Teyler’s Foundation in Haarlem and Its ‘Book and Art Room’ of 1779 : A Key Moment in the History of a Learned Institution

Teyler's Foundation in Haarlem and its ‘Book and Art Room'of 1779, edited by Ellinoor Bergvelt and Debora Meijers, examines for the first time this institution in the context of scientific, museological, political, artistic, religious and philosophical developments. The key moment was the decision in 1779 to give a free interpretation to the testament of its founder, the Mennonite entrepreneur Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778): stimulated by the naturalist Martinus van Marum, the Foundation's board decided to build an impressive museum room and to establish a natural science collection. The institution thus entered an era in which older scientific and collecting traditions engaged with new developments towards a research institution and a public museum of natural history, physics and art. Contributors: Ellinoor S. Bergvelt, Terry van Druten, Arnold Heumakers, Eric Jorink, Paul Knolle, Debora Meijers, Wijnand Mijnhardt, Bert Sliggers, Koenraad Vos, and Holger Zaunstöck. Half Title 2 Series Information 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Illustrations 9 Abbreviations 14 Notes on Contributors 15 Part 1 Introduction and Background 20 Chapter 1 Purpose and Structure of the Book 22 1 Purpose and Structure of the Book 24 2 Teyler’s Foundation as a Case Study in a Re-Reading of the History of Science 26 3 Teyler’s Foundation between the Natural Sciences and the Visual Arts 30 4 Teyler’s in an International Perspective 34 Chapter 2 Teyler’s Foundation and the Two Societies: Emergence and Development up to c. 1800 38 1 Pieter Teyler in Haarlem 38 2 Pieter Teyler’s Motivation and His Choice of Directors 41 3 The Directors 44 4 The Theological Society 48 5 The Competitions of the Theological Society 50 6 The Second Society 53 7 The Competitions of the Second Society 58 8 The Custodian of the Foundation House and Keeper of the Art Collections 60 9 Conclusion 62 Chapter 3 A Museum within the Foundation, 1779–2020 65 1 The Oval Room as a Cuckoo’s Egg? 65 2 Reorganization, Professionalization and Research 70 3 A Museum of a Museum 76 4 Changing Relations between the Societies and the Museum 82 5 Conclusion 84 Part 2 Teyler’s as a Case in a Re-Reading of the History of Science 86 Chapter 4 ‘The World We Have Lost’: In Praise of a Comprehensive Concept of Science and Scholarship 88 1 The ‘Classical’ View 91 2 Towards a Conceptual History of Science and Knowledge 95 3 Renewing the Bond between the Sciences and the Humanities 103 Chapter 5 The First Museum in the Netherlands? The Establishment of Teyler’s Oval Room in Historical Perspective (c. 1600– 1800) 106 1 Introduction 106 2 Museums and the History of Collecting 110 3 Scientific Culture in Haarlem 113 4 The Legacy of Pieter Teyler 118 5 Texts, Images, Objects, Models 124 6 Conclusion 127 Chapter 6 How to Collect Minerals, Rocks and Fossils for a Museum: The International Networks of Martinus van Marum (1750– 1837) 128 1 The World behind the Geological Collections in the Oval Room1 128 2 Archival Sources for a Reconstruction 130 3 Acquisitions by Auctions, Correspondence and Exchange 131 4 Scientific, Religious and Decorative Aspects 132 5 Early Mineral and Paleontological Collections in the Netherlands 132 6 Acquisition by Travelling 136 7 How to Subdivide and Classify the Collection 137 8 What Handwritten Labels Can Tell Us 140 9 Economic Aspects of Geological Collections 141 10 A New Trend: Rocks Instead of Minerals 141 11 Promoting Knowledge by Lectures 144 12 Religious Aspects of the Geological Collections 146 13 Conclusion 147 Part 3 Teyler’s between the Natural Sciences and the Visual Arts 148 Chapter 7 ‘Truth-to-Nature’ in the Museum? Wybrand Hendriks, Martinus van Marum and the ‘Reasoned Image’ 150 1 Introduction: an Unscientific Image 150 2 Hendriks, Van Marum and Teyler’s Museum 155 3 Hendriks’ Scientific Œuvre: an Overview 157 4 The ‘Reasoned Image’ 162 5 ‘Truth-to-Nature’ in the Museum? 165 6 ‘To Imitate Nature in Art Precisely’ 166 7 Conclusion 169 Abbreviations 172 Chapter 8 An Asset to Art. The Purchase of Italian Drawings by Teyler’s Foundation in 1790 and the Context of Art Theory in the Netherlands 187 1 Willem Anne Lestevenon 191 2 Motives for the Purchase of the Drawings 197 3 Interest in the Acquisition 198 4 Interest in Italian Art in the Netherlands 201 5 Van Eynden (1787) and Kikkert (1809) 204 6 Lestevenon and Van Eynden’s Prize Essay 207 7 Conclusion 208 Acknowledgement 208 Chapter 9 Collecting and Displaying Art in Teyler’s Museum, 1778–1885: The Usefulness of Drawings, Prints and Contemporary Paintings, and the Development of Public Access 209 1 Art as a Useful Element 211 2 Limited Accessibility of the Drawings Collection 214 3 Paintings Begin to Be Collected 220 4 From Secretiveness to Accessibility 224 Part 4 Teyler’s in an International Perspective 236 Chapter 10 Visiting Haarlem: August Hermann Niemeyer, the Cabinet of Artefacts and Natural Curiosities at the Halle Orphanage, and Teyler’s Museum 238 1 The Diversity of the Collections in the Francke Foundations: ‘to Make the Visitors Familiar with the School Institutions and Aware of God’s Work’ 240 2 Van Marum in Halle: ‘Bad Architecture and Untidiness’ 245 3 Niemeyer in Haarlem: ‘Enough Here to Captivate the Traveller’29 247 4 Note, Remember, Borrow, Publish: Work on the Text 250 5 Conclusions and Further Areas of Research 255 Chapter 11 The Rise of the Modern Romantic Concept of Art and the Art Museum 258 1 The Aesthetic Revolution 259 2 Moritz 261 3 Quatremère de Quincy 262 4 Schiller 266 5 In Holland 268 Bibliography 272 Manuscript Sources 272 Copenhagen 272 Dublin 272 Haarlem 272 Halle 273 Washington, D.C. 274 Publications 274 Websites 297 Photo Credits 299 Index 300 "Teyler's Foundation in Haarlem and its 'Book and Art Room' of 1779, edited by Ellinoor Bergvelt and Debora Meijers, examines for the first time this institution in the context of scientific, museological, political, artistic, religious and philosophical developments. The key moment was the decision in 1779 to give a free interpretation to the testament of its founder, the Mennonite entrepreneur Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702-1778): stimulated by the naturalist Martinus van Marum, the Foundation's board decided to build an impressive museum room and to establish a natural science collection. The institution thus entered an era in which older scientific and collecting traditions engaged with new developments towards a research institution and a public museum of natural history, physics and art"-- Provided by publisher