Send-Brieven

Author:
Leeuwenhoek, A. van
Publisher:
Delft: Beman
Year:
1718

Full title:

Send-Brieven, zoo aan de Hoog-edele Heeren van de Koninklijke Societeit te Londen, als aan andere Aansienelyke en Geleerde Lieden

Epistles, to the High-honored Gentlemen of the Royal Society in London, and to the other Distinguished and Learned People

The subtitle reads: "As to the high noble lords of the Royal Society of London, so to other distinguished and learned people about the various secrets of Nature, namely over the wonderful configuration of ..."

Dobell #19, containing 46 letters: AvL # I - XLVIfrontis piece

Pagination: xiv + 1-460 + xxviii

Front matter: pp. xiv

  • Title page (placed differently in Dobell #20)
  • Wilt poem
  • Goeree print
  • Dedication (opdragt)
  • Hoogvliet poem
  • Poot poem
  • Engraved title with portrait inset (right; click to enlarge)

Back matter: pp. xxviii

  • Index and errata (Register & Druk-fouten)
  • Register van woorden en zaaken (Index of words and topics) - 28 unnumbered pages

Between 1712 and 1717, Leeuwenhoek wrote these 46 letters to a variety of people, many of them public figures, politicians and academics. He addressed about a fifth of them to the Royal Society in spite of the fact that editor Edmond Halley was showing not the slightest interest in publishing them.

In 1718, Leeuwenhoek collected the 46, numbered them in Latin (second column in table below), and published them himself in Dutch as the fourth and final volume of his collected letters. In some bound collections, it is the fifth volume. As with the other volumes of his Brieven, a total of 165 letters, he had Hendrick van Rijn translate them into Latin and published in a separate and mostly parallel volume the following year.

Half of the letters had figures, copperplate made from drawings, probably of red chalk. These images are viewable as Leeuwenhoek's Cabinet of Wonders.

In the table below, the Dutch title is the first substantive phrase from van Leeuwenhoek's inhoudsopgave. The figure numbers are his but the titles are mine, taken from his text.

In 2017, the letters in Send-Brieven will be published for the first time in an English translation in volume XVII of Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters.

Send-Brieven
Date L-# AvL
#		 Addressee Dutch Title English Title #
fig
1712
Nov
8
 L-489 I Antoni
Heinsius		 Vlees van den walvis Whale flesh 7
Dec
17
 L-490 II Antoni
Heinsius		 Visdeelen van de garnaat Parts of a gurnet 6
1713
Feb
28
 L-492 III Jan
Meerman		 Hoe kleyn de vleesfibertjens zyn How small muscle fibers are 11
Mar
14
 L-493 IV Jan
Meerman		 Het oog van een walvis The eye of a whale
Mar
25
 L-494 V Adriaen van
Assendelft		 Hairtjes van een muys Little hairs of a mouse 6
Mar
29
 L-495 VI Antoni
Heinsius		 Vleeschdeelen van een koe Flesh of a cow
June
28
 L-496 VII Royal
Society		 Wonderlyk maakzel van zekere Dierkens Wonderful shape of certain animalcules
June
30
 L-497 VIII Antoni
Heinsius		 De werking van kreeften oogen The working of lobster eyes
Oct
24
 L-501 IX Antoni
Cink		 De saly beschouwd Sage considered
1714
June
22
 L-504 X Royal
Society		 Het vleesch van een os, hoen en muys The flesh of an ox, hen, and mouse
Aug
21
 L-507 XI Royal
Society		 Vleesch van een achtjarige koe Flesh of an 8-year-old cow 13
Oct
26
 L-509 XII Royal
Society		 Drie soorten van muggen Three types of gnats 6
Nov
4
 L-510 XIII Adriaen van
Assendelft		 Uytspanningen van een treklyn Stretching of a trek line
Nov
9
 L-512 XIV Royal
Society		 Den trekker overdwars doorsneeden The puller cut transversely
Nov
20
 L-513 XV Royal
Society		 Vleesdeelen in een kleyn diertje Flesh of small animals 4
1715
Mar
26
 L-516 XVI Antoni
Cink		 Vleeschfibertjes ook trekker genoemt Flesh fibers also called pullers 3
July
7
 L-518 XVII Antoni
Cink		 Muscul uytrekkende en inkrimpende Muscle stretched out and relaxed
Sep
28
 L-521 XVIII G W
Leibniz		 Diertjens in de zaaden van de dieren Animalcules in the seed of animals
Nov
18
 L-524 XIX G W
Leibniz		 Doorgesneede
zuyker-peer		 Cross-section of sugar pear 4
1716
Mar
13
 L-527 XX G W
Leibniz		 Eenige zwaarigheden rakende de voortteelinge Some difficult problems of fertility
May
10
 L-530 XXI Hubert
Poot		 Zaadhuysjes aan de maagde-palm Seed cases of the virgin palm
May
16
 L-531 XXII Gerard
van Loon		 De Luyksche hop beeter als de onze Hops from Leige better than ours
May
19
 L-532 XXIII G W
Leibniz		 Van de membranen die in de trekkers leggen The membranes that lie in pullers
May
22
 L-533 XXIV Cornelis
Spiering		 De schobben van eenen karper Scrapings from a carp 4
June
12
 L-535 XXV Cinck,
Narez, Rega		 Stroo-halmen uyt een greyntje van gerst Straw stalks from a grain of barley 9
June
22
 L-537 XXVI J G
Kerkherdere		 De stoffe in de Tarwe, Gerst, enz The stuff in wheat, barley, etc. 14
Sep
17
 L-538 XXVII Abraham van
Bleys-Wyk		 Sterke braaking door het inneemen van warm water Violent vomiting from ingestion of warm water
Sep
28
 L-540 XXVIII Herman
Boerhaave		 Waarneemingen op den cocos-boom Observations on a coco tree 18
Nov
5
 L-544 XXIX Herman
Boerhaave		 De diertjes van ’t mannelyk zaad The animalcues in male seed
Nov
17
 L-545 XXX G W
Leibniz		 Het schrift van de heer Pauli wederlegt Writing of Mr. Pauli refuted 3
Nov
21
 L-546 XXXI Herman
Boerhaave		 Het zaad van eens rams bal gedrukt was Seed pressed from a ram's ball
1717
Mar
2
 L-547 XXXII Abraham van
Bleys-Wyk		 De zenuwen uyt het ruggemerg van koeyen en schapen The nerves in the backbone of cows and sheep 5
Mar
6
 L-548 XXXIII Hoog-Edele
Heeren		 Parken in de trekkers Beds in pullers 3
Mar
6
 L-549 XXXIV Hoog-Edele
Heeren		 Hersenen van een varken Brains of a pig 11
May
6
 L-550 XXXV Ewout
van Bleswyk		 Het vlees van het vliegend diertje Rombout Flesh of the little flying animal Rombout
May
26
 L-551 XXXVI Abraham van
Bleys-Wyk		 De zenuwen The nerves 2
June
15
 L-552 XXXVII Royal
Society		 Het vleesch van een vetten os Flesh of a fat ox 2
July
06
 L-553 XXXVIII Cinck,
Narez, Rega		 Sout van salpeter ingenomen Salt of salpeter ingested
July
13
 L-554 XXXIX J G
Kerkherdere		 Het eeten van vet vleesch veroorzaakt afgangen Eating fat flesh causes diarrhea
Aug
19
 L-556 XL Adriaan
Swalmius		 De eyeren en eyerschalen The eyes and eye sockets
Aug
26
 L-557 XLI Herman
Boerhaave		 Zaadballen van een ram Seed balls of a ram 5
Sep
10
 L-558 XLII Frederik
Adriaan van Rhede		 Menigte van schelvissen A multitude of shell fishes
Sep
17
 L-559 XLIII Royal
Society		 De uytwazemingen uyt onze lichamen Transpiration from our bodies 5
Oct
8
 L-560 XLIV Royal
Society		 De wortel Pareira Brava The root Pareira Brava 3
Oct
22
 L-661 XLV Royal
Society		 Hersenen van een kabeljauw Brains of a cod
Nov
20
 L-562 XLVI Royal
Society		 De trekker van een schaap The puller of a sheep

The links below will display more information about each of these letters. For those marked above as having figures (right-hand column), I translated that letter's summary and included the plates with a caption for each figure. The captions are mine, taken from the text. The plates can also be viewed in larger original sizes.

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Leeuwenhoek's Cabinet of Wonders
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What Leeuwenhoek wrote ...
Wrote Letter L-489 of 1712年11月08日 to Anthonie Heinsius about the muscle fibres of a whale
Wrote Letter L-490 of 1712年12月17日 to Anthonie Heinsius about salts in the blood of a shrimp and the muscle fibres and enveloping membranes of cod, shrimp, flounder, and perch
Wrote Letter L-492 of 1713年02月28日 to Jan Meerman about wheat and barley grains, beans, peas, and chestnuts, vessels and membranes in coconut rind, and the embryo in an apple pip and in a coconut
Wrote Letter L-493 of 1713年03月14日 to Jan Meerman about the eye of a whale, the lens, and the cornea and calculations of the pressure on a whale's eye at great depth
Wrote Letter L-494 of 1713年03月25日 to Adriaen van Assendelft about little hairs of a mouse, mole, cat, and rabbit all have the same shape; thick, dark bear hair, composition and color of hair, hair of deer and elk
Wrote Letter L-495 of 1713年03月29日 to Anthonie Heinsius about the muscles of cows, muscle fibers of mice thinner than whales, fat particles, muscle fibers of sheep same size as of mice and oxen, though the animals differ greatly in size
Wrote Letter L-496 of 1713年06月28日 to the members of the Royal Society about little animals on duckweed, muscle fiber membranes, and a list of unanswered letters; little animals in his mouth come from rinsing glasses with pond water
Wrote Letter L-497 of 1713年06月30日 to Anthonie Heinsius about the composition of crabs’ eyes and lobster and crab shells, ring-shaped structures in lobster pincer shell, compared to annual rings of woody vegetation, and the lobster's muscle fiber membrane
Wrote Letter L-501 of 1713年10月24日 to Antony Cinck refuting, as requested, Kircher's ideas about poisonous little animals on sage leaves and spontaneous generation
Wrote Letter L-504 of 1714年06月22日 to the members of the Royal Society to acknowledge Letter L-503 and numbers of Philosophical Transactions and to query why figures of the muscle fibres of whales were not published
Wrote Letter L-507 of 1714年08月21日 to the members of the Royal Society about the muscle fibres of cow, chicken, mouse, honeybee, flea, ant, and whale and the blood vessels in the leg of a fly; thanks for recent numbers of Philosophical Transactions
Wrote Letter L-509 of 1714年10月26日 to the members of the Royal Society about muscle fibres and enclosing membranes in the legs of a mosquito, rose chafer, fly, crane fly, honeybee and cow; rectifying earlier opinion, the contractions in a muscle are spiral
Wrote Letter L-510 of 1714年11月04日 to Adriaen van Assendelft, comparison between muscle fibres and a tightened rope; the shorter the rope, the quicker it can shrink; application of this comparison on the size of muscle fibres of a cow and of a mouse
Wrote Letter L-512 of 1714年11月09日 to the members of the Royal Society about the muscles of an ox, sheep, chicken, mouse, and hare
Wrote Letter L-513 of 1714年11月20日 to the members of the Royal Society about muscle fibres and tendons from a mouse leg, a duck wing, a honeybee, a polecat leg, and between the ribs of a mouse; a theory about the structure and action of tendons
Wrote Letter L-516 of 1715年03月26日 to Antony Cinck about the structure and action of muscle fibres and tendons from the leg of a mouse and the head of cod and a wire model of spiral contraction
Wrote Letter L-518 of 1715年07月07日 to Antony Cinck about contracting and stretching of muscle fibres and tendons; their connection in lobster and crab; no observed nerves between muscle fibres and membranes; cannot confirm that nerves are hollow
Wrote Letter L-521 of 1715年09月28日 to Gottfried Leibniz about scholars who do not agree with Leeuwenhoek; sperm the same size in different animals; the pulse; posthumous letters; muscle fibers, tendons, and nerves; Hartsoeker; why he won't train students
Wrote Letter L-524 of 1715年11月18日 to Gottfried Leibniz about vessels in the flesh of fruit and in the seeds of various strains of pears, a pear's embryo and the structure of a pear's skin, and spiral vessels in tea-leaves
Wrote Letter L-527 of 1716年03月13日 to Gottfried Leibniz about human twins, trees, birds, size of sperm, number of eggs in fishes' hard roe, structure of tendons and muscle fibres, the heart; does not want to be paid for research or to teach students
Wrote Letter L-530 of 1716年05月10日 to Hubert Kornelis Poot to thank him for two published panegyrics; the size and origin of little animals; wonder at the smallness of little animals and the largeness of the universe; periwinkle seeds
Wrote Letter L-531 of 1716年05月16日 to Gerard van Loon about hops from Liege, the structure of hops, its bitter oil, and salt particles from the oil, a comparison with sugar candy, and hop embryos; Leeuwenhoek descended from a family of beer brewers
Wrote Letter L-532 of 1716年05月19日 to Gottfried Leibniz about muscle and tendon fibers, mammal teats, sperm; did not find eggs in ovaries, Fallopian tube, or womb; cannot imagine how the Fallopian tube could suck sperm; does not know the ovary's function
Wrote Letter L-533 of 1716年05月22日 to Cornelis Spiering about the scales of a carp that Spiering sent him, using scales to age a fish, eggs in hard roe and sperm in soft roe food for other fishes, shrimp eggs, and the life span of whales and fish
Wrote Letter L-536 of 1716年06月12日 to thank professors Cink, Narez, and Rega for the honorary medal; barley germination and nutrients; again rejects spontaneous generation
Wrote Letter L-537 of 1716年06月22日 to Jan Gerard Kerkherdere about how wheat, barley, beans, peas, rice, buckwheat, and maize become food for animals and discusses Leeuwenhoek's techniques for preparing samples
Wrote Letter L-538 of 1716年09月17日 to Abraham Cornelis van Bleyswyck about his own intestinal ailment and the roles of chyle, gall (bile), and the diaphragm in the digestive process
Wrote Letter L-540 of 1716年09月28日 to Herman Boerhaave about how trees grow and withstand wind; coconut palm wood and nut; he acknowledges previous errors in his observations of coconut tree trunks
Wrote Letter L-544 of 1716年11月05日 to Herman Boerhaave about the size of sperm from rams, cod, and ling, little animals from rain water and soil, and blood in arteries and veins
Wrote Letter L-545 of 1716年11月17日 to Gottfried Leibniz about reproduction, numbers of sperm and seeds, reproductive organs of sheep and ram, fallopian tube too small to let eggs through
Wrote Letter L-546 of 1716年11月21日 to Herman Boerhaave about ram sperm and details of his experimental methods
Wrote Letter L-547 of 1717年03月02日 to Abraham van Bleyswyck about the structure of nerves and the associated fat in the spinal cords of cows and sheep
Wrote Letter L-549 of 1717年03月06日 to the members of the Royal Society about pig brains, apples, and coconuts; blood circulation nourishes; new technique to examine brains; tea and coffee keep the blood thin
Wrote Letter L-548 of 1717年03月06日 to the members of the Royal Society tendons and muscle fibres in sheep, flea, ox, honeybee, oyster, and mussel
Wrote Letter L-550 of 1717年05月06日 to Ewout van Bleiswijk about dragonflies' muscle fibres, compound eyes, and corneal facets, flies, lobster, and crab
Wrote Letter L-551 of 1717年05月26日 to Abraham van Bleyswyck about the structure of nerves and associated blood vessels and membranes, the structure of the spinal cord and brains of a pig, cow, and mouse, and the nerves of a calf, bream, and lamb
Wrote Letter L-552 of 1717年06月15日 to the members of the Royal Society about the muscle fibres of an ox and a flea and the reproduction of fleas
Wrote Letter L-553 of 1717年07月06日 to Antony Cink about how two doctors treated his recent illnesses with saltpeter and opium; saltpeter’s effects on the blood and its efficacy as a drug
Wrote Letter L-554 of 1717年07月13日 to Jan Gerard Kerkherdere about one of his personal ailments, the consequences for the digestion of eating fatty meat, the particles in his own excrement, and the role of chyle and gall during digestion
Wrote Letter L-556 of 1717年08月19日 to Adriaan Swalmius about membranes inside an eggshell, salt crystals from an eggshell, and how birds and oysters produce shells
Wrote Letter L-557 of 1717年08月26日 to Herman Boerhaave, following up on Letter L-546, about a ram's seed balls, vas deferens, and epididymis, millet grains or mustard seeds as units of measurement, sperm compared smaller little animals, and a sperm’s tail
Wrote Letter L-558 of 1717年09月10日 to Frederik Adriaan van Reede about haddock intestines, roach and cod, and how scales determine the age of herring, perch, bream, and cod
Wrote Letter L-559 of 1717年09月17日 to the members of the Royal Society about his own skin's fat globules and sweat ducts, holes in his finger nails, sweat ducts in humans and in cow teats, and how lice and fleas use sweat ducts to obtain their food
Wrote Letter L-560 of 1717年10月08日 to the members of the Royal Society about Pareira Brava root and the effect of salt particles from it upon blood, starch grains from the membranes of the root, and the roots of "China" and "Irias"
Wrote Letter L-561 of 1717年10月22日 to the members of the Royal Society about the brain of a cod, the nerves of cod and haddock, and the spinal cord of haddock
Wrote Letter L-562 of 1717年11月20日 to the members of the Royal Society about tendons and nerves of sheep, lamb, cow, and ox; his last letter to the Royal Society; expresses his gratitude for being elected a fellow and for Philosophical Transactions
Wrote Letter L-563 of 1717年12月08日 to Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor, as the dedication for Send-Brieven
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