Wrote Letter L-307 of 1696-10-30 to a "gentleman in Brabant", a cover letter accompanying a copy of Sesde Vervolg der Brieven
Date:
October 30, 1696
Text of the letter in the original Dutch and in English translation from Alle de Brieven. The Collected Letters at the DBNL - De Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren
This letter is known only by reference and an excerpt in Letter L-314 of 12 February 1697 to Maarten Etienne van Velden. Van Velden had caused controversy by supporting Copernicus's ideas about the solar system, and Leeuwenhoek had written a defense in Letter L-294 that was included in Sesde Vervolg der Brieven. Leeuwenhoek sent a copy of Sesde Vervolg to the gentleman in Brabant, also a supporter of Copernicus.
The excerpt, L-308 of November 1696, does not specify what was in Leeuwenhoek's letter, only that it accompanied "a book of new observations".
