4. The Contents of Pieter Teyler’s Last Will and Testament
Teyler’s will contained detailed instructions: Firstly, a number of personal friends, distant
family members, his remaining staff, and a few institutions such as his parish were to receive
financial support.43 In the grand scheme of things however, these payments were almost
insignificant, even though they are sure to have meant a lot to the recipients.
Secondly, Teyler decreed that a foundation was to be set up which was to be run by five
trustees — it soon came to be known as the Teyler Foundation. The first five of these trustees
Teyler appointed personally through his will. The Foundation’s, or rather the trustees’, task
was then to look after the money Teyler left it, and to see that, as was already quoted above
and as Teyler summarised towards the end of his will, these resources were employed to
further “theology, the arts and sciences and the common good”.44
Thirdly, he detailed how these somewhat abstract goals were to be achieved. First of all the
Hofje he had bought was to be upheld. In addition to this, two learned societies were to be set
up: one for theology, and one for the arts and sciences. As with the trustees, Teyler himself
appointed the first members of these Learned Societies posthumously through his will — six
for each society.
Of course he elaborated on all of these points: the trustees for instance were instructed to meet
once a week, and every year they were to receive flOOO,- each for their troubles.45 They were
to be assisted by a secretary, who did not have any voting rights but initially received the
same salary as the trustees. Teyler also stipulated that, preferably, the trustees’ successors
were to be Mennonites, but he was not overly particular about this: Mennonites were
ultimately only to be selected if they were “capable” of the job - nevertheless, the importance
of Teyler’s Mennonite roots should not be underestimated, and we will return to their impact
in more detail in the following section.4
The members of the Learned Societies too were instructed to meet once every week, the
society for theology on Monday, and the society for the arts and sciences either on Friday or
Saturday. Every year they were both to be given f600,- by the foundation to pay for expenses
and share amongst their members. New members had to be chosen by the remaining members
of the respective society together with the trustees, who were given the last say in these
matters by Teyler. For their weekly meetings the theologians were given the somewhat
enigmatic task of “discussing all kinds of topics and matters concerning and respecting liberty
in the Christian Religion and in the Civil State;”47, while the members of the Second Society
were to discuss matters pertaining to “physics, poetry, history, the art of drawing, and
43 Ibid., 196-198.
44 Ibid., 203.
45 Ibid., 194.
46 “Zo die daartoe bekwaam zijn.” Ibid., 195.
47“verhandelen allerhande stoffen en materien tot de vrijheid in den Christelijken Godsdienst en Burgerstaat
specteerende en behoorende;” Ibid., 200.
numismatics”.48 “Physics” has to be taken here as “the study of nature”. The Dutch word
Teyler used, natuurkunde, only came to be defined in the narrower, modem sense of
“physics” some decades after Teyler had passed away. In order to avoid confusion it will
therefore be translated as “the study of nature” throughout the following chapter.
Just as importantly, both societies were also tasked with holding competitions concerning the
newest developments in the areas they had been instmcted to study by Teyler. Every year,
each society was to publish a question pertaining to one of the subjects Teyler had mentioned
and give members of “the public”49 two years to write essays in reply to these questions. The
authors of the best reply to one of the questions would be rewarded by having their essays
published, and were each to be awarded a gold medal worth f400,-. The recipients of this
prize were to be chosen in joint meetings of both societies and the trustees. Again, as with the
election of new members, the tmstees had the last say in these matters. In order to prevent any
kind of bias, entries had to be anonymous.
If one takes into account that the average wages of an unskilled worker at the time were a few
guilders per week, the amounts of money that were being dispensed by the Teyler Foundation
seem vast. However, in comparison with the total value of Pieter Teyler’s estate at the time of
his death, they almost pale into insignificance. Teyler had obviously not had a bad hand at
financing: the last of his father’s by then declining business having been sold off in 1763,
Teyler subsequently became a financial broker, and at the end of his life possessed bonds in
excess of the considerable sum of fl .700.000 guilders5 , alongside all the properties
mentioned above, a stable with numerous coaches and three mares in town, and of course
personal belongings which included a collection of porcelain, of coins and medals, natural
history specimens and a library.
In his will, Teyler explicitly gave the trustees total freedom to do as they pleased with the
money now under their purview. They could sell whatever they deemed appropriate, and
invest in whatever they considered wise. There was just one exception: Teyler stipulated that
the Haarlem town house he had been living in — in the Damstraat 2 lB along with his “library
and collection of medals, prints and drawings and everything that could be connected with
them” was never to be sold.52 The house could then serve not only as a repository for the
collections that were to be placed at the societies’ use, but also as a meeting place for the
weekly gatherings of the trustees and the members of the societies. To this end, Teyler
explicitly allowed the house’s interior to be refurbished as the trustees deemed appropriate.
Finally, Teyler stipulated that a custodian be appointed to look after the collections, and that
he was allowed to live rent-free in the Damstraat 21. What’s more, Teyler left specific
48 “natuur-, dicht-, historié-, teeken- en penningkunde”, Ibid.
49
net publicq”, Ibid.
50 Eric Ketelaar, “Teyler, man, je moest eens weten,” in De idealen van Pieter Teyler: een erfenis uit de
Verlichting, ed. Bert Sliggers (Haarlem: Teylers Museum, 2006), 149.
1 Sliggers, “Niets bij zijn leven, alles na zijn dood,” 32.
52 “bibliotheecq en verzameling van médaillés, prent en teekenkonsten en alles wat daaronder eenigzints
behoorende en daartoe betrekkelijk gemaalt zoude kunnen werden” ; Sliggers, De idealen van Pieter Teyler: een
erfenis uit de Verlichting, 198.