Alle de brieven. Deel 12: 1696-1699

[p. 212]

Brief No. 192
17 April 1698

Gericht aan: Antonio Magliabechi.

Manuscript: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze, Mss. Magl., Classe VIII, Codice 547, fol. 20^r-v en 23^r-v; octavo.

Niet gepubliceerd.

Korte inhoud:

L. bedankt Magliabechi voor een nieuwe brief met een lofdicht en deelt hem mee dat het boek eindelijk is aangekomen en een ereplaats in zijn huis heeft gekregen.

Opmerkingen:

De niet door L. zelf geschreven tekst is te vinden of fol. 20^r-v. Op fol. 23^v bevindt zich naast een rood lakzegel de eigenhandig geschreven adressering: Illustrissimo Celeberrimo Doctissimo Domine Antonio Magliabechi. Franco p. Mantua, Florence.

[p. 213]

Letter No. 192
17 April 1698

Addressed to: Antonio Magliabechi.

Manuscript: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze, Mss. Magl., Classe VIII, Codice 547, fol. 20^r-v and 23^r-v; octavo.

Not published.

Summary:

L. thanks Magliabechi for a new letter with a panegyric and informs him that the book has at last arrived and has received a place of honour in his house.

Remarks:

The text, not written by L. himself, is to be found on fol. 20^r-v. On fol. 23^v, by the side of a red wax seal, there is the address written by L. himself: Illustrissimo Celeberrimo Doctissimo Domine Antonio Magliabechi. Franco p. Mantua, Florence.

[p. 214]

Illustrissimo, Generosissimo,
et Stupenda Eruditione Inclyto Viro,
D^o: ANTONIO MAGLIABECCHIO¹⁾
Antonius a Leeuwenhoek S.P.D.

Litteras tuas, Vir Illustrissime, suo tempore, non sine gaudio, accepi, simul et inclusum iis carmen, quo me iterum beare dignatus es.

Graphice eo, ab Ingenioso Poeta, descriptam video laudem, quam tam vasta Eruditio, tam rara in bonos munificentia, tot denique virtutum (quae in pectore Tuo sedem suam fixisse videntur) congeries apud omnes merentur; quaeque meo, omniumque Bonorum et virtutis amantium animis jam diu ingenerata, indies altiores agit radices, quo magis intuemur Te tot praeclaris ornatum Dotibus eo nunc tempore, quo omnis virtus, et honestas ex plerorumque animis, proh dolor! exsulare videtur.

Haud obscurum hujus rei specimen ego cepisse mihi videor in Viro illo cui liber ille eximius, quo me immeritum donare Tibi visum fuit, creditus est²⁾. Tandem quippe liber ille mihi, paucos ante dies, per D^um Arnoldi³⁾, Bruxellis degentem, Antverpia missus est; is vero D: Arnoldi mihi scripsit, se libro illi Antverpia arcessendo, impendisse nummum aureum, quem Pistolet⁴⁾ vocant, praeter operam suam, cujus compensationem mihi, ut agebat, committebat.

Ego autem statui, ubi nummum aureum, aliasque impensas ipsi restituturus sum, rescribere, ut me, utpote nescium quem illi rei impenderit laborem, certiorem reddere velit quo pacto ipsius opera remunerari queat⁵⁾.

Caeterum Vir Illustrissime, uti munus illud, quovis mihi ϰειμήλιω gratius, magno cum gaudio excepi, ita quoque id occludere non statui; sed potius exponere omnium oculis in eo domus meae loco, quo Viros Eximios, qui me subinde visere dignabuntur, (ut viles meas observationes, circa res a me detectas, cum ipsis communicem) introducere soleo⁶⁾, ut et hoc pacto Illustrissimi tui Nominis, et singularis erga me munificentiae, fama ad plures transvolet et celebretur⁷⁾.

Vale tandem Vir Illustrissime, Orbis Litterati Decus et Ornamentum, Vale aeternum, et mihi, ut coepisti, favere perge.

Dabam Delfis Batavorum 15 Kal. Majas 1698.

1) Antonio Magliabechi (1633-1714) was bibliothecaris van de groothertog van Toscane, Cosimo III de' Medici. Zie het Biogr. Reg., Alle de Brieven, Dl. 6, blz. 390.

2) Zie voor de eerdere lotgevallen van dit boek, de Saggi di naturali esperienze fatti nell' Accademia del Cimento..., Brief 191 van 20 februari 1698, in dit deel.

3) L. schreef eind 1697 of begin 1698 aan Johan Arnoldi, die verder ongeïdentificeerd is, over het zoekgeraakte boek. Zie Brief 190 en Brief 191 van 20 februari 1698, beide in dit deel.

4) Een pistolet was een Spaanse of Italiaanse gouden munt (escudo) ter waarde van een Franse kroon. Aan het eind van de zeventiende eeuw was een pistolet ongeveer 4,5 toenmalige guldens waard.

5) Zie hiervoor Brief 194 van 14 augustus 1698, in dit deel.

6) De formuleringen quo (...) introducere soleo en qui me (...) visere dignabuntur zijn met elkaar in strijd. L. heeft blijkbaar tegelijkertijd aan het verleden en de toekomst gedacht. [Dam.]

7) Zie voor L.'s contacten met Magliabechi: Van Rijnberk, ‘Briefwisseling’ en Van der Saag, ‘Rabus’, blz. 361-366.

[p. 215]

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek very cordially greets the Most Illustrious and Generous Sir, Mr. Antonio Magliabechi¹⁾, Famous for his Stupendous Erudition.

Most Illustrious Sir, I duly received with great pleasure your letter as well as the poem enclosed therewith, with which you again thought fit to make me happy.

I see that therein a Talented Poet beautifully sings the praises which such great Erudition, so rare a munificence towards honourable people, in short a multitude of so many virtues (which seem to have fixed themselves in Your heart) deserve from everyone. And these praises, long since implanted in my own heart and those of all Good people who love virtue, strike deeper roots from day to day as we consider more and more that You are adorned with so many excellent Qualities in this very period in which all virtue and respectability alas! seems to have vanished from the souls of most people.

It seems to me I have found a very plain example of this in the person of the Man to whom was entrusted the wonderful book with which You thought fit to present me undeservedly²⁾. Indeed, this book was at last sent to me from Antwerp a few days ago through Mr Arnoldi, who is staying in Brussels; this Mr Arnoldi³⁾, however, wrote to tell me that to get the book from Antwerp he spent a gold coin, which they call Pistolet⁴⁾, apart from the trouble he himself took, the compensation for which, as he said, he left to me.

But I decided, since I will reimburse him for the gold coin and the other expenses, to write back to him, asking him to inform me, since I do not know what trouble he has taken for this matter, how the trouble taken by him can be repaid⁵⁾.

Further, Most Illustrious Sir, I have decided, because I have received the treasure, which is dearer to me than any gem, with great joy, not to shut it up, but rather to expose it before the eyes of all in that place in my house where I am wont to receive Excellent Men [such as those] who are to honour me with a visit very shortly (in order that I may talk with them about my modest observations on certain facts discovered by me)⁶⁾, so that the fame of your Most Illustrious Name as well as of your exceptional munificence towards me may thus reach more people and be praised by them⁷⁾.

Finally, Most Illustrious Sir, the Pride and Glory of the Literate World, May you always be in good health and May you be favourably disposed towards me, as you have been from the beginning.

Delft in Holland, 17 April 1698.

1) Antonio Magliabechi (1633-1714) was librarian to the grand duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de' Medici. See the Biogr. Reg., Collected Letters, vol. 6, p. 391.

2) For the earlier vicissitudes of this book, the Saggi di naturali esperienze fatti nell' Accademia del Cimento..., see Letter 191 of 20 February 1698, in this volume.

3) Late 1697 or early 1698 L. wrote to Johan Arnoldi, who has not been identified, about the lost book. See Letter 190 and Letter 191 of 20 February 1698, both in the present volume.

4) A pistolet was a Spanish or Italian gold coin (escudo) having the value of a French crown. By the end of the seventeenth century a pistolet was worth about 4.5 then florins.

5) For this, see Letter 194 of 14 August 1698, in this volume.

6) The formulations quo (...) intoducere soleo and qui me (...) visere dignabuntur conflict with each other. L. apparently thought of the past and the future at the same time. [Dam.]

7) For L.'s contacts with Magliabechi, see: Van Rijnberk, ‘Briefwisseling’ and Van der Saag, ‘Rabus’, pp. 361-366.