Silent Messengers: The Circulation of Material Objects of Knowledge in the Early Modern Low Countries (Low Countries Studies on the Circulation of Natural Knowledge)

Synopsis

This Book Speaks About A World Of Mute Objects Ranging From Plant Bulbs, Divining Rods, And Archeological Findings To Drawn, Painted Or Printed Images. It Describes The Functions Of These Objects As Ambiguous And Polyvalent Carriers Of Knowledge, And Analyzes The Ways In Which Networks Of Scholars, Craftsmen, Mathematicians, Anatomy Professors Or Merchants Active In The Low Countries Attributed New Meanings To Them. The Book Treats Of A Period In Which Cities Like Antwerp And Amsterdam Were Nodal Points In The International Exchange Of Goods, News, And Skills.-- Introduction: Silent Messengers: The World Of Goods And The Circulation Of Knowledge In The Early Modern Netherlands / Sven Dupré & Christoph Lüthy -- Botanical, Heraldic And Historical Exchanges Concerning Lilies: The Background Of Jean-jacques Chifflet's Lilium Francicum (1658) / Vittoria Feola -- Flora And The Hapsburg Crown: Clusius, Spain, And American Natural History / María Luz López Terrada -- The Migration Of Instrumental Knowledge From Flanders To Spain: The Role Of The Sixteenth-century Flemish Instrument Maker Petrus Ab Aggere / Koenraad Van Cleempoel -- Moving Around The Ellipse: Conic Sections In Leiden, 1620-1660 / Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis -- How To Become A Seventeenth-century Natural Philosopher: The Case Of Cornelis Drebbel (1572-1633) / Vera Keller -- Noah's Ark Restored (and Wrecked): Dutch Collectors, Natural History And The Problem Of Biblical Exegesis / Eric Jorink -- A Museum Of Wonders Or A Cemetery Of Corpses? The Commercial Exchange Of Anatomical Collections In Early Modern Netherlands / Dániel Margócsy -- Conflicting Pictures: Illustrating Descartes' Traité De L'homme / Claus Zittel -- Trading Luxury Glass, Picturing Collections And Consuming Objects Of Knowledge In Early Seventeenth-century Antwerp / Sven Dupré -- Circulating Knowledge Or Superstition? The Dutch Debate On Divination / Koen Vermeir -- Closing Comments / Harold J. Cook. Edited By Sven Dupré And Christoph Lüthy. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 335-375) And Index.