Nicolaes Witsen | |
|---|---|
 Drawing byPeter Schenk the Elder, 1701 | |
| Born | 8 May 1641 |
| Died | September 10, 1717(1717-09-10) (aged 76) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Burial place | Egmond aan den Hoef, England |
| Occupation | Statesman |
Nicolaes Witsen (Dutch:Nicolaas Witsen; 8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717) was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693, he became administrator of theDutch East India Company (VOC). In 1689, he was extraordinary-ambassador to the English court and becameFellow of the Royal Society. In his free time, he was acartographer, maritime writer, and an authority onshipbuilding. His books on the subject are important sources on Dutch shipbuilding in the 17th century. Furthermore, he was an expert on Russian affairs. He was the first to describe Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia in his studyNoord en Oost Tartarye [North and East Tartary].[1]
Nicolaes Witsen was born inAmsterdam As a member of theWitsen family. His father,Cornelis Jan Witsen, wasburgomaster, head bailiff and administrator of theDutch West India Company. In 1656, Nicolaes went with his father to England, where he was introduced toOliver Cromwell's children.[2] In March 1662, Nicolaes Witsen held a disputation at the AmsterdamAthenaeum Illustre, in which he argued against the influence ofcomets on the welfare of all earthly things, possibly influenced by his nephewJoannes Hudde. In 1664 and 1665, Nicolaes made an embassy toRussia with the envoyJacob Boreel. By boat, they went toRiga, then Swedish, and overland toNovgorod and Moscow. There he met withAndrew Vinius, who became his life long friend, sending him maps and objects. The talks withczarAlexis of Russia about a monopoly ontar were no success. Witsen wrote in his diary that no-one there was occupied with art or science. Witsen visited thePatriarch Nikon and made notes on the worship oficons, interested in his name saint (and patron saint of Amsterdam),saint Nicholas. He studied law atLeiden University,[3] but became more interested in languages and maps. In the 1666–1667 Witsen travelled to Rome and met withCosimo III de' Medici in Pisa. In Paris, he met the scientistMelchisédech Thévenot.[4] In 1668 he travelled toOxford. In 1674 he married Catherina Hochepied. Four children were born, not surviving childhood.
Witsen wrote "Aeloude and hedendaegsche Scheepsbouw en Bestier" in 1671, which quickly became seen as the standard work on the subject. Even ananatomist likeSteno read the book. The technique Witsen describes isshell-first, and notframe-first. The book is not easy to read, because of misty wording and the chaotic structure, but has a lot of interesting engravings, made by himself. It can be compared withDoctrine for Naval Architecture by fellow-shipbuilderAnthony Dean, a mayor ofHarwich and also a mentor ofPeter the Great.[5] It led to a correspondence between him andPeter the Great on modernising theImperial Russian Navy, then backward by Western European standards. This led to an order for warships from Amsterdam shipyards in return for an ukase (negotiated by Witsen) on Dutch-Russian trade, guaranteeing to supply the Republic with grain, wood,talc, tar and skins. In 1697 Witsen organised a four-month training period for the tsar at theDutch East India Company shipyards during hisGrand Embassy, with the Tsar staying inJacob J. Hinlopen's house and being taken by Witsen among many others to meet thebotanist andanatomistFrederik Ruysch.[6]
After 20 years' study, Witsen published the first map ofSiberia in 1690. This map represented the world fromNova Zembla to as far away asChina. Witsen had discussed with the tsar the trade routes toPersia via theCaspian Sea and to China via Siberia. In 1692 he published a compendium titled "Noord en Oost Tartarye", describing Siberia and the surrounding areas, though without literary references. He consulted classical authors and Arabic medieval writers as well as his learned contemporaries in Europe. The second enlarged edition, a bulky book, also written in the 17th century Dutch, presents a rather complicated mixture of various texts with encyclopaedic details. It appeared in 1705 and was reprinted in 1785. In this book, Witsen gave an account of all the information available to the Europeans at that time about the northern and eastern parts of Europe and Asia, and also about theVolga area,Crimea,Caucasus, Central Asia,Mongolia, Tibet,China,Korea and the neighbouring parts ofJapan. In the text, for instance, we find lists of 900Georgian and 700Kalmyk words and illustrations of the writing systems ofTibetan,Manchu andMongolian languages. Witsen provides word lists and other data on more than 25 languages.[7] In 1692 Witsen received the diary ofMaarten Gerritsz Vries, who had explored the coast ofSahkalin in 1643, and it was never seen again.
In 1688, Witsen was visited and invited more than once to discussWilliam III's proposed crossing to England, but he had great doubts and did not know what to advise.William Bentinck called him the most sensitive man in the world.[a] Of the other three burgomasters – Jean Appelman (a merchant trading with France),Johannes Hudde andCornelis Geelvinck – Geelvinck openly opposed the enterprise and Appelman was not trusted by the prince and thus was not informed. After the crossing went ahead, Witsen went to London in the next year to find a way of meeting the costs of 7,301,322 guilders the city of Amsterdam had incurred in supporting it. William offered to knight him as abaronet, but the modest Witsen refused.[8]: 251–252
Already in his youth Witsen started to collect Siberian curiosities and artworks, gathering corals, lacquer, books, paintings, weapons, porcelain, insects, seashells, stuffed animals and precious stones into his house onHerengracht on theGolden Bend. As mayor, he was a patron of the arts and sciences and maintained contacts with German scholars, such asLeibniz. He corresponded withAntonie van Leeuwenhoek, discovering tiny creatures under hismicroscope. In 1698Willem de Vlamingh offered him two seashells fromNew Holland (Australia) and Witsen offered the drawings toMartin Lister.[9] Witsen, who had invested in the journey, was disappointed that the men had been more interested in setting up trade than in exploring.[10]: xvi, 83
Witsen tried to introducecoffee plants fromBatavia via Amsterdam to countries in South America.Boerhaave estimated that Witsen had put together a collection of more than 1500 paintings of plants that came to be known as theCodex Witsenii and were for the greater part of plants growing in and around theCape Peninsula.[11] These passed into the custody ofCaspar Commelin, Professor of Botany at theAthenaeum Illustre and working in theHortus Botanicus.[3] After Commelin's death, they were passed toJohannes Burman, inspiring him to produceRariorum africanarum plantarum in 1738-9. On Burman's death in 1779, his effects passed to his son, Nicolaas Laurens Burman. Afterhis death in 1793, his effects, including theCodex, were sold by auction in 1800, disappearing from the records. Witsen had contact with the painterJan de Bray over a plan to improve the city's water supply, and helped the artistCornelis de Bruijn, who needed contacts in Egypt and Russia – indeed, it was probably Witsen who encouraged De Bruijn to make drawings ofPersepolis, to show to theRoyal Society.[12]
46 people dedicated books to Witsen, including several byOlfert Dapper, one by the brother ofJohan Nieuhof (including descriptions of Chinese shipbuilding), one byJan van der Heyden on his invention of thefire hose and by the pharmacistHermanus Angelkot jr. andPieter Langendijk.[14] He helpedMaria Sybilla Merian to publish her prints with plants and insects fromSurinam.
Witsen was also interested in religion but in anecumenical way: his interests stretched to "saintConfucius" as he called him (based on his analysis of a Han dynasty Chinese mirror in his collection), as well as toshamanism.[15] The minister famous for attacking witch-hunts,Balthasar Bekker, was his friend.
Witsen died inAmsterdam and was buried inEgmond aan den Hoef, not far from his country house, called "Tijdverdrijf" (=to pleasurably pass time). Peter the Great was present when Witsen died and said he lost a great friend. After Witsen's death, his notes were considered lost for a long time. His nephew Nicolaes Witsen (II) (1682-1746) inherited his library but was only moderately interested; 2,300 books were auctioned in 1728 and 1747; most in Latin, Dutch and French.[16] Nicolaes Witsen (III) the younger (1709-1780) inherited the manuscripts collected by several family members; sold at auction in 1761.[17] In 1886 did it become known that copies of Nicolaas Witsen's diary and notes were kept in a Paris library;[18] 300 years later, his travelogue toRussia could be published.
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