Works Part I


Beginning in 1684, Leeuwenhoek began to publish the complete unabridged versions of his letters in the original Dutch, not knowing of course where it would end.

As shown on the table below and the cover pages on the left sidebar, he started with 6 letters in four pamphlets whose titles all began Ondervindingen en Beschouwingen (Experiences and Contemplations), all printed by Daniel van Gaesbeeck in Leiden in 1684. The first contained Letter 32 of June 14, 1680, and Letter 33 of November 12, 1680. Neither was ever published in Philosophical Transactions, but the second had been published in Hooke's Philosophical Collections.

The following year, Leeuwenhoek took his business to Boutesteyn, also in Leiden. He published 19 letters in five pamphlets whose titles all began Ontledingen en Ontdekkingen (Dissections and Discoveries). In addition, he ventured into Latin translations, publishing the three letters from Onsigtbare Verborgentheden (Invisible Mysteries) in reverse order in Anatomia et Contemplatio (Anatomy and Contemplation).

The pamphlets are dated by year only, so we don't know within the year in which order they were printed. The order on the table below is Dobell's (1932 pp. 390-396). The table at the bottom of the page shows that they were all re-printed in the 1690's, sometimes with different titles, as shown on the chronology of all editions and printings. The sidebars have only first editions. See Title pages on the right sidebar menu for a gallery of title pages of all of the editions. See Summary on the same menu for a table comparing the bibliographical details of these volumes.

In the version of Leeuwenhoek's letters that Dobell used as a basis for his numbering, his first volume of Latin letters included Letters 53 - 60 that were originally published in Continuatio Epistolarum in 1689. Dobell noted (p. 396), "The usual arrangement is as follows (though many other collections
are to be found)". Schierbeeck (1950) repeated Dobell's numbering but noted, "Vrij dikwijls zijn de brieven 53-60 ... opgenomen in Deel II" ("Quite often letters 53-60 ... are included in Part II"). Indeed, Schierbeeck's personal copy, now in the collection of Bert Degenaar, has Letters 53 - 60 in part II. That is where they are found at Lens on Leeuwenhoek: Works Part II.

These publications have never been translated into English as separate publications; the shortened titles are mine as are the title translations.

Chronology of First Editions
Year Dobell # short title Publisher # ltrs AvL #
1684 1. Onsigtbare Geschapene Waarheden Gaesbeeck
2
32, 33
1684 2. Eyerstok Gaesbeeck
2
37, 39
1684 3. Schobbens in de Mond Gaesbeeck
1
40
1684 4. Humor Cristallinus Gaesbeeck
1
41
1685 5. Onsigtbare Verborgentheden Boutesteyn
3
38, 42, 43
1685 21. Anatomia et Contemplatio Boutesteyn 3 43, 42, 38
1685 6. Sout-figuren Boutesteyn
2
44, 45
1685 7. Zaden van Boomen Boutesteyn
2
46, 47
1686 8. Levende Dierkens Boutesteyn 7 28 - 31, 34 - 36
1686 9. Cinnaber Naturalis Boutesteyn 5 48 - 52
1687 22. Anatomia Seu interiora Rerum Boutesteyn 19 28 - 31, 34 - 36, 38, 42 - 52

Both van Gaesbeeck and Boutesteyn worked in Leiden, just 12 miles up the Vliet canal from Delft, which did not have the university and thus the large publishing industry that Leiden did.


Later editions and printings

In the 1690's, Leeuwenhoek published second and third editions of ten of these pamphlets containing the 25 letters AB/CL 72 (28) to AB/CL 84 (52) originally written between April 1679 and July 1686. In Dobell's numbering, these are publications 1 through 9, that is, all of the letters that are in the first part of the four-part Werken or Brieven.

Was Leeuwenhoek selling these volumes or, more likely given his personal wealth and public stature, presenting them to his many visitors? We can speculate that perhaps he offered to sell them to the visitors he didn't like but gave them to those he did like.

The image on the right (click to enlarge) shows a volume of Ontledingen en Ontdekkingen van Levende Dierkens, containing Letters 28-31 and 34-36, paginated continuous but separately. It was published by Boutesteyn in 1696, a second edition following up on the first edition that he printed in 1686. This volume was offered by Skinner auctioneers in 2012 with an estimated price of $2,000-3,000. It sold for $4,200. The 1686 edition had the de Hooghe frontispiece with Boutesteyn's name at the bottom and "Ontdekte Onstigbaar" on the pedestal. This 1696 edition replaced that frontis with the Verkolje/de Blois portrait of Leeuwenhoek.

Chronology of Later Editions and Bundles
Year Dobell # short title Publisher # ltrs AvL #
1684 1_1684. Onsigtbare geschapene waarheden (re-bundling) Gaesbeeck 2 32, 39 (first ed. had 32, 33)
1684 2_1684. Eyerstok (re-bundling) Gaesbeeck 1 37
1686 8_1686. Levende Dierkens ** Boutesteyn 5 28 - 31, 45
1687 23_1687. Anatomia Seu Interiora Rerum (retitled and correctly spelled printing of #21. Anatomia et Contemplatio Nonnullorum) *
Boutesteyn 3 43, 42, 38
1691 5a. Onsigtbare Verborgentheden, second edition Boutesteyn
3
38, 42, 43
1694 2_1694. Eyerstok, second edition of Gaesbeeck's first, 1684 * Kroonevelt
1
39
1694 Schierbeek's 1a. Onsigtbare geschapene waarheden, second edition of Gaesbeeck's first, 1684 * Kroonevelt 3 32, 39, 33
1696 2a. 37ste Missive, second edition of Gaesbeeck's first, 1684 Boutesteyn
1
37
1696 3a. 40ste Missive, second edition of Gaesbeeck's first, 1684 Boutesteyn
1
40
1696 6a. Sout-figuren, second edition Boutesteyn
2
44, 45
1696 8a. Levende Dierkens, second edition Boutesteyn 7 28 - 31, 34 - 36
1696 22_1696. Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta *
Boutesteyn   43, 42, 38 + 28-31, 34-36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48-52
1697 7a. Zaden van Boomen, second edition Boutesteyn 2 46, 47
1698 17. 41ste Missive, second edition of Gaesbeeck's first (#4), 1684 Kroonevelt 1 41
1698 5b. Onsigtbare Verborgentheden, third edition Boutesteyn
3
38, 42, 43
1708 22_1708. Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio exquisitissimorum Microscopiorum Detecta *
Boutesteyn   43, 42, 38 + 28-31, 34-36, 46, 47, 44, 45, 48-52
1713 9a. Cinnaber naturalis, second edition of Boutesteyn's first, 1686 Langerak 5 48 - 52

The editions marked * are not in Dobell's bibliography and thus are numbered with Dobell's number and their year of publication, for example, 2_1684.

  • The two from 1684 seem more like variant editions than second printings even though they all were printed by Gaesbeeck. (Note also the passage from Schierbeek about his friend Mr. v. d. Pas.) The volume described in Dobell's bibliography has letters 32 and 33 in Onsigtbare geschapene waarheden and Letters 37 and 39 in Eyerstok. The collection of Bert Degenaar has Letters 32 and 39 in Onsigtbare geschapene waarheden with only Letter 37 in Eyerstok.
  • The two volumes of Arcana Naturae Ope & beneficio published in 1696 and 1708, retitled editions of Anatomia Seu Interiora Rerum, were misnumbered in Dobell as #25a and #25b.

The edition marked ** comes from the Bavarian State Library. It is not noted in Dobell and is discussed in detail on the Levende Dierkens page, right sidebar menu.

The two 2nd editions of Letters 37 and 40 from 1696 perhaps should have question marks for the printer because the surviving copies have no preliminary pages, either frontispieces or title pages, both of which could have the printer's name. It probably was not Gaesbeeck, who died in 1693. The STCN assigns them to Boutesteyn.