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T H E Y E A R O F G A S S E N D I
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| In May 1992 a major international conference was held in the south of France at Digne- les-Bains, Gassendi's native city, to celebrate the 'Year of Gassendi,' the 400 Anniversary of his birth. Scholars were invited from around the world and several hundred participants were in attendance. The Colloquium resulted in a number of lasting contributions, among them, the Centre International d'Etudes Gassendiennes produced a working catalogue of Gassendi manuscripts, printed books, and a substantial updated bibliography. In addition, Anthony Turner, organizer and noted rare book collector, produced (with Nadine Gomez) an extremely handsome volume, Gassendi, explorateur des sciences (Preface by Tullio Gregory), which contains a wealth of textual and iconographic materials (Digne-les-Bains, 1992, 204pp). Finally, the proceedings have been published in two volumes, Pierre Gassendi, 1592-1655, Actes du Colloque International, Digne-les-Bains, 18-21 Mai 1992, Digne-les-Bains, Société scientifique et Littéraire des Alpes de Haute-Provence, 2 volumes (1- 228 + 229-454), 1994. |
| Another result of the 'Year of Gassendi' was a brief but exciting conversation about producing a modern edition of Gassendi's complete correspondence. There was, to be sure, a landmark printing of Gassendi letters shortly after his death. Tome six of his Opera omnia (Lyon 1658; Florence 1727; reprinted Verlag 1964) contains hundreds of letters to and from Gassendi, most in Latin. Now over 300 years old, the 1658 edition continues to reflect its original purpose. As a memorial volume, Gassendi's Epistolae was never intended to be comprehensive or scholarly. From a 20th-century perspective, it is plagued by poor organization, dubious inclusion criteria, and sloppy transcription. Most modern editions are comprehensive, chronological, and usually sport some sort of scholarly apparatus-- at least an index. |
| In his much-quoted article on Gassendi in the Dictionary of scientific biography, Bernard Rochot, a pioneer in Gassendi studies, outlined problems associated with Gassendi's letters. Arguably, Rochot did not have a complete picture of the circumstances. But he clearly understood that only a fraction of Gassendi's letters has been published, and far more importantly, that Gassendi's manuscript letters have suffered the ravages of time. There is no question that many letters are lost. The problem is that we do not know with precision which letters remain, how many, or where. Is it possible to have knowledge of what no longer exists? Given the 'logic of the letter' (and the assumption of reciprocity) a systematic calendar offers useful information about what manuscripts remain unidentified, unlocated, and unpublished. And indeed, as Rochot suggested, the 'bulk of his [Gassendi's] extensive correspondence in French and Latin is far from entirely known.' (DSB 5: 290). |
| For several decades I have been constructing a comprehensive calendar of Gassendi's complete correspondence. In association with my work on Boulliau, I have identified and located Gassendi letters in dozens of libraries, archives, and other less likely places. The result is a comprehensive working map of the Gassendi correspondence from 1616 to 1655. The known corpus currently consists of some 2,300 letters (autographs, drafts, copies, and printed versions to and from Gassendi), many unpublished and some entirely unknown. |
| The number of unknown letters is surprising. Predictably, perhaps, there are numerous personal and family letters (in French) that have been systematically neglected and are seldom cited. There is also a handful of letters exchanged between Gassendi and Peiresc that remain unpublished. They seem to have been consciously suppressed, perhaps for Victorian reasons. Finally, there is a substantial number of scientific and personal letters in Latin and French that were presumably judged too informal for publication in the 1658 edition. Other troubling clues associated with the early history of the Gassendi letters raise important but as yet unanswered questions. The fact is, we know little about selection criteria for the posthumous edition (compiled by François Henry, Jean Chapelain, Montmor, and others). While Rochot has argued that Gassendi himself selected what letters would be published, good evidence suggests his wishes were not always followed. Eighteenth-century manuscript collectors also brought untold devastation. This story has yet to be told. |
| The procedure for locating and identifying Gassendi letters has been straightforward. The first task was to exhaust all known catalogues, to send letters of inquiry to all likely libraries and archives, and finally, to search actual collections by means of on-site visits. The second task was to develop a reasonable means for organizing these findings. The result is a comprehensive working calendar of all known letters, copies, drafts, and printed versions of letters to and from Gassendi. |
| While developing the above-mentioned calendar, I also transcribed the actual texts of Gassensi's letters. (Those familiar with the process understand the 'text work' is relatively fast and certainly more straightforward than the 'archive work'.) The result is a working electronic edition of Gassendi's complete correspondence. Virtually all known letters to and from Gassendi are now electronically searchable. As a result, it is now a simple matter to locate textual references in the Gassendi Correspondence by means of ordinary word searches. For example, citations of an individual's name (Boulliau or Bullialdus) or topical words (lux, lumen, optic-) are easily located. This new capacity has already revealed several small surprises. |
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ufhatch@ufl.edu |
rah.feb.98
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