Martin van Marum by Charles Howard Hodges

Martin(us) van Marum (20 March 1750,

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...

– 26 December 1837,

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

) was a Dutch physician, inventor, scientist and teacher, who studied medicine and philosophy in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. Van Marum introduced modern chemistry in the Netherlands after the theories of

Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

Large electricity machine'', to show statical electricity and chemical experiments while curator for the

Teylers Museum Teylers Museum () is an art, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the museum is the neoclassical Oval R ...

Biography

Early career

Born in Delft, Van Marum moved to

in 1776 ''because the Haarlemmers had more taste in the sciences than anywhere else in the Netherlands.'' After his arrival in Haarlem he began to practise medicine, but devoted himself mainly to lecturing on physical subjects and creating instruments to demonstrate physical theory. He must have made a big impression on Haarlem society, because he became a member of the

Dutch Society of Science The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), located on the east side of the Spaarne in downtown Haarlem, Netherlands, was established in 1752 and is the oldest society for the scie ...

in the same year, but was named director and curator of their cabinet of curiosities in the next year. Johannes Abraham Bierens de Haan, ''De geschiedenis van een verdwenen Haarlemsch museum van natuurlijke historie. Het Kabinet van Naturalien van de Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen 1759–1866.'' Haarlem, F. Bohn, 1941. Van Marum received at first no salary, but by scaring off the former cabinet concierge Nicolaus Linder, he was able to collect Linder's' annual salary of 100

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empi ...

s, and when the cabinet moved later in 1777 to new quarters in the

Grote Houtstraat The Grote Houtstraat is a shopping street in Haarlem that connects the Grote Markt to the Houtplein in the direction of the Haarlemmerhout woods. History The street runs along one of two old parallel roads running through the city on either side ...

51, van Marum lived there as concierge. He managed to scare off Linder by obtaining permission from the society to allow his servants to keep tips they received from cabinet visitors; a source of income that Linder had come to rely on. Then van Marum increased this salary to 300 from 100 by adding responsibilities to his list of duties, such as a summer garden in the ''Rozenprieel'' and eliminating other expenses.

Curator of two museums

In 1779 he was entrusted with the care of the ''Second society'' left to Haarlem by Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778), which led under his direction to the foundation of the

. The Teyler legacy was split into three societies, one for religion, one for science, and one for the arts, known as the first, second, and third societies. The caretakers had to meet in Teyler's home weekly, and each society had 5 caretakers, so all of the gentlemen involved lived in Haarlem. In 1794 van Marum became secretary as well as director of the Dutch Society of Science. Under his management, both societies were advanced to the position of the most noted in Europe. Period travelogues mention both Museums. Besides being involved with the ''Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen'', he was an ordinary member (5 December 1776) and a corresponding member (from 25 December 1776) of the Provinciaal Utrechtsch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, a member of the

Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke wijsbegeerte The Batavian Society for Experimental Philosophy ( nl, Bataafsch Genootschap voor Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte) is a Dutch learned society residing in Rotterdam. History The society was founded on June 3, 1769 after Steven Hoogendijk declared ...

from 1784, a member of the Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen from 27 August 1782, corresponding member of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

from 1783, and a member of the ''Vergadering van Notabelen voor het departement Zuiderzee'' from 29 March 1814. In 1808 he was asked by

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

to be a member of the committee for the formation of the Koninklijk Instituut along with

Jeronimo de Bosch Hieronymus de Bosch or Jeronimo de Bosch (23 March 1740 in Amsterdam – 1 June 1811 in Leiden) was a Latin poet and notable scholar from the Netherlands. He wrote several books, the most important of which was the "Anthologia Graeca", containi ...

Jean Henri van Swinden Jean Henri van Swinden (The Hague, 8 June 1746 – Amsterdam, 9 March 1823) was a Dutch mathematician and physicist who taught in Franeker and Amsterdam. Biography His parents were the lawyer Phillippe van Swinden and Marie Anne Tollosan. H ...

, and

Martinus Stuart Martinus Stuart (Rotterdam, 4 October 1765 – Amsterdam, 22 November 1826) was a Dutch pastor and historian. He was appointed by King William I as ''historian of the kingdom''. Life and work Stuart was born in Rotterdam in 1765 as the son of ...

. He became member of the institute the same year.

Merging societies, separate collections

Under his guidance the two societies slowly merged. His name is associated with the ''Electriseermachine'', the largest electricity demonstration machine with

Leiden jar A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typi ...

s built in the 18th century and at the time a crowd pleaser for the young Teylers museum. The demonstration model is still on display, as is a smaller version in the

Museum Boerhaave Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is a museum of the history of science and medicine, based in Leiden, Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of historical scientific instruments from all disciplines, but mainly from medicine, physics, and astronomy. Th ...

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

. Van Marum's researches (especially in connection with electricity) were remarkable for their number and variety. The Teyler's Museum kept its role as a museum of scientific research (some of the periodical subscriptions he started are still running) and is a repository of important scientific demonstration models from the period. Not only items regarding electricity, but also weather stations, industrial models, steam engines, and other examples of the budding industrial revolution were collected and lovingly displayed. The collection of the Teyler's was mostly based on scientific theory, while the collection of the Dutch Society of Science was mostly based on scientific practise. The rooms in the Grote Houtstraat were filled with stuffed animals and other "naturalia", while the summer garden was a modern continuation of Linder's old

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

hortus once located behind the original city hall quarters in the Prinsenhof. Since Linder had not known any Latin, it was easier for Van Marum to entertain foreign visitors with stories of Linnaean trivia and of course, the Haarlem story of

tulip mania Tulip mania ( nl, tulpenmanie) was a period during the Dutch Golden Age when contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels. The major acceleration started in 1634 and then d ...

Teylers Museum

In 1784, when the Teylers Museum opened its new 'Oval Room', the artist

Vincent Jansz van der Vinne Vincent Jansz. van der Vinne (1736, Haarlem – 1811, Haarlem), was a Dutch 18th century painter and the great-grandson of Vincent van der Vinne. Biography According to the RKD he was a pupil of his father Jan Laurentsz van der Vinne, who m ...

was hired as curator of the art collection and lived in Pieter Teyler's former residence that was called the " Fundatiehuis" as concierge and caretaker of the art collection.Van kastelein tot directeur. Teylers museum in de 20ste eeuw. Stichting Vrienden van Teylers Museum (1975–2000), He left the next year because of continuous disagreements with van Marum over art and the opening hours of the museum. Van der Vinne was an artist born into an important Haarlem artist family – he was the great-grandson of Vincent van der Vinne. The Teyler's museum replaced him with another local artist, Wybrand Hendricks, who painted the famous oval room and many other Haarlem scenes. Hendricks is largely responsible for the Teyler's collection of

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

prints, most notably the purchase in Rome 1790 of a print & drawing collection formerly owned by Christina of Sweden. Apparently he got along under van Marum, but when he left in 1819 at the age of 75, the Teyler's decided to discontinue the purchase of art "for the decline in art enthusiasts in this city". During the tenure of Hendriks, van Marum himself was busy giving public demonstrations of electricity in the Oval room, but was also collecting in this period (this is why he was so involved with the lifestyle of the concierge of the Fundatiehuis, since he was there every day). He concentrated on scientific publications for the Teyler library. He concentrated his efforts on three aspects: 1) Greek and Latin authors, among them the church fathers, 2) Works of natural history including travelogues, and 3) natural history periodicals, including all publications of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

and all publications of the Dutch Society of Science, which Teyler had been a member of, but could not be on the board of, due to religious differences with the board. The criteria for purchase was always expense. If a Society member could afford to purchase it himself it was not worth adding to the collection. Any member could suggest purchases, however, which explains why the collection is filled with richly illustrated examples of contemporary publications. The most impressive of these are the large illustrated books of travellers. To view the collection, van Marum organised ''gentleman evenings'' in Pieter Teyler's library, a tradition that still exists.

Legacy

Though the public is allowed access during the day to the museum rooms, the private rooms of Pieter Teyler in the "Fundatiehuis" are only open one day a year, on Monument Day. Because of its rich scientific tradition, many noted scholars of Physics moved to Haarlem to work at Teyler's, including

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winners

Pieter Zeeman Pieter Zeeman (; 25 May 1865 – 9 October 1943) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect. Childhood and youth Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small tow ...

and

Hendrik Lorentz Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the Lorentz t ...

. Of van Marum's three categories, only the first was discontinued at the close of the 19th century. The collection of periodicals which has been expanded through exchange networks, contains uninterrupted series that are among the oldest in the world. The Teyler's museum created a new wing in 1996 to house a rotational display of van Marum's library collection, such as the works of

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

in combination with contemporary stuffed birds of

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Alth ...

References

External links

Noord-Hollandsarchief
Archives of North Holland
Teylers Museum

Dutch Society of Science
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marum, Martin Van 1750 births 1837 deaths 18th-century Dutch physicians Dutch curators Directors of museums in the Netherlands 18th-century Dutch physicists 18th-century Dutch chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of Teylers Tweede Genootschap Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen People from Delft Teylers Museum University of Groningen alumni 19th-century Dutch physicists