them. The first edition at least had to be reprinted because demand was higher than
expected. 1
Another time-consuming and significant contribution of van der Willigen’s to the body of
science - alongside his own experimental research — was his work as coordinator of a Dutch
astronomical expedition to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean to record the transit of
Venus in 1874.220 Although he did not travel with the researchers, van der Willigen had
volunteered to coordinate this expedition in the name of the Dutch Royal Academy and
cooperated with teams from other countries that had embarked on similar undertakings and
were based in the vicinity. In fact van der Willigen had not only volunteered to coordinate this
project, but had even initiated the expedition, which is all the more remarkable because
shortly before he died in 1872 his mentor Frederik Kaiser had warned his fellow members of
the Academy that participating in the international flurry of activity the transit caused was not
worth the effort for a small country such as the Netherlands.221 This, together with the hard
work coordinating the expedition had required, must have made it even more disappointing
for van der Willigen when the expedition failed, for the simple reason that it was cloudy on
Réunion on the day of the transit. Once again, the potential glory of a successful and unique
scientific endeavour had eluded van der Willigen. Although, perhaps in recognition of his
efforts, he was made a member of the Astronomische Gesellschaft the following year.
By the time the expedition was undertaken, van der Willigen had taken on another task in
Haarlem: he had been elected a member of the town council in 1872. Political parties did not
exist in the Netherlands yet at this point, but only informal political “clubs”, the
kiesverenigingen, and these also played a role in this election; both the kiesverenigingen that
recommended candidates to their members in the local newspaper the day before the election,
the “Kiesvereniging Eendrachf ’ and the “Kiesvereniging Regt voor alien”, did not however
support van der Willigen, but recommended his opponents. Nevertheless, van der Willigen
was elected in a second round of elections on July 30th 1872, with a majority of 313 votes out
of a total of 545 cast, and remained a member of the town council until his death in 1878.
He was even elected one of the deputy chairmen of the council in 1874.
What is most striking about his contributions to council meetings as they were recorded in the
official minutes is that he spoke out almost only on issues pertaining to matters of education,
such as the appointment of school personnel or administrative matters.225 Occasionally he was
involved in other activities, mostly where scientific expertise was of help, such as drafting
219 “Directienotulen”, 06.11.1874, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 10.
22 On this expedition see: Rob van Gent, “De Nederlandse Venusexpedities van 1874 en 1882,” Zenit 20 (1993):
332—337; De reizende astronoom: Nederlandse sterrenkundige expedities naar de Oost en de West (Leiden:
Museum Boerhaave, 1993). Van der Willigen is not mentioned in both articles.
221 Berkel, De Stem van de Wetenschap: Geschiedenis van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van
Wetenschappen, 1:416.
222 Bakhuyzen, “Nekrolog: Volkert Simon Maarten van der Willigen,” 106.
223 Haarlemsche Courant, no. 166, 16.04.1872
224 “Gemeentebestuur Haarlem 1813-1957”, Haarlem, NHA, vol. 1323.
225 One example is the establishment o f new rules concerning all schools in Haarlem at a meeting o f the council
on 21.12.1877, as recorded in: Verslagen van Het Verhandelde in de Zittingen van Den Raad Der Gemeente
Haarlem, 1877 (Haarlem: J. Enschede & Zonen, 1877).
new contracts with the town’s gas supplier for instance, but by and large he only showed real
passion for matters of education.
3. Public Lectures & the Centennial in Philadelphia
This interest and commitment to matters pertaining to education chimes well with what has
already transpired from the analysis of his time in Deventer: while van der Willigen
emphasised the distinction between specialists and amateurs, he showed great willingness to
further the diffusion of specialist knowledge amongst amateurs. This attitude, in turn, is
important to keep in mind when trying to understand how van der Willigen saw and handled
the scientific instrument collection at Teylers.
Apart from his involvement in questions that had to do with public education as a member of
Haarlem’s town council, there are other examples that indicate that van der Willigen’s
enthusiasm for the public diffusion of scientific knowledge did not wane once he had been
taken on as curator in Haarlem. One of these is that he took the public lectures he was
required to hold according to his contract seriously enough to acquire a valuable set of
acoustic apparatus manufactured by the Parisian instrument maker Karl Rudolph Koenig.
These devices don’t seem to have been related to his research efforts in any way, but served
purely for demonstration purposes.226 Another example is directly related to these lectures,
too: in 1875, the decision was taken to expand their audience significantly. Rather than
restricting access to the trustees and the members of Teylers Learned Societies, it was decided
that van der Willigen and his fellow curator Winkler could distribute over a hundred tickets to
whomever they pleased, to “both women and men”.227 Each trustee was allowed to distribute
5 tickets and the members of the Societies were expected to attend the lectures as well. The
audience totalled 150 and a new venue, outside the Teyler Foundation’s premises, was agreed
upon for the lectures: the “Societeit de Vereeniging”. In how far van der Willigen was
involved in these decisions is unclear, but there is certainly no evidence to show that he
opposed them, either.
Most importantly, though, van der Willigen was the first curator on whose watch instruments
from Teylers Museum’s collection were sent abroad to be displayed at international
exhibitions. This of course rendered them accessible to a far larger audience than if they had
remained in Haarlem. What’s more, by placing them in a different context different qualities
could be - and were - attributed to the instruments on display. They were increasingly
appreciated for their historical value, for instance.
226 Turner, The Practice o f Science in the Nineteenth Century: Teaching and Research Apparatus in the Teyler
Museum, 17.
227 “zoowel vrouwen als mannen”; “Directienotulen”, 24.09.1875, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 10.