age, the last of the few traces he subsequently left in any archives show that, by the beginning
of the 19th century, he was earning his living as a sewage worker.134
But in late 1782, there was still no trace of Viervant’s subsequent decline. On the contrary, as
the Oval Room neared completion and Viervant turned to the task of decorating its interior,
professionally he had reached about everything an architect could hope for.
11. How to Fill an Empty Vessel
So now that the building had been completed the trustees - rather interestingly - turned to the
two learned societies and wanted to know both what the Societies wanted to include in any
collections the Foundation would acquire, and how these collections were then to be arranged
in the Oval Room. This - crucially — provided van Marum with an opportunity to pick up
where he and Bamaart had left off two years before. As was recorded during a joint meeting
of the trustees and the members of the Societies on November 1st 1782:
“The Trustees subsequently announce to the two Societies that, as the New Arthall is now
nearly finished, they would be pleased to be acquainted with the ideas of the Members
concerning the special kinds of curiosities that could be placed in this Arthall to the greatest
general benefit, in reference to which the arrangement of the cabinets could be adapted and
attention could be paid to the Collection of such Curiosities when the occasion arises.” 135
The entire phrasing of this enquiry suggests some sort of vacuum had emerged, with no-one
within the Foundation feeling entirely sure what the exact purpose of their new - and highly
costly - construction was to be. Note their reference to the new building as a “Arthall”
(Konstzael), rather than a “Bookhall” (Boek.enza.el), for instance. All this in turn implies that
van Marum might not have been too far off the mark with his assessment that Bamaart’s
fellow trustees had been at best lukewarm about his plans for the “Bookhall”. The minutes of
the trustees’ meetings certainly don’t create the impression that they were in any way eager to
uphold a legacy Bamaart had left them, but rather that they had passed a “point of no return”
as far as this building was concerned, which to them obviously presented something of an
enigma.
This is where van Marum stepped in. Recognising the opportunity, he not only saved
Bamaart’s legacy by convincing the trustees to spend considerable amounts of money on
134 Geert-Jan Janse, Heel de wereld in een zaal: de Ovale Zaal van Teylers Museum (Amsterdam: Nieuw
Amsterdam, 2011), 51.
“Heeren Directeuren berigten vervolgens aan de beide Genootschappen dat de Nieuwe Konstzaal thans nabij
voltooid zijnde, hun Ed aangenaam zijn zoude, de gedagten van de Leden te mögen weeten nopens de bizondere
takken van Liefhebberij welke men tot het meeste nut van het algemeen in dezelve Konstzaal zoude kunnen
plaatsen, waar [naar] welk begrip dan ook nog in de inrigtinge der kassen eenige schikkinge zoude kunnen
gemaakt worden en men zieh bij voorkomende gelegenheden op Verzameling van zodanige Liefhebberij zoude
kunnen toeleggen.” “Directienotulen”, 01.11.1782, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5.
exquisite collections that put their new institution on the map, but in what almost amounted to
a political campaign he also managed to secure for himself an exquisite position as director of
this new institution - i.e. Teylers Museum, as is it was being called by then. Just one and a
half years after the trustees had first turned to the Societies for advice, van Marum had
become the undisputed head of the Teyler Foundation’s collections, essentially sidelining not
only the caretaker as he had been appointed according to Teyler’s will (van der Vinne in fact
resigned from his post a few months after van Marum was appointed director), but all fellow
members of both Learned Societies as well.
Van Marum’s first suggestion, in reply to the trustees’ first query, was to start building a
geological collection, i.e. a collection of fossils and minerals. At this point, he was careful to
gain the full backing of all other members of the Second Society. It was even decided to
contact Bemardus Vriends and elicit his opinion on this matter too, despite his being so sick
that had been unable to attend meetings for some weeks previously. But Vriends’ opinion was
considered necessary for the Second Society to be able to make its recommendations to the
trustees “unanimously”.13
Vriends doesn’t appear to have voiced any objections, and the trustees eagerly adopted van
Mamm’s proposal to acquire a large geological collection that was about to come on sale at
auction in Amsterdam, courtesy of Willem van der Meulen. They were obviously convinced
by the Society’s reasoning that a geological collection would be of great value to the Society
and Haarlem. Firstly, because it would complement the Holland Society’s cabinet, of which
was said that it “excels in everything belonging to the animal kingdom, but isn’t nearly in the
same situation with respect to fossils”. And secondly,
“because at the present time the study of the interior constitution of our earth comprises a
considerable part of the efforts of those who devote their efforts to the Study of Nature
[.Natuurkunde], and therefore in organizing essay contests about this science such a collection
would be a great service and benefit to us.”1 7
In a showcase example of van Marum’s persuasive skills - it was he who presented the
tmstees with the Society’s “unanimous” suggestion - they agreed to provide him with up to
f6000,- that he could spend at this auction, even though they also pointed out that it was
actually a little “too early” to acquire such a collection for the “as yet unfinished new
building”.138
136 “eenpariglijk”; “Directienotulen”, 01.11.1782, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5. The minutes o f a corresponding meeting
of the Second Society state that the decision was to be taken “met volle eenpaarigheid”: “Notulen Tweede
Genootschap”, 25.10.1782, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
1 ' “zeer uitmunt in alles wat tot ‘t regnum animale behoort, maar op gene stukken na, zoo gesteld is ten aanzien
van de fossilia”; “omdat ‘t onderzoek der inwendige gesteldheid van onze aarde in den tegenwoordigen tijd een
merklijk gedeelte maakt der oefeningen van hen, die hunnen arbeid aan de Natuurkunde toewijen, en dat,
derhalven, in het uitschrijven der vraagen over die weetenschap zulk eene verzameling ons van gewichtigen
dienst en voordeel zouwde kunnen weezen.” “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 25.10.1782, Haarlem, ATS, vol.
1382.
38 “hoewel wat vroegtijdig voor de nog niet voltooide Zaal”: “Directienotulen”, 01.11.1782, Haarlem, ATS, vol.
5.