CIUHCT researchers: Marta Lourenço (IR), Luís Tirapicos, Henrique Leitão, Samuel Gessner, Cândido Marciano da Silva.

Host Institution: Museu de Ciência da Universidade de Lisboa (MCUL/UL)

Funding: FCT/MCTES, PTDC/HIS-HCT/098970/2008.

European aristocracy assembles collections at least since the late Middle Ages (Mauriès 2002, Impey & MacGregor 2001). During the Renaissance, globes, armillary spheres, astrolabes and clocks were displayed in libraries and ‘Wunderkammer’, amidst works of art, antiquities and natural history specimens. However, it was only in the late 17th and particularly during the 18th century that mathematical, astronomical and physics instruments were regularly and purposefully assembled in collections for learning about the natural world. These collections were designated cabinets of natural philosophy or cabinets of physics.

Among the most important Renaissance royal cabinets of natural philosophy are the well-known Francesco I de’ Medici’s collection at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Rudolph II’s cabinet in Prague, and Elector Augustus’ Cabinet in Dresden. In London, in the 1750’s, George III assembled what is today one of the most comprehensive and consistent 18th century royal cabinets. These collections are well-studied and the surviving items have been catalogued and made accessible for both historians and the general public in palaces and museums across Europe.

The Portuguese royal family also had cabinets of natural philosophy. Scientific instruments are known to have been gathered at the royal palaces for the instruction of princes and the entertainment of the court at least since the early 1700’s, when the abundance of gold from Brazil allowed for acquisitions from the best instrument makers in Europe. Five consistent royal cabinets existed, two in the 18th century and three in the 19th century: King João V’s Cabinet and Astronomical Observatory (1720’s-1750), Prince José’s Cabinet (1770’s-1788), Princes Pedro and Luis’ Cabinet (1840’s), Princes Carlos and Afonso’s Cabinet (1860’s-70’s), and Princes Manuel and Luis Filipe’s Cabinet (1890s) (Carvalho 1982, 1985, Brigola 2003, Guedes 2004). A cabinet was transferred to Brazil with the court when the capital of the Portuguese empire was moved from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro following the French occupation in 1808 (Pinheiro 2001).

Although mentioned in the secondary literature, and unlike other royal cabinets in Europe, Portuguese royal cabinets of natural philosophy have received little if any attention from historians so far. We know little about their contents, their use and even their location. Moreover, until recently it was unknown if any instruments had survived.

Recent research, however, ‘discovered’ 40 instruments from the royal collections and 52 more are being studied to confirm provenance. These instruments cover 320 years of history of science. The oldest are a 1573 Flemish quadrant (thus predating Pope Gregory’s calendar reform) and a 1575 brass celestial globe by Christopher Schissler, a German maker who probably made instruments for Tycho Brahe (Reis 1994, Keil & Zäh 2007). The most recent is an 1893 Edison phonograph. There are telescopes, octants, vacuum pumps, globes, armillary spheres, microscopes, slide rules and didactic animated planetary devices, among others. Of the 40, all but three (Reis 1994, Seruya & Pereira 2005) remain unstudied. The majority have had limited public display and remain inaccessible for the scientific community at present.

The historical importance and rarity of these instruments is remarkable, can no longer be ignored and raises questions that are at the core of this research proposal: Are there more ‘royal’ instruments left? Who made them? When and for which purposes were they acquired? What were the contexts of their acquisition, use and circulation? Did their roles change through time? What is their significance today?

This proposal brings together historians of science trained in instrument-based research and international experts to study these instruments and use them as an opportunity to explore the creation, content and history of 18th and 19th century royal cabinets of natural philosophy in Portugal. Expected outcomes include a number of articles, three doctor degree theses and one master degree thesis, a workshop, an international conference, a catalogue raisonné and a website. Ultimately, this research will pave the way for an exhibition reuniting all the instruments, presently dispersed.

However, its most significant outcomes will be more wide-ranging. We have a remarkable yet unknown group of beautiful instruments, for which this research will provide historical depth and significance. In particular, this project will contribute to our understanding of the role instruments have played in teaching and disseminating science and the development of science itself, a largely unknown chapter of the history of science in Portugal. It will also establish a firm base for further instrument-studies and the history of collections in Portugal. More significantly, learning about these instruments will contribute to their preservation and accessibility and, generally, to the promotion of scientific heritage in Portugal.

Literature review

Cabinets of natural philosophy, or cabinets of physics, first appeared in mid-17th century and, especially, in the 18th century (Turner 2001). Early examples are the Cabinet of the Accademia del Cimento (1657), the Royal Society (1662) and, in universities, the Cabinets of Leiden (1675), Utrecht (1706) and Padua (1739) (Lourenço 2005). There is an extensive international bibliography on the role cabinets played in teaching, research and the dissemination of science (e.g. Taton 1969, Turner 2001, Novelli 2000) and many case-studies (e.g. Brenni 1995, Clercq 1992, Pantalony et al. 2005).

The cabinet of physics has a singular place in the history of collections and history of science. In its teaching version, the cabinet of physics still exists essentially unaltered in schools and universities around the world (Turner 2001, Lourenço 2005, in press). Unlike cabinets of natural history, the internal logic of the cabinet of physics was not one of learning through accumulation. Instruments were acquired to be used and once they became obsolete, they were replaced by more accurate ones. A cabinet of physics is a mirror of scientific innovation at a given moment, particularly when the owner is wealthy.

Kings and princes liked cabinets of natural philosophy because they offered social prestige and satisfied their curiosity, superstition, love of learning and the appreciation of beauty and fine craftsmanship (Turner 2001). They also saw wealth and power in scientific development. On the other hand, natural philosophers needed patrons and instrument-makers needed buyers. An intense circuit of knowledge and instrument trade flourished around 18th-19th century cabinets of physics. Studying these cabinets provides insights about scientific development and personalities, innovation trends, political and commercial relations and social taste.

Portuguese 18th and 19th century cabinets of physics - and perhaps earlier ones, as recent research seems to suggest (Leitão 2001, 2008) - have received little attention from historians. Portugal has no tradition in the history of scientific collections and the attention of historians focused on 18th century cabinets of natural history (e.g. Simon 1983, Brigola 2003). General studies of the history of Portugal (e.g. Serrão 1996) and recent biographies of the royal family (e.g. Silva 2006, Monteiro 2008) offer only scarce references to collections. Since no significant instruments were found until recently, Portuguese historiography seems to have taken for granted that royal cabinets were dispersed and lost due to a chequered history of wars, fires and earthquakes.

The foremost studies on 18th century cabinets of physics in Portugal were those by Carvalho (1959, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1993). These works are important for their systematic review of primary sources, but were done from the perspective of the history of ideas. Only one is a collection study, using instruments as a primary source (Carvalho 1978). Moreover, Carvalho’s studies lack perspective in the broader context of cabinets of physics in Europe. None of his studies specifically addressed royal cabinets, whose contents and history have long been ignored.

The relations of royal cabinets with other institutions also deserve more research, particularly at the level of instrument transfer and especially the relations with cabinets and astronomical observatories at the College of Santo Antão (1553-1759) and at the Academy of Sciences (1779-present). These relations appear to have been intense, fuelled by royal patronage and stimulated by significant acquisitions of instruments in England and France (Carvalho 1982, 1985, Seruya & Pereira 2005). King João V (reign 1707-1750) was directly involved in, and paid for, instruments acquired for the Observatory of Santo Antão as well as those for his own cabinet and observatory at the Palace of Ribeira (Carvalho 1985), to the extent that the final destination of instruments is difficult to determine. Between the 1720s and 1740s, acquisitions for both observatories were supervised by the same mathematician, Giovanni Battista Carbone. When the Jesuit Order was extinguished in 1759 instruments were apparently transferred to the College of the Nobles (1761-1772) in Lisbon (Guerra 1969) and in 1772 to the University of Coimbra (Carvalho 1978, 1982). The Cabinet of the Academy of Sciences originated in a royal palace and its main organiser, J.J. Solner, seems to have played a significant role at the royal cabinet as well (Carvalho 1982, 1993).

In short, secondary literature indicates that 18th century royal cabinets and royal-sponsored cabinets were at the centre of scientific activity in Lisbon, providing astronomical observations, experiments and public lectures, and possibly initiated instrument trade in Portugal. However, all these fragmented references need to be verified, further explored and confronted with the study of surviving instruments.

Even less is known about the royal cabinet that went to Rio in 1808-10 (Pinheiro 2001) and 19th century royal cabinets of physics. Instruments from King Luis (1838-1889) have figured in catalogues (Godinho 1990). Only one study about the education of the last two generations of princes mentions instruments (Guedes 2004) and much, if not most, needs as yet to be unravelled about 19th century royal cabinets.

For years scientific instruments were not considered relevant for the history of science. In the early 1960s, Lindsay (1962: 238) stated that historians of the physical sciences “have never at any time relied upon collection[s] as a primary research source”. Since the 1990s, the situation began to change and today there is an increasing interest in the role collections played in science. This project is framed by this interest, which not only opens new research windows to the history of science, but also contributes to a growing awareness of the importance of scientific heritage in society.

Research Plan and Methods

From 1991 to 2003, the Museum of Science of the University of Lisbon received instruments from a secondary school in Lisbon. Documentation provided by the school indicated that these instruments originated from the National Palace of Ajuda, the last residence of the Portuguese royal family before the establishment of the Republic in 1910. Since 2006, a group of historians of science has been studying these instruments. Results so far include a schematic and preliminary genealogy of the royal cabinets, mainly drawn from the literature (Appendix 1). A total of 90 scientific instruments from the 16th to the 19th century have now been identified (Appendix 2) and provenance from the royal collections is confirmed for 40. These are presently dispersed in Lisbon, Coimbra, Vila Viçosa, and Rio de Janeiro (Appendix 3).

The primary aim of this research proposal is to study these instruments and any others that may still exist. The second aim is to thoroughly describe the cabinets of natural philosophy where they were used, including location, content, role, history and relations with other cabinets, namely i) the Cabinet that went to Rio in 1808-1810, ii) the Cabinet and Astronomical Observatory at the Jesuit College of Santo Antão (1553-1759), and iii) the Cabinet of the Academy of Sciences (1779-present). Santo Antão should be looked into because there are some 16th and 17th century instruments which may have come from it. The Cabinet of the Academy of Sciences is an unstudied collection which originated in the Palace of Necessidades and, therefore, it is important to explore its initial roots within the court.

Although this research proposal covers the 18th and 19th century, it has a strong focus on the 18th century for three reasons: i) the majority of instruments are from the 18th century; ii) like elsewhere in Europe, the 18th century was the ‘golden age’ of cabinets of natural philosophy in Portugal; iii) scientific activity in 18th century Lisbon was lively, with the creation of cabinets at the Palaces and other teaching institutions, the creation of the first astronomical observatories, the first organized collections of natural history, the emergence of Portuguese instrument-makers and an increased use of private and public collections for learning purposes.

Methodology will combine i) field visits with ii) instrument study and iii) archival research, and will be implemented in three main stages, organized in six closely articulated Tasks (see Task descriptions).

First, to complete the inventory of instruments to be studied, a systematic survey of the residences formerly occupied by the royal family will be conducted (Task 1, 6 months). The survey will focus on the eight main royal palaces (Ajuda, Belém, Necessidades, Sintra-Vila, Sintra-Pena, Queluz, Mafra and Vila Viçosa).

Given that the dispersal of the royal collections may have been more extensive than presently known and given that important instruments have been found in secondary schools and museums, there is the real possibility that more as yet unidentified instruments exist outside palaces. However, in view of the sheer number of potential locations (there are hundreds of secondary schools and museums), field visits will only be undertaken if sufficient evidence emerges during archival research. To reduce time and costs, the survey of instruments in Brazil will be conducted simultaneously with the material study (Task 4).

The second stage encompasses the material and historical study of each instrument (Task 2) or, in the unlikely event that a large number of instruments are found in Task 1, of a selection of representative instruments. Instrument study will be guided by aspects related to materials, design and construction (including date), function and history (including use).

Instruments identified so far constitute a heterogeneous collection, encompassing astronomical and navigation instruments, mathematical and physics instruments and chemistry glassware. Typologically, there are i) teaching instruments, similar to those found in many universities and schools, ii) state-of-the-art instruments clearly intended for purposes close to what we would call research today; iii) highly decorative instruments, most likely commissioned for display and ostentation, and iv) royal gifts. To facilitate study, instruments will be grouped chronologically (pre-1700, 18th century, 19th century) whenever dating is possible, and thematically (astronomy & navigation, physics, mathematics, chemistry).

Stage three includes the study of the five royal cabinets (Task 3), including location, content, history and relations with the three other cabinets (Tasks 4, 5, 6). It is important to underline that data collected from the instruments’ study will greatly contribute to the study of cabinets and vice versa.

The most important documental sources, as well as their present location, were identified during preliminary studies and archival research will be highly focused. The research is centred on instruments, the majority of them acquired abroad through intermediaries, particularly ambassadors. Therefore, archival documents in which instruments could be mentioned, e.g. inventories, iconography, correspondence, customs’ records, scientific articles and memoires, and invoices, are of great interest. Verification of primary sources in Portuguese 18th and 19th century historiography is also crucial. A substantial part of this will be carried out by the three scholarship holders (S1, S2, S3).

Team

The core research team is highly qualified and motivated and consists of historians of science from the same research unit (CIUHCT, with the exception of one researcher), with an international record of publications, and in workshops and conferences. The team is used to linking what is often unnecessarily separated in the history of science: documents and objects. The team has been working together closely in preliminary research into the royal collections since 2006. Two team members – Henrique Leitão (HL) and Samuel Gessner (SG) – are involved in another FCT collection-based research project (PTDC/HCT/64181/2006), coordinated by Marta Lourenço (ML), from which this application largely derives. As for the PI (ML), her research is focused on the history of scientific collections, particularly teaching and research collections. The three instrument advisors, David Coffeen, António Estácio dos Reis and Paolo Brenni, are internationally renowned scholars with a comprehensive knowledge of instrument collections in Europe and in Portugal.

Collections-based history of science is still unexplored terrain in Portugal. Trained human resources are scarce, being one of the reasons why Portuguese scientific heritage is presently vulnerable and at risk. This project aims to provide young researchers with fruitful opportunities for training, through contact with researchers in Portugal and abroad. The Museum of Science is committed to providing first class conditions and resources for research.

Outcome

Short-term outcome will include a better understanding of the role instruments played in these cabinets and the role cabinets played in the broader development of Portuguese science, particularly in the 18th century. In practice, this will translate into scholarly articles, a workshop, a website, an international conference devoted to the role of instruments as sources for the history of science, four theses and a catalogue raisonné.

Long-term results are expected to be multiple and this research, being exploratory in nature, will pave the way for further research into i) the history of science in Portugal, particularly the scientific education of elites (deliberate strategies, relations with major educational reforms), the transfer of scientific knowledge and instruments from major European centres to a small peripheral country such as Portugal and its former colonies, particularly Brazil; and ii) the history of scientific collections in Portugal, particularly the impact of royal collections in matters of social taste, private collecting, hybridization of cabinets (teaching artefacts and specimens, works of art, royal gifts of commercial or political nature) and the formation of museums.

References (max. 30)

1. Brigola, J.C.P. 2003. Colecções, gabinetes e museus em Portugal no século XVIII. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Lisboa.

2. Brenni, P. 1995. Gli strumenti di fisica dell’Istituto Tecnico Toscano. Ottica. Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Firenze.

3. Carvalho, R. 1959. História da Fundação do Colégio Real dos Nobres de Lisboa. Atlântida-Livraria Editora, Coimbra.

4. Carvalho, R. 1978. História do Gabinete de Física da Universidade de Coimbra. Biblioteca Geral, Universidade de Coimbra.

5. Carvalho, R. 1982. A Física Experimental em Portugal no séc. XVIII. Biblioteca Breve, Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa.

6. Carvalho, R. 1985. A Astronomia em Portugal no séc. XVIII. Biblioteca Breve, Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa.

7. Carvalho, R. 1993. O Material didáctico dos séculos XVIII e XIX do Museu Maynense da Academia das Ciências de Lisboa. Academia das Ciências de Lisboa.

8. Clercq, P. de, 1992. Le Cabinet de physique du Musée Boerhaave de Leyde. In: D. Ferriot (ed.), Muséologie technique – séminaire de recherche 1990-1991, pp. 61-64. Centre d’Histoire des Techniques, Musée National des Techniques, Paris.

9. Godinho, I.S. (org.), 1990. D. Luís. Duque do Porto e Rei de Portugal. Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Lisboa.

10. Guedes, C.C. 2004. A educação dos príncipes no Palácio da Ajuda. Ministério da Cultura/IPPAR e Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Lisboa.

11. Guerra, L.B. 1969c. Arquivo do Tribunal de Contas. Colégios de Santo Antão, São Roque, São Francisco Xavier e Noviciado de Arroios (Companhia de Jesus). In R. Lino & L. Silveira (org). Documentos para a História da Arte em Portugal, vol. 5. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa.

12. Impey, O. & A. MacGregor 2001. The Origins of Museums. The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe. 2^nd edition, House of Stratus, London.

13. Keil, H. & H. Zäh 2004. Tycho Brahes Aufenthalte in Augsburg (1569-1570 und 1575). Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte 7: 45-98.

14. Leitão,H. 2001. Galileo's Telescopic Observations in Portugal. In J. Montesinos & C. Solís (eds), Largo Campo di Filosofare. Eurosymposium Galileo 2001, pp. 903-13. Fundación Canaria Orotava de la Historia de la Ciencia, La Orotava.

15. Leitão, H. 2008. O debate cosmológico na “Aula da Esfera” do Colégio de Santo Antão. In H. Leitão (ed). Sphaera Mundi: A Ciência na Aula da Esfera. Manuscritos científicos de Santo Antão nas Colecções da BNP, pp. 27-44. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisboa.

16. Lindsay, G.C. 1962. Museums and research in history and technology. Curator 5: 236-244.

17. Lourenço M.C. 2005. Between two worlds: The distinct nature and contemporary significance of university museums and collections in Europe. PhD dissertation, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Paris).

18. Lourenço, M.C. in press. Est-ce qu’elles le méritent? Les collections d’instruments scientifiques dans les universités européennes. In A. Rasmussen, S. Boudia & S. Soubiran (eds). Patrimoine, savoirs et communautés savants. Presses Universitaires de Rennes.

19. Mauriès, P. 2002. Cabinets of Curiosities. Thames & Hudson, London.

20. Monteiro, N.G. 2008. D. José na sombra de Pombal. Série Reis de Portugal, Temas e Debates, Lisboa.

21. Novelli, I. (ed) 2000. La curiosità e l’ingegno. Collezionismo scientifico e método sperimentale a Padova nel Settecento. Università degli Studi di Padova.

22. Osório, J.P. 1986. Sobre a história e desenvolvimento da astronomia em Portugal. In História e Desenvolvimento da Ciência em Portugal, pp. 111-142. Academia das Ciências de Lisboa.

23. Pantalony, D., R.L. Kremer & F.J. Manasek 2005. Study, Measure, Experiment. Stories of Scientific Instruments at Dartmouth College. Terra Nova Press, Norwich, Vermont.

24. Pinheiro, A.V. 2001. Da Real Biblioteca à Biblioteca Nacional. In P. Pereira (org.) Brasiliana da Biblioteca Nacional. Guia das Fontes sobre o Brasil, pp. 241-250. Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro.

25. Reis, A.E. 1994. Old globes in Portugal. Boletim da Biblioteca da Universidade de Coimbra 42: 281-298.

26. Serrão, J.V. 1996. O despotismo iluminado (1750-1807). História de Portugal, vol. VI (5ª edição), Verbo, Lisboa.

27. Seruya, A.I. & M. Pereira 2005. Globos Coronelli. Sociedade de Geografia. IPCR, Lisboa.

28. Silva, M.B.N. 2006. D. João V. Círculo de Leitores, Lisboa.

29. Simon, W.J. 1983. Scientific expeditions in the Portuguese overseas territories (1783-1808) and the role of Lisbon in the intellectual-scientific community of the late eighteenth century. Instituto de Investigação Científica e Tropical, Lisboa.

30. Taton, R. 1696. Enseignement et diffusion des sciences en France au XIIIe siècle. Hermann (republished 1986), Paris.

Publications

Brigola, J. 2009. O coleccionismo no século XVIII: Textos e documentos. Porto Editora, Porto.

Gessner, S. 2008. “Das Spheras Artefiçial, soblunar e Celeste”: O papel dos instrumentos matemáticos nos escritos do Colégio de Santo Antão em Lisboa. In H. Leitão (ed). Sphaera Mundi: A Ciência na Aula da Esfera, pp. 71-88. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisboa.

Leitão, H. 2007. A Ciência na ‘Aula da Esfera’ no Colégio de Santo Antão 1590-1759. Comissariado Geral das Comemorações do V Centenário do Nascimento de São Francisco Xavier, Lisboa.

Lourenço, M.C. 2008. Entre deux mondes: Avenir des collections d’enseignement et de recherche. In P.-A. Gérard (ed), Les collections scientifiques des universités, pp. 15-25. Collection ‘Histoire des Institutions Scientifiques’, Presses Universitaires de Nancy.

Lourenço M.C. 2005. Between two worlds: The distinct nature and contemporary significance of university museums and collections in Europe. PhD dissertation, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Paris) (accessible online at http://webpages.fc.ul.pt/~mclourenco/)