaps it was on that occasion do with them in the mid-17th century. An-
that he bought his second Divini telescope, other area that Monconys was vividly inter-
of which detailed measurements are given ested in was the newly developed branch
in the journal. These measurements are part of experimental natural philosophy. One
of a large insert in the journal, consisting hot topic was the science of pneumatics,
of letters that Monconys had written or the study of the air.35 In London Monconys
received on the subject of optical instru- attended experiments with the air pump at
ments, illustrated with diagrams.25 the Royal Society, which he described and
illustrated.36 The receiver was not made en-
Monconys was proud of his telescopes.
tirely of glass, as later bell jars, but it was a
In Augsburg he let the optical instrument
brass container with two glass windows.37 I
maker Daniel Depiere, from whom he
know only one air-pump with such a metal
bought a variety of instruments, try his
receiver, it is in the Museum Boerhaave and
Divini telescope.26 In The Hague he vis-
tentatively dated 1660 to 1680 (Figs 3a and
ited Constantijn Huygens sr, the father of
b).38 A week later he once again attended
Fig. 3 (a) Air-pump with pewter receiver, the famous mathematician Christiaan, and a meeting at the Royal Society, and on the
tentatively dated 1660 to 1680. Museum was shown the rarities in the Huygens resi- agenda was among others an experiment
Boerhaave, Leiden, inv.no. 9622, and (b) dence. Monconys reports how they com- with a mouse in compressed air, - the op-
drawing of the receiver from Monconys’ pared, and admired, the lenses in each oth- posite of a vacuum. One of the windows in
Journal, Vol. 2, Fig. 13. er’s telescopes.27 And he kept on buying the receiver did not withstand the pressure
new ones. As soon as he arrived in London
and broke, and sadly the experiment had to
in May 1663, he bought no fewer than five
be abandoned – sadly, that is, for the people,
telescopes in just a few days.28
not for the mouse. Christiaan Huygens, who
savant who ground lenses and let him use
a telescope he had made.20 At that stage Monconys occasionally reports on what he attended this failed experiment, gave Mon-
saw in the sky. In the Provence, en route to conys a drawing of the pump of his own,
Monconys had little experience with tele-
Portugal, he observed a comet, as he calls it rival design, which we find reproduced as
scopes and felt unable to judge the quality
of this particular instrument21, but he soon ‘a very large exhalation’ which ‘went from an engraving in his journal (Fig. 4).39
West to East through the sign of the Scor-
became something of a connoisseur. Later Monconys could satisfy his interest in vac-
pion’.29 In Egypt he reports on observa-
that same year 1645, he met the physicist uum research further when, four months
tions of the Moon, Venus and Saturn, and
Torricelli in Pisa and tried out – and bought later, he came to Magdeburg in Germany,
– some of the telescopes made by him.22 interestingly comments that the mountains hometown of the pioneer of pneumatics,
he passes through are ‘grooved and wavy,
In 1650, he imported a telescope with Otto von Guericke (1602 –1686). He vis-
very much resembling those concavities
two convex lenses from Eustachio Divini, ited him and saw several pieces of appara-
one discovers on the Moon with the great
thereby becoming the first owner of a Di- tus. Among these were brass hemispheres
vini telescope in France.23 Later, when he telescopes’ (‘avec les grandes lunettes’).30 to demonstrate the force of the pressure of
was in Rome, he met Divini himself, and
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016) 3
and wax, sealed and made to float in fluids;
above it are ring-shaped weights to place
on the neck of the instrument; the wooden
container to protect the fragile instrument
is shown on the left. This is the same time
that the first specific gravity beads were
demonstrated in the Accademia del Cimen-
to in Florence, and examples survive in the
Museo Galileo.48
I could talk about Monconys and micro-
scopes, magnets, thermometers, or about
Fig. 5 Otto von Guericke’s hemispheres and his hydraulic-pneumatic apparatus, shown what Jim Bennett has called “the most
awkwardly on its side, in Monconys’ Journal (1695 edition only). audacious device Monconys saw in Eng-
land”: Christopher Wren’s weather clock,
a self-acting recording device that ran un-
attended for 24 hours and would record
temperature, rainfall and wind direction
over this period, of which Monconys gave a
somewhat schematic illustration.49 (Fig. 8).
Instead, I shall zoom in on something less
spectacular looking illustrated as Fig. 4 on
the same plate as Wren’s extra-ordinary de-
vice. It looks a bit like a tadpole and is made
of glass. These things were called glass tears,
or in England Prince Rupert’s drops, after
the Royalist commander who had brought
them to the court of King Charles II in
1660. Intriguingly, they will not break when
hammered on the head, but if you clip off
the tail they explode into tiny pieces. They
were made by dropping molten glass into
cold water. The outer layers solidify rapidly
and the contraction of the still hot enclosed
material causes tensile stress in the interior.
The compression makes them very strong,
but breaking off the tail releases the ten-
sion.50 In 1665, Robert Hooke published
Fig. 7 Monconys sent the Elector a glass
the correct explanation of the phenom-
hydrometer as depicted in bottom row,
enon.51 Monconys was fascinated by these
Fig. 4, Monconys’ Journal, Vol. 3, with its
Fig. 6 Frontispiece of Otto von Guericke, glass tears. He discussed them at length
boxwood container, Fig. 3.
Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) with natural philosophers he encountered:
Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio (1672). Thomas Hobbes and Henry Oldenburg
His hydraulic-pneumatic apparatus, in England52, Isaac Vossius and Johannes
now correctly positioned, appears as the Hudde in the Netherlands.53 In London he
central image. Another topic of interest to Monconys bought them in large quantities54, so that
was hydrometry, the determination of the he could demonstrate them to whoever
specific gravity of fluids. Throughout the was interested; he records that in Rome he
journal we find notes on measurements he gave one to a gentleman ‘and broke another
made43, and in the meeting of the Royal So- one in his presence’.55 Rupert’s drops were
air, and Monconys refers to the spectacular
ciety on 20 June 1663 he delivered a paper to become standard items in the catalogues
demonstration with horses that von Guer-
on the subject.44 In Heidelberg, in Germany, of specialist dealers of physical apparatus,
icke had staged. Magdeburg hemispheres
he found a kindred spirit in the person of such as in the 1924 catalogue of F. E. Becker
were to become classics in physics teach-
the Elector Palatine, let’s say the regional & Co. of London (Fig. 9). If you want to en-
ing. The hemispheres, as well as another
monarch, Karl Ludwig I (1617-1680). To- tertain friends as Monconys did 350 years
device seen at von Guericke’s, are illus-
gether, they discussed science for hours on ago: a search online found 5 Rupert’s drops
trated in his Journal (Fig. 5) 40, the device
end, and hydrometry was a central theme.45 and a toughened safety-glass for controlled
shown awkwardly on its side in Monconys’
He ordered a hydrometer for the Elector explosions for 24.95 Euro – an expensive
engraving later appeared as the centre-
from Venice.46 A letter in which the Elector parlour trick.
piece in the frontispiece of von Guericke’s
thanks Monconys for this present is printed
book on his vacuum experiments (Fig. 6).41 in the Journal47, followed by a treatise of So much for our French traveller Balthasar
Von Guericke also showed Monconys the de Monconys. We now jump ahead half a
several pages on hydrometers, with a plate
curious attractive properties of a sulphur century to introduce our second traveller,
(Fig 7). In the centre below we see what I
globe, an experiment that forms a chapter Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (22 Feb
believe Monconys had sent the Elector: a
in the pre-history of electricity.42 1683-6 Jan 1734) (Fig. 10). He was born in
small glass sphere, filled with iron filings
4 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016)
one and a half years and brought back to
Frankfurt some 4,000 books as well as a
number of instruments. They recorded
their study tour in enormous detail, and af-
ter Uffenbach’s death the manuscript was
published in three quarto volumes totalling
more than 2,000 printed pages illustrated
with 51 plates.58 The vignette on the title
page (Fig. 13) shows Hermes or Mercurius,
the swift messenger and protector of travel-
lers, and Pallas Athena or Minerva, the god-
dess of wisdom; her spear points at the text
‘Fructus doctae peregrinationis’ – the fruit
of an academic pilgrimage or, less grandi-
ose, of learned tourism.
If the name Uffenbach is more familiar than
Monconys, this is because in the first half
of the 20th century English editions have
been published of his notes on the visits to
Cambridge59, Oxford60 and London61, and
historians writing on early-modern England
Fig. 8 Schematic illustration of have often quoted the Uffenbach journal
Christopher Wren’s weather clock, from these editions.62 For the Dutch leg
Monconys’ Journal, Vol. 2, Fig. 9. Above it Fig. 10. Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach of the travels there is little in print for Eng-
Fig. 4 a glass tear or Prince Rupert's drop. (1683-1734) in a portrait published as lish readers63, but Dutch readers have had
frontispiece of the first volume of his some of the journals made accessible in
travel journal Merkwürdige Reisen durch their own language as early as the 1850s.64
Nieder-Sachsen, Holland und Engelland. I have found nothing comparable on the
Uffenbach’s five-month
tour through Germany,
and as a result this is pos-
sibly the least known part
of his trip.
Johann Friedrich Herman/
Fig. 9 (Prince) Rupert’s drops fascinated Armand von Uffenbach
the 17th-century curiosi. From F.E. (1687-1769), the younger
Becker & Co., Illustrated and Descriptive brother who accompanied
Catalogue of Physical Apparatus, 23rd edn., Zacharias Conrad on his
London, 1924, p. 441. tour, was not just a travel
companion. He played an
active role in the whole
Frankfurt on the Main in 1683 in a wealthy undertaking, in fact for
patrician family, and studied philosophy, historians of scientific in-
history and law. He settled in Frankfurt as struments he is perhaps
a lawyer and held various important offices. Fig. 11. Uffenbach's library in Frankfurt, as depicted by his the more interesting of the
But he was first and foremost a polyhistor, brother. For details see note 56. two brothers. He brought
interested in all fields of scholarship, par- together a large collection
ticularly philology and history and allied of scientific instruments,
disciplines. At the time of his death at the which he bequeathed to
age of 50, he had amassed an enormous the University of Göttin-
library which occupied eight rooms and gen, where they were used
contained some 12,000 books and 2,000 by the professor of phys-
bound volumes of manuscripts (Fig. 11).56 ics, Georg Christoph Li-
Another view of his library is in his book chtenberg (1742-1799).65
plate or ex libris; mathematical instruments
are hanging against the book case marked Fig. 12. Z. C. von
‘Philosophy’(Fig.12).57 Together with his Uffenbach’s private
younger brother, Uffenbach made an ex- library, as represented
tended intellectual trip through north- in his book plate. Note
western Europe in 1709-11, when he was the mathematical
in his late twenties. Travelling through instruments hanging
North Germany, the Dutch Republic and against the book case
England they were on the road for almost marked ‘Philosophy’.
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016) 5
Hehad a strong interest in the techniques the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.72
of the craftsmen they encountered, and The works were begun by Landgrave Carl
was very hands-on. In Frankfurt he had a of Hesse-Kassel in 1689 and the Uffen-
fully equipped lathe for cutting and polish- bachs saw it in half-completed state, and
ing lenses, and when they were in London, described what they saw in detail.73
he paid the optical instrument maker John
In Kassel Uffenbach had hoped to meet a
Marshall to teach him the art of glass cut-
man who made a particular type of mir-
ting, because he was curious to learn the
rors, about whom he had read in the trav-
English practice; the brothers made fre-
el journal of Monsieur de Monconys. It is
quent visits to Marshall’s shop for these
hardly surprising that they found that the
practical lessons.66 Another example of his
man was no longer alive74, as forty-six years
hands-on approach is when they visited the
had passed since the Frenchman had been
watchmaker Buschman, a German living in
there. It is as if I were to look up a trades-
London, and Johann Friedrich asked him
man in the Yellow Pages for 1969! This is
where he could buy tools, such as files.67
the first but by no means the last reference
During the travels it was he who made
to Monconys’ Journal; Uffenbach owned
drawings, in water-colour, which were later
two editions of the travel journal of the
used for the engravings in the published
French traveller and had obviously read
journal.68 And it was also he who in the
them.75 Throughout the journal there are
1750s, together with the clergyman and
numerous references to guide books and
librarian Johann Georg Schelhorn, saw the
travel journals, which is indicative of the
three volumes of the travel journal through
degree of preparation that went into their
the press.
tour.
Now that we have made the acquaintance
They then travelled east to Magdeburg
of the Uffenbach brothers, let’s trace their
Fig. 13 Title page of the first volume itinerary. They travelled north from Frank- where Monconys had visited the pioneer
of Z. C. von Uffenbach’s Merkwürdige furt to Kassel, where they stayed for ten of vacuum research Otto von Guericke and
Reisen durch Nieder-Sachsen, Holland und days.69 Professor Peter Wolfahrt showed seen his instruments. Since then, von Guer-
Engelland, showing Hermes/Mercurius them the Kunstkammer of the Landgrave icke had died, and the Uffenbachs were
and Pallas Athena/Minerva. (Count) Carl of Hesse-Kassel as well as his disappointed not to have a chance to see
his ‘Curiosa’: ‘His son still lives here, he is a
own collection, both of which contained
Court Counsellor, but we were told that he
many instruments which the Uffenbachs
is now such a grand figure that (as sadly is
listed in detail. They also visited an ‘excel-
often the case) he had little respect for the
lent mechanic’ Beeling or Behling, origi-
things of his father, and would no longer
nating from Dresden, whose mathematical
possess any of them.’76
and geometrical compasses they praised.
He showed his visitors two devices com- Some 25 miles to the west they came to
missioned by the Landgrave, which are il- the university town of Helmstedt.77 They
lustrated in the journal (Fig. 14). One was learned of a collection of instruments
a simple device to determine the latitude bought from Holland and England, but
easily wherever you are (Fig. II) – a funnel, sadly the professor in charge, a man named
silvered inside, with a small hole to let the Gakenholz, stubbornly refused to show
sun rays through, is clamped on a brass rul- them any of these. In contrast, the brothers
er which can be set at an angle along the were given a warm welcome in the nearby
quadrant. The other was a stand with a ball Marienthal monastery, which served as a
joint of one foot diameter, intended to hold school and teacher training college. The ab-
a large quadrant (Fig. III). Later they visited bot Johann Andreas Schmidt (1652-1726),
the ‘glass cutter and optician’ T(h)emme, who taught science and had described and
whom the Landgrave had lured to his resi- illustrated his instruments in a text-book78,
dence from Wolfenbüttel. He had in stock went out of his way to show them what
a large variety of optical instruments, and he had and the brothers took careful notes
invited his visitors to attend a magic lantern and made drawings. I single out a few of
show with moving slides. The Uffenbachs the more unusual devices, with their gran-
did attend, and bought arms full of fixed diose Latin names. The machina vesicaria
and moving slides, which suggests that Mr (Fig. XV) served to demonstrate the power
T(h)emme was a persuasive showman.70 of the air. A bladder is suspended in a frame
and blown up through a funnel fitted with
Those of you who were on the SIS trip to
a valve, which will then lift a weight off the
Germany five years ago (the last one I orga-
floor; Fig XVI is a plough with a sowing
nized)71, will recall the water displays on
mechanism. Then there was the decipula
the mountain outside Kassel with its spec-
Fig. 14 In Kassel, the instrument maker muscarum (Figs XVIII and XIX) to catch
tacular 350-metre long Grand Cascade. This
Beeling showed the Uffenbach brothers flies; the statua fumans, an automaton fit-
monumental piece of Baroque hydraulic
the two instruments depicted in ted with a bellow that could smoke (Fig.
engineering has recently been added on
Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 1, Figs.II and III . XX) (Fig. 15); and two varieties of a tubus
6 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016)
themselves.81 There was also a cart for the
servants to wheel the aged duke through
the palace gardens.82
The first three months of the new year 1710
they traversed northern Germany through
Hannover, Hamburg and Bremen, with little
instrumental to report, so let’s fast forward
to the section ‘Travels through Holland’.
They were to spend a total of seven months
in the Dutch Republic, travelling from town
to town mostly on barges along the canals.
Entering at the northeast, their first port
of call was the university town of Gron-
ingen.83 At the university the Uffenbachs
saw what they casually describe as ‘some
instruments, such as an air-pump and the
like’; this air pump, made in the Musschen-
broek workshop in Leiden in 1698, is one
Fig.15 Among the unusual devices the brothers Uffenbach were shown in the
of only half a dozen 17th-century air-pumps
Marienthal monastery was this automaton fitted with a bellow that could smoke.
that have been preserved.84 In the private
Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 1, Fig. XX.
library of the lawyer Gisbert Eding they
saw mathematical books and instruments,
among which stood out a clockwork-driven
‘Systema Copernicum’.85 They comment
that Mr Eding had a peculiar sense of hu-
mour: he had a copy of Robert Hooke’s
Micrographia and when women came to
view his library, he showed them the plate
of the magnified flea86, presumably to make
them squeal with terror.
In the neighbouring province of Friesland
they spent a week in the university town
of Franeker.87 With the mathematics lec-
turer Willem Loré (1679-1744) they dis-
cussed simple or single lens microscopes,
which have only one small, globular lens.
Loré showed them how he made hundreds
such small glass globules in an hour. Instead
of blowing them with a lamp, he crushed
glass and spread the powder over burning
Fig. 16 At Schloss Salzdahlum, the brothers Uffenbach enjoyed a ride in the wheelchair coals, causing the powder to become glob-
with big wheels with hand-hoops attached, which had been constructed for Duke ules from which he then selected those
Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 1, Fig. XXIX. best for use in a microscope.
Via Zwolle and Deventer they came to the
third university town in the Dutch Repub-
aucusticus after Schmidt’s own design (il- instrument singled out in the journal is a lic, Harderwijk. Inspired by the clear weath-
lustrated in Schmidt’s own plate X, Figs coin balance, seen in the house of a mer- er and the fine view across the Zuiderzee,
159 and 160): brass hearing aids aimed to chant named Ulrich.80 On their excursion Johann Friedrich instructed their manser-
be as invisible as possible. The Uffenbachs to the duke’s palace, Schloss Salzdahlum, vant to “fetch his two Tubes” of 12 and 4
were intrigued and in their engraving (Figs. they enjoyed the paintings and sculptures, feet focal distance respectively.88 This is a
XXVI and XXVII) showed how these con- but did not get to see the duke’s collection rare glimpse we get of the constant pres-
traptions were to be worn; the smallest of of books and mathematical instruments, ence of this third person. Later, in England,
the two hearing aids could be worn hidden which was locked away in a small build- we hear of him again when they visit St
under a wig. ing in the gardens. However, they did see Paul’s in London. Finding at the top of the
something else that they found remarkable. tower countless names written in chalk or
Via Braunschweig (Brunswick) they trav-
As the duke was not in a good shape - he scratched in the stone, ‘we ordered our ser-
elled to Wolfenbüttel, with its famous Duke
was old and to make matters worse he had vant to write ours also’ – interestingly, this
August Library, which to this day houses
hurt himself tripping over a small dog - the reveals that their servant was able to write,
one of the largest and best-known col-
court joiner had made a wheelchair with which at that time can by no means not be
lections of ancient books in the world; of
big wheels with hand-hoops attached, in taken for granted.89
course, this was at the top of the list for the
which the duke could drive himself around
bibliophile Uffenbach.79 For instruments, At this point, the brothers interrupted their
(Fig. 16); amazingly, the Uffenbach broth-
Wolfenbüttel was less rewarding; the only visit to the Dutch Republic and passed
ers were allowed to try out this novelty for
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016) 7
John Flamsteed’s Historia Coelestis Britan- provinces of the Dutch Republic, and their
nica.93 Whereas Flamsteed’s engraving is report fills the final 460 pages of the jour-
incomplete, and does not include the gear, nal.97 Let me pick out a few encounters.
or screw-count mechanism on the end of
In Delft they stayed six days, and on the last
the telescope alidade, Uffenbach’s engrav-
day found the great microscopist Antoni van
ing does and even supplies additional ex-
Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) at home and
ploded views of the gearing (Fig. 17).94
willing to receive them. He showed them
The only other instrument that Uffenbach the wonders of minute life through his
thought worth recording visually was single lens microscopes, of which he had
something they saw the next month in the made more than a hundred for his ongoing
‘Museum’ of the Royal Society at Gresham investigations, and of which about ten sur-
College. This was Christopher Wren’s large vive.98 What is interesting in the Uffenbach
magnetic sphere (see page 35 for details). journal is that it illustrates two rare types
‘The operator did two charming experi- of microscope, which are only known from
ments for us with the magnet’, and of the descriptions and illustrations as no origi-
second they gave a detailed description nals survive. One is a fish viewer to observe
with reference to an illustration. ‘The great the circulation of blood in the tail of a fish,
round figure represents a table with thirty- illustrated in the journal (Fig. 18).99 The
two small holes in its circumference in small globular lens, held between sheets of
which are placed magnetic needles, cov- brass, is here not hand held but attached to
ered with glasses like other compasses. In an arm, to move it in position against the
a round hole in the centre was placed the plate of glass, the dark grey rectangle. On
spherically cut loadstone’; then follows a the other side the fish, wrapped up to make
description of the behaviour of iron filings it keep still, is held by a copper strip against
sprinkled on the table, too long to quote a plate of glass, the darker grey rectangle.
here.95 He also showed them a microscope with
two lenses side by side held between brass
After five months in England, the Uffen-
Fig. 17. Engraving of ‘a very great plates, with on the other side a pincer to
bachs made the crossing back across the
quadrant of peculiar ingenuity’, which hold a specimen. They also discussed his
North Sea, which was no laughing matter.
the brothers Uffenbach saw during method of blowing the glass globules that
First they had to kill six days in boring Har-
their visit to the Royal Observatory in formed the lenses in these microscopes.
wich waiting for the wind to change; when
Greenwich. Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 2, When they left, both Leeuwenhoek and his
they finally set out before dawn, a guard
Fig. XLI. daughter urged them not to tell anyone that
fired at the pacquet boat mistaking it in
he had received them, as he was tired of the
the darkness for an enemy ship, and they
constant flow of visitors, especially those
also got stuck on a sandbank. No wonder
through to Hellevoetsluis near Rotterdam, not really passionate about the subject – an
they greeted the safe arrival on the Dutch
from where the pacquet boats to England implicit compliment to the two young men
coast with a heartfelt ‘Gott sey Dank!’96
sailed. The section ‘Travels through Eng- from Frankfurt to whom he had given his
Thus began the final five months of their
land’ starts with a vivid description of the time so generously.
pilgrimage, after which they went their sep-
Ueberfahrt, the crossing, with everyone
arate ways back home to Frankfurt. There Three weeks were spent in Leiden, the old-
seasick.90
was still much to discover in the western est university town in the Republic.100 They
Not surprisingly for these learned pilgrims,
the major ports of call in England were
London, Oxford and Cambridge. As I have
mentioned, this part of the trip is well doc-
umented in the English language, so I will
only single out two instruments which the
Uffenbachs illustrated in their journal.
Five days after their arrival in London,
the brothers visited the Royal Observa-
tory, where Flamsteed, plagued by gout,
received them in his ‘Musaeum’. After they
had a conversation – in Latin – an amanu-
ensis showed them the observatory includ-
ing, in a separate little house, ‘a very great
quadrant of peculiar ingenuity’, which they
described in detail and illustrated.91. In
London in 1710 their long description is
conscientiously translated, but the engrav-
ing is not reproduced.92 What they saw
was Flamsteed’s mural arc made in the late Fig. 18 In Delft, the brothers Uffenbach visited the great microscopist Antoni van
1680s by Abraham Sharpe, which does not Leeuwenhoek, who among others showed them this fish viewer to observe the
survive; it is known from an engraving in circulation of blood in the tail of a fish. Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 3, Fig. XI.
8 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016)
raad Metz.106 The brothers visited him
twice, the first time to collect a number of
drawing instruments the younger brother
had ordered.107 On both occasions Metz
showed them a variety of instruments, in-
cluding a Holland circle or circumferentor
for surveyors that was to be dispatched to
Moscow.108 Metz told the brothers that
Czar Peter had been in his workshop, had
spent much time watching him work, and
had given as his opinion that there was
no-one like Metz in England. The Czar had
ordered several instruments from him. Dur-
ing the SIS study tour to St Petersburg in
May 2005, we saw in the store of the Her-
mitage two universal equinoctial ring dials
signed ‘CMetz Fecit’ (Fig. 20) and there may
well be more Metz instruments there. The
National Maritime Museum have a Holland
circle by him as well as a ring-dial which
comes with a round mahogany case with
green baize lining.109 The Museum Boer-
Fig. 20. The Amsterdam instrument haave has at least five instruments from his
maker Coenraad Metz proudly told the hand, as a simple online search of their col-
brothers Uffenbach that Czar Peter the lection database shows. To judge from what
Great had ordered several instruments the Uffenbachs write Coenraad Metz was
from him. During the SIS study tour to St an outstanding maker, who would merit a
Fig. 19 The Amsterdam collector Jacob Petersburg in May 2005, we saw in the close study.
de Wilde had a clever construction for store of the Hermitage among others this
Via Dusseldorf, Zacharias Conrad returned
his globes – protected from dust and universal equinoctial ring dial signed
to Frankfurt. His brother took a different
light, but the shelves on which they ‘CMetz Fecit’. Photo Mike Cowham.
route and joined him later. Their one and a
stood could swivel out if one wanted
half year academic peregrination had come
to examine them closely. Merkwürdige
to an end.
Reisen, Vol. 3, Fig. XXI.
To conclude - we have followed the French-
man Balthasar de Monconys and the Ger-
climbed on the roof of the university build- formation, which I could put to good use man Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach and
ing to the astronomical observatory and in my book on the history of this Leiden his brother on their travels, and noted some
noted the great instruments placed in two workshop.103 of the novelties of science and technology
turrets, each with a rotatable roof which he they encountered and recorded in words
We are now in the winter of 1711, the one
illustrated in two engravings in his journal, and sometimes also in images. I am aware
and a half year tour of the Uffenbach broth-
with a third engraving showing a stand for that I am privileged to be able to read
ers draws to a close. From mid-February to
a refracting telescope.101 They also visited French and German. Ideally one would
the end of March they were in Amsterdam,
the workshop of the instrument maker Jan like to have annotated English translations
which is recorded in 160 printed pages
van Musschenbroek, whose family business of the complete travel journals. Consider-
which among much else contain detailed
was gaining international reputation for ing the bulk – between them they contain
descriptions of several private collections
among others its distinctive microscopes more than 3000 pages and some 75 engrav-
that they visited. In the ‘Musaeum’ of Ja-
as well as for philosophical apparatus such ings – and the somewhat unwieldy nature
cob de Wilde they saw instruments and
as air-pumps. Here is what we read in the of these journals I doubt that these will
especially admired the way he stored his
Uffenbach journal about Jan van Musschen- ever be made; but the future may prove me
globes, made by Willem Jansz Blaeu – pro-
broek: “He has had a catalogue printed of wrong.
tected from dust and light, but the shelves
all the things he makes, with their prices.
on which they stood could swivel out if Acknowledgments
This is not only helpful for people who
one wanted to examine them closely (Fig
are elsewhere, but also when you’re there, For references and information my thanks
19).104 On an earlier print, made to com-
to use as a guide to inspect all the instru- to Jim Bennett, Graham Dolan, Anthony
memorate the visit of Czar Peter the Great
ments. We have gone through it item by Turner and Michael Wright.
to the ‘Musaeum’ in 1697, the globes are in
item, and I shall now record the following
a similar position but without curtains and Notes and References
about the least known and most important
swivelling shelves, which may indicate a re-
ones”. There follows a running commen- 1. An overview of the various types of trav-
cent improvement in the arrangements of
tary of several pages long. No copy of the el accounts that can be useful as historical
the globes.105
catalogue that Uffenbach used is known to sources (travel journals as well as private
survive, the oldest known dates from 1720 For instrument historians the most interest- diaries, memoirs and correspondence)
and is in the British Library.102 This makes ing pages of the Amsterdam visit are those is given in C.D. van Strien, British Travel-
Uffenbach’s journal a unique source of in- dealing with the instrument maker Coen- lers in Holland during the Stuart Period.
Edward Brown and John Locke as Tour-
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016) 9
ists in the United Provinces (Leiden: Brill, Mr Monconys had undertaken the second 16. ‘Advertissement au Lecteur, touchant
1993), introduction and chapter 1. journey for private affairs, he did not keep l’Edition de ces Voyages, & la personne de
a journal.” leur Autheur’, in Journal, Vol. 1, pp. 1-10;
2. See Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument
pp. 8-9.
Society, No. 102 (September 2009), p. 2. 9. For the almost seven weeks that Monco-
nys spent in England (12 May-28 June 1663, 17. In Journal, Vol. 3, 44 pages, with one
3. ‘SIS Annual Study Conference to Den-
Journal, Vol 2, pp. 5-84), see Jim Bennett, plate of 20 figures; the text ends abruptly
mark, 2-7 May 2004’, in Bulletin of the Sci-
‘Shopping for Instruments in Paris and Lon- with ‘le reste manque’.
entific Instrument Society, No. 82 (Septem-
don’, in Pamela H. Smith & Paula Findlen,
ber 2004), pp. 23-28; p. 24. 18. Charles Henry (next note), p. 9.
ed., Merchants and Marvels. Commerce,
4. An Observer of Observatories. The Jour- Science, and Art in Early Modern Europe 19. Charles Henry, an historian of mathe-
nal of Thomas Bugge’s Tour of Germany, (New York/London: Routledge, 2002), pp. matics best known for his work on Fermat,
Holland and England in 1777, edited by 370-398, esp. pp. 371-4, and idem, ‘Chris- called the journals “une mine de précieux
Kurt Møller Pedersen and Peter de Clercq topher Wren in mid-career’, in S.J.D. Green documents scientifiques” (p. 10) and pub-
(Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 2010). Reviewed and Peregrine Horden, All Souls under the lished a selective summary: Les Voyages de
in Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument So- Ancien Régime: Politics, learning, and the Balthasar de Monconys. Documents pour
ciety, No. 109 (June 2011), pp. 34-35. arts, c.1600-1850 (Oxford, 2007), pp. 76- l’Histoire de la Science avec une introduc-
91; this was his Chicele Lecture delivered tion par M. Charles Henry (Paris: Librairie
5. I found not only many travel journals, but
at All Souls College in 1997. scientifique A. Hermann, 1887). [online].
also some of the secondary literature quot-
ed in this article, available online. I mark 10. In the report of his first trip, to Spain, 20. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 4. Monconys calls him
these with [online] and can supply readers begun in September 1628, Balthasar wrote ‘M le Conseiller de Beaune’. This is Flo-
with the respective URLs when they con- “Hardly had I left the Jesuit College at the rimond de Beaune (1601-1652) who had
tact me by e-mail. age of seventeen that my parents gave me a strong interest in optics and worked on
permission to travel” (Journal, Vol. 3, p. 1). grinding lenses, in particular experiment-
6. To place Bugge’s manuscript in perspec-
Presumably it is on the basis of this state- ing with non-spherical lenses. Pierre Costa-
tive we briefly discussed in the introduc-
ment that one often finds 1611 given as the bel, ‘Debeaune’, in Complete Dictionary of
tion to An Observer of Observatories, pp.
year of his birth. However, I prefer to follow Scientific Biography (2008). [online]
XIII-XVII the travel journals of the following
Varille (note 7), p. 30, who gives the spe-
persons: Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, 21. “[…] ie n’avois pas la pratique que j’ay
cific date 1 March 1608.
the Dutch savant Martinus van Marum, the eüe despuis de cet instrument; c’est pour-
Swedish iron master and industrial spy 11. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 10 has in the margin quoy ie ne sçaurois asseurer de l’effet qu’il
Reinhold Rücker Angerstein, and the as- ‘Up to here the author had written out a faisoit’. Note the rare retrospective state-
tronomers Bengt Ferrner, Joseph-Jérôme fair copy of this journal, what follows is his ment: this happens to be within the ten
le Français de Lalande and Jean Bernoulli. first draft (‘de sa premiere main’). pages Monconys sr had written out in fair
Another travel journal worth mentioning is copy before he died (see note 11).
12. Journal des Voyages de Monsieur de
Martin Lister, A Journey to Paris in the Year
Monconys: ...où les sçavants trouveront 22. Journal, Vol. 1, pp 112-117 and 130 (3,
1698 (London, 1699) [online] which con-
un nombre infini de nouveautez, en ma- 5 and 6 Nov. 1645). Maurice Daumas, Sci-
tains valuable information on Butterfield
chines de mathematique, experiences entific instruments of the seventeenth
and Hubin, as quoted in Anthony Tuner,
physiques, raisonnemens de la belle phi- and eighteenth centuries and their mak-
‘Mathematical instrument making in early
losophie, [...] / publié par le Sieur de Lier- ers (English translation 1972 of his 1953
modern Paris’, in Luxury Trades and Con-
gues son fils (Lyon: chez Horace Boissat & Les instruments scientifiques aux XVIIe
sumerism in Ancien Régime Paris: Studies
George Remeus, 1665-1666, 3 vols in 4to of et XVIIIe siècles), cited this to corroborate
in the History of the Skilled Workforce, ed.
respectively 491, 503 and 265 pages excl. his statement ‘Astronomers and physicists
Robert Fox and Anthony Turner (Aldershot:
the indices in vol. 3, and with 25 plates). such as Galileo, Torricelli, Fontana and Vivi-
Ashgate Publishing, 1998), pp. 63-96.
[online]. ani made optical and physical instruments
7. On Monconys see M. Varille, ‘Balthazar which they sold, although this was not their
13. Journal des Voyages de Monsieur de
de Monconys. Astrologue, alchimiste et chief source of income’, p. 63 and p. 300.
Monconys […] (Paris: chez Pierre Delaulne,
voyageur’, Bulletin de la Société Litteraire,
1695), 5 vols in 12mo. 23. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 117, quoted by Dau-
historique et archéologique de Lyon 13
mas, Scientific instruments, p. 65. Daumas
(1934), pp. 27-55 and Stéphane Cordier, 14. Des Herrn de Monconys ungemeine
also states: “Monconys, in 1648, spoke of Di-
Balthazar de Monconys (Paris: André de und sehr curieuse Beschreibung Seiner
vini telescopes of eighteen hand breadths
Rache Editeur, 1967). With his brother Gas- [...] Reisen: Worinne Er allerhand artige
– one of the earliest recorded dates for
pard he assembled a varied collection, as und nicht gemeine so chymische als me-
instruments produced by a professional
discussed in Anthony Turner, ‘Grollier de dicinische mechanische und physicalische
craftsman”; I have been unable to find this
Servière, the brothers Monconys. Curios- Experimenta, seine besondere Conversati-
in the journal.
ity and collecting in seventeenth-century on mit ... gelehrten Leuten [...] abgezeich-
Lyon’, Journal of the History of Collec- net hat [...] übersetzet von M. Christian 24. Journal, Vol. 2, p. 463 (30 May 1664).
tions, 20-2 (2008), pp. 205-215. Juncker (Augsburg: Kroniger; Leipzig: Zeid-
25. Journal, Vol. 1, pp. 117-128. On page
ler, 1697, 1 vol, 1024 pages, frontispiece as
8. First in 1646 (15 October – 5 Decem- 117: “[…] dix ans apres il a fait travailler
in the 1695 French edition). [online]
ber, Journal, Vol. 1, pp. 99-138), and again au mesme Divini un Telescope de quinze
in 1664 (8 April – 28 June Journal, Vol. 2, 15. As suggested by Varille (note 7), p. 32, palmes à 5. Verres […] dont on trouvera
pp. 401- 497); the latter is headed ‘Third n. 1. les mesures icy-bas.” [= p. 128].
Voyage to Italy’, with a marginal note “As
10 Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016)
26. Journal, Vol. 2, p 326 [misnumbered quotes this as ‘the very first reference to 1979), p. 217.
126] visit to ‘Monsieur Daniel de Pierre, ‘Galileo’s glass’ in Istanbul’.
43. See for example Journal, Vol. 2, p. 449,
gendre de feu Vveselius, & qui fait les
35. Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, Le- where he records measurements in 1660
lunettes encore meilleures que luy, I’en
viathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and 1661 involving rain water, mineral wa-
achetay une paire pour lire à un escu,
and the Experimental Life (1985) is a clas- ter, vinegar, wine and milk.
& une lentille d’un poulce & demy deux
sic study on the subject. See also Anne C.
escus [p. 329] & Monsieur le Duc acheta 44. Journal, Vol. 2, p. 73: ‘Je donnay à
van Helden, ‘The age of the air-pump’, Trac-
deux longues veües de poche, six escus.’ l’Academie la description qu’elle m’auoit
trix, 3 (1991), pp. 149-172 [online], and
Later [p. 369] ‘Monsieur de Piere essaya demandée de ma maniere de peser les li-
Alice Stroup, ‘Christiaan Huygens and the
mes Lunettes de Divini’. For details on queurs’. This is recorded in the Royal Soci-
development of the air pump’, Janus, 68
Monconys in Augsburg, see Inge Keil, Au- ety Journal book[online] as follows: ’Monsr.
(1981), pp. 129-156.
gustanus Opticus: Johannes Wiesel (1583– Monconis presented the Company with
1662) und 200 Jahre optisches Handwerk 36. Journal, Vol. 2, p. 55 and 73 (13 and 20 two written papers of his; whereof the one
in Augsburg (Berlin, 2000), pp. 329–31, and June 1663), with reference to Figs 13 and contained a way of knowing Exactly, the
on p. 445 a consolidated list of instruments 18. Shapin and Schaffer refer to this in Le- difference of the weights of Liquors ; as he
and lenses that Monconys bought from De- viathan and the air-pump, p. 250, n. 39: had shewed it to the Company in the prec-
piere. “For another comparison of Huygens’ and edent meeting : in the other is described
the Royal Society’s pumps see Monconys, the manner of ordering Silkwormes in
27. Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 136 and 145.
Journal, vol. II, p. 73.” France. He received thanks for the Civil-
28. Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 11-12 and 18. On ity, and his papers were Ordered be en-
37. ‘[O]n fit la condensation de l’air dans
15 May he bought one from an unnamed tered’; JBO/1/134 for 10 June (20 June in
un gros globe de laiton fort espais; qui
maker close to the Royal Exchange, but that the journal of Monconys: at this time, the
avoit deux grandes lunettes de cristal qui
evening he was advised by ‘Monsieur le Julian calendar was followed in England,
s’ouvrent, & on introduit par là ce que
Chevalier d’Igby’ [Sir Kenelm Digby] that and the revised Gregorian calendar – ten
l’on desire […]’.
a certain ‘Baïli’ at St. Paul’s Churchyard [the days difference - everywhere else in west-
optician Bayley, member of the Spectacle 38. Museum Boerhaave inv.no. 9622; the ern Europe.). The 4-page manuscript ‘A
makers’ Company] made very good ones, so receiver is made of pewter. See Peter de way of knowing Exactly the Difference of
he went to buy three (‘3. paires de lunettes, Clercq, The Leiden Cabinet of Physics. A the Weight of Liquors by Mons Monconis,
qui me cousterent 7. chelins’ [shillings]), Descriptive Catalogue (Leiden: Museum a French Gentleman that was permitted
and on 18 May another one (‘chez Baïli le Boerhaave Communication 271, 1997), p. to be present at several Meetings of the
faiseur de lunettes, duquel I’en achettay 66. In the context of this paper it is interest- Society’, is RBO/2i/50 (not seen). Further
une petite d’approche 4. Chelins.’). ing to note that the first explicit reference contributions by Monconys, pertaining to
to the pump is by Z.C. von Uffenbach, who silkworms and some medical problems, are
29. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 77, and Fig. 10. The ob-
during his visit to Leiden in 1711 recorded recorded in the minutes for the meetings of
servation was made on 3 August 1646.
seeing a pump ‘according to the first inven- 26 May (5 June), 3 June (13 June), 20 June
30. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 247 (8 May 1647). Ob- tions but vertical and on a tripod, but very (27 June) and 1 July (11 July).
servations on 14 July (p. 273), 23 July (p. poor because the cylinder was only one
45. Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 291-93 (21 January
275) and 3 August (p. 278). For the obser- inch wide’ (Merkwürdige Reisen, Vol. 3, p.
1664).
vation of Saturn he refers to an illustration 425).
which his son seems to have failed to in- 46. The French edition p. 347 (19 February
39. ‘Il me donna ce modelle de sa machine
clude. 1664) “Le 19. Ie fus le matin retirer ma
pour le vuide’, reproduced as Fig. 17.
montre, la boëte, & les brousselles pour
31. Journal, Vol. 1, 23 May (p. 389), 26 May
40. Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 231 and 233 (22 Oc- le poids des liqueurs pour l’Electeur Pa-
(p. 390) and 6 July (p. 401).
tober 1663); in the first edition of 1665-66 latin, auec le courier de Venise, & Monsi-
32. Journal, Vol. 1, p. 465 (‘nous vismes it is Fig. 47, misnumbered 48, in the plate eur Neguelin;” The German edition (p. 804)
quelques Dames par le Tube’). opposite p. 209. The image of the hemi- ‘Den 19. holte ich meine Uhr / Büchse /
spheres appears only in the 1695 edition und das Instrument ab, welches zu abwe-
33. This is almost twenty years earlier than
(Vol. 3, opp. p. 73). gung der liquorum vor dem Churfürsten
May 1667, when Samuel Pepys wrote in his
von Pfaltz bestellet hatte“.
diary ‘I did entertain myself with my per- 41. Ottonis de Guericke, Experimenta
spective glass up and down the church, Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vac- 47. Lettre du Serenissime Electeur Palatin
by which I had the great pleasure of see- uo Spatio (Amstelodamum, Apud Joannem a Mr. de Monconys, Heidelberg, 31 May
ing and gazing at a great many very fine Janssonium à Waesberge, 1672). English 16[64], in Journal, Vol. 3.
women’. Quoted in Richard Dunn, The Tele- edition: The New (so-called) Magdeburg
48. See http://catalogue.museogalileo.it/
scope. A Short History (London, 2011, first Experiments of Otto von Guericke, trans-
object/SphereHydrometers.html
Greenwich, 2009), p. 35. On pp. 133–34, lated and edited by M. G. F. Ames (Inter-
Dunn also gives examples of telescopic national Archives of the History of Ideas 49. Journal, Vol. 2, p. 53 (11 June 1663), Fig.
voyeurism in films: George Albert Smith’s Vol. 137; Dordrecht: Springer, 1994). Guer- 9. See Jim Bennett, ‘Christopher Wren in
short silent comedy film As Seen Through icke discussed the experiments with this mid-career’ (n. 9), p. 80, and W.E. Knowles
a Telescope (1900) and Alfred Hitchcock’s hydraulic-pneumatic apparatus in Book 3, Middleton, Invention of the Metereological
Rear Window (1954). chapters 17 and 18. Instruments (Baltimore, 1969), pp. 246 and
250, with Monconys’s sketch reproduced
34. Toby E. Huff, Intellectual Curiosity and 42. The episode is discussed in John Heil-
as Fig. 7.1.
the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspec- bron, Electricity in the 17th and 18th cen-
tive (Cambridge U.P., 2011), p. 130. Huff turies (Berkeley, University of California, 50. Laurens Brodsley, Sir Charles Frank, FRS,
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 128 (2016) 11