The Quarrel over Swammerdam’s Posthumous Works reconstructs the vicissitudes of Johannes Swammerdam’s Biblia naturae, a pivotal collection of writings in the history of science. Bequeathed to the polymath Melchisédech Thévenot, the manuscripts and drawings of the treatises constituting this collection were instead kept by the editor Hermann Wingendorp after Swammerdam’s death (1680), triggering a quarrel over their publication. By analysing Swammerdam’s scientific legacy and by offering an edition of the correspondence testifying to the efforts towards such publication, this book sheds light on the editorial history and intellectual context of Swammerdam’s Biblia. This reveals not only an intricate plot of authorized and unauthorized attempts to publish it, but also an exchange of scientific texts and instruments in the late seventeenth century.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Tables Note on the Use of ‘Plate’, ‘Figure’, and Related Terminology Figures Part 1 Swammerdam’s Legacy 1 Overview 2 Swammerdam’s Life and the Biblia naturae  2.1 Swammerdam’s Life  2.2 Swammerdam’s Biblia naturae 3 Other Themes of the Correspondence  3.1 Scientific Cabinets and Instruments  3.2 The Learned Correspondence of Thévenot and De Volder 4 A Summary of the Affair Part 2 Commented Edition of the Letters (and Related Materials) Commented Edition of the Letters (and Related Materials)  1 Ortt to Thévenot, 29 March 1680 (Hist. Nat. 102, Fascicle 25, 40R–41V), and Bilingual Extract of Swammerdam’s Testament, 25 January 1680 (Fascicle 2, 1R–3V)  2 Wingendorp to Thévenot, Undated (before 23 January 1681), (Fascicle 1, 3R–V)  3 Guenellon to Thévenot, 23 January 1681 (Fascicle 25, 3R–4V)  4 De Hoest to Thévenot, 26 June 1681 (Fascicle 25, 5R–6V)  5 Le Moine to Thévenot, 12 August 1681 (Fascicle 25, 38R–39V)  6 De Hoest to Thévenot, 14 August 1681—and Copy of Notarial Acts of 6 and 9 August 1681 (Fascicle 25, 7R–11V)  7 Wingendorp to Ortt, 22 October 1681 (Fascicle 25, 70R–71V)  8 De Hoest to Thévenot, 23 October 1681, and Copy of the Eijsch of 22 October 1681 (Fascicle 25, 12R–13V and 14R–15V)  9 De Hoest to Thévenot, 19 November 1681 (Fascicle 25, 16R–V)  10 De Hoest to Thévenot, 21 December 1681, and a Copy of an Extract of the Trial Proceedings of 5 November–3 December 1681 (Fascicle 25, 17R–20V)  11 De Volder to Thévenot, 1 January 1682 (Fascicle 25, 46R–47V)  12 De Volder to Thévenot, Undated (after 19 January and before 23 April 1682), (Fascicle 25, 66R–67V)  13 De Hoest to Thévenot, 11 February 1682 (Fascicle 25, 21R–22V)  14 De Hoest to Thévenot, Undated (March 1682 or after 11 February and before 15 July 1682), (Fascicle 25, 35R–36V)  15 De Volder to Thévenot, 30 April 1682 (Fascicle 25, 49R–50V)  16 De Hoest to Thévenot, 3 May 1682 (Fascicle 25, 23R–24V)  17 Thévenot to De Hoest, Undated (after 3 and circa before 28 May 1682), (Fascicle 25, 72R–V)  18 De Volder to Thévenot, 28 May 1682 (Fascicle 25, 51R–52V)  19 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 July 1682 (Fascicle 25, 53R–54V)  20 De Volder to Thévenot, 17 August 1682 (Fascicle 25, 56–55 (Sic))  21 De Volder to Thévenot, 24 September 1682 (Fascicle 25, 57R–58V)  22 De Hoest to Thévenot, 4 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 25R–26V)  23 Thévenot to De Volder, Undated (after 4 and circa before 29 October 1682), (Fascicle 25, 73R–74V)  24 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 44R–45V)  25 De Volder to Thévenot, 29 October 1682 (Fascicle 25, 59R–60V)  26 Thévenot to De Volder, Undated (after 29 October and before 19 November 1682), (Fascicle 25, 75R–76V)  27 De Volder to Thévenot, 19 November 1682 (Fascicle 25, 61R–62V)  28 De Volder to Thévenot, Undated (after 19 November 1682 and before 28 January 1683), (Fascicle 25, 68R–69V)  29 De Volder to Thévenot, 28 January 1683 (Fascicle 25, 63R–V), and Wingendorp’s Memory (Fascicle 1, 5R–V)  30 De Volder to Thévenot, 15 April 1683 (Fascicle 25, 48R–V)  31 De Hoest to Thévenot, 17 June 1683 (Fascicle 25, 27R–28V and 31R–V)  32 De Hoest to Thévenot, 12 August 1683 (Fascicle 25, 29R–30V and 32R–V)  33 De Volder to Thévenot, 27 August 1683 (Fascicle 25, 64R–65V)  34 De Hoest to Thévenot, 20 June 1684 (Fascicle 25, 34R–V and 33R–V)  35 Ortt to Thévenot, 5 November 1684 (Fascicle 25, 42R–43V)  Appendix: Guenellon to Thévenot, 22 June 1679 (Fascicle 25, 1R–2V) Bibliography Index of Manuscripts Index of Names