Preface
As from 1 January 1994 the position of the Leeuwenhoek project has changed. It is now fitted into the framework of the ‘Constantijn Huygens Institute for text editions and intellectual history’ of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The director of this Institute, Prof. Dr H.T.M. van Vliet has the final responsibility for the project; the Leeuwenhoek-Commission now acts as the project commission within the Institute.
The Commission notes with satisfaction that volume XIV of The Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek is now ready.
The preparation of this edition has been attended to by the editor, Drs L.C. Palm, University Lecturer at the Institute for the History of Science of the University of Utrecht.
The Commission would like to thank Prof. Dr B.C. Damsteegt; he has undertaken the transcription of the letters, and added philological notes to the text wherever needed; he has, moreover, assisted the editor in other ways as well. The scientific notes which are not philological have been written by the editor (unsigned) or by one of the collaborators (signed; see the List of Co-workers); the Commission here expresses its thanks for their assistance.
Miss C. Dikshoorn has translated the texts of the letters. The notes, Introduction, and Bibliographical Register have been translated by Dr E. Kegel-Brinkgreve.
The activities of the Commission have been made possible financially by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), whereas the publication could be achieved thanks to a considerable grant of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (N.W.O.).
The Commission is grateful to several libraries and archives for permitting the publication of letters in their possession. These thanks are especially due to the Royal Society; its staff members have assisted the editor in various ways.
Since the publication of volume XIII of the Collected Letters the former member of the Commission Prof. Dr R. Hooykaas has died (on 4 January 1994). Through his membership of the Commission and his comments on mineralogical issues in Leeuwenhoek's letters he has contributed considerably to the edition's coming into being.