Paper Machines

The Systems, Maps, Chronometers, and Apparatuses of Johann Christoph Gatterer
Deze week op Shells and Pebbles

Johann Christoph Gatterer was a data gatherer. As a professor of history in Göttingen, from 1759 until his death forty years later, he compiled collections of medieval manuscripts, coins, heraldic tables, maps, and even weather reports. He did not only collect them: he also transformed his hoard into manuals for studying heraldry and medieval charters, drew up elaborate multicoloured charts and diagrams, and made highly acclaimed historical maps. He claimed that he arranged his data as strictly as Linnaeus had ordered the world of plants and animals. On top of that, he wrote some seven outlines of Universal History, that is, chronologies from Creation to the present. Although he had a rival in his colleague Schlözer, who collected more politically relevant contemporary data, and although he never wrote a compendium as large as the Benedictine Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique, he was arguably the biggest historical data collector of his time.

Much of that data collection was directly related to his teaching. The Gatterer-Apparat of medieval charters and transcripts was used to teach his students how to read and distinguish different types of medieval writing (‘diplomatics’), and the Apparat even expanded through their copying exercises. His historical maps were only available for his students, assuring him a double income from fees and sales, with the unfortunate side-effect that most maps are now lost. Fifty years before Ranke, he set up a historical seminar and even founded a Historical Institute, complete with its own largely one-man journal for reviews and miscellanea. In short, he did more than anyone else in the 18^th century to turn history into a science.

Fort Europa

Vandaag in Waterstof

De Riten van Anus

Bovenste in satirisch tijdschrift Anus #2; lancering morgen in Kyas Art Salon

Muziek oprekken

November Music, 4-8 november, Verkadefabriek en andere locaties, Den Bosch
Gisteren [eindelijk!] op Gonzo(circus)
Zie ook Deel I: Theater als geluid en sfeerbeeld

Foto: Cordillera Suite, (c) Florian Magnus Maier

Oprekken. Het is wat iedereen doet die naar November Music en aanverwante festivals gaat: zoeken naar geluiden waarvan je nog niet wist dat je ze mooi vindt. Erg ver buiten de comfortzone gaat dat niet, want November Music is ook de jaarlijkse gemoedelijke familiereünie van iedereen in Nederland die in de Nieuwe Muziek en omstreken zit. Joep Christenhusz, wiens boek met interviews met hedendaagse componisten op het festival werd geprelanceerd, omschrijft de huidige condition musicale als een meerstromenland waarin verschillende stijlen vertakken en samenvloeien. Zijn geïnterviewden staan allemaal nog wel met één been in een modernistische traditie, maar totalitaire muzikale visies zijn vervangen door stylistische hybriden, en stammenstrijd heeft al een tijd niet meer plaatsgevonden. Die diagnose is niet nieuw en die situatie is niet per se goed of slecht, al zouden de contrasten wat feller mogen, want vernieuwing komt niet alleen uit vermenging. In elk geval brengt die situatie met zich mee dat het makkelijk wordt om ruimdenkend te zijn – ruimdenkendheid is niet eens een plicht, maar gewoon de meest voor de hand liggende optie.

A short history of scholars who died over their multivolume projects

Additions are welcome. I have restricted myself to the period 1750-1900.

Charles-François Toustain (+1754), over the 3^rd volume of Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique (6 vols., 1750-65), an extended version of Mabillon’s De Re Diplomatica (1681). Finished by René-Prosper Tassin.

Charles-Marie Févret de Fontette (+1772), over the 4^th volume of Bibliothèque historique de la France (5 vols., 1768-78), an extended version of Le Long’s compendium of the same title (1719). Finished by J.L. Barbeau de la Bruyère.

Antoine Court de Gébelin (+1784), over the 10^th volume of Monde Primitif analysé et comparé avec le Monde Moderne (9 vols., 1773-82). Left unfinished.

Johann Christoph Adelung (+1806), over the 2^nd volume of Mithridates oder Allgemeine Sprachenkunde (4 vols., 1806-17), a compendium of all known languages. Finished by J.S. Vater and Friedrich von Adelung, his nephew.

Wilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann (+1819), over the 11^th volume of Geschichte der Philosophie (1801-19). Left unfinished.

Jean-François Champollion (+1832), over Grammaire égyptienne (1836) and Monuments de l’Egypte et de la Nubie (4 vols., 1835-45). Both finished by his brother.

Joseph-Marie de Gérando (+1842), over the revised version of Histoire comparée des systèmes de philosophie (7 vols., 1822-47). Last three volumes published by his son.

Jacob Grimm (+1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (+1859), over the Deutsches Wörterbuch (32 vols., 1854-1961). Wilhelm died over the letter D, Jacob over E.

Jules Michelet (+1874), over the 3^rd volume of Histoire du XIX^e Siècle (3 vols., 1875), a complement to his Histoire de France and Histoire de la Révolution Française. Left unfinished.

Jacob Burckhardt (+1897), over Griechische Kulturgeschichte (4 vols., 1898-1902). At the time of Burckhardt’s death there was a finished manuscript, but his will stated that it should be destroyed.