Maximilianus Hell (1720-1792) - Munin

however, and not until 8 February 1770 could Father Hell present a copy of the work to its
dedicatee. 78 Immediately afterwards, copies were distributed to learned societies and
individual savants abroad. 79
During the eight months of secrecy in-between observation and publication, no foreign
astronomer had been allowed to inspect the data sets from Vardø. This caused suspicion and
even anger amongst some of his colleagues abroad. It is the implications of that atmosphere of
suspicion and anger that are the subject of the next sections of this chapter.
= “When Reverend Father Hell asked him if he would allow the Observatio Transitus Veneris that is going to be
printed, to be dedicated to His Royal Name, the King answered: ‘That will be a pleasure to me’”.
78 Sajnovics, travel diary 1768-1770 (WUS Vienna), entry 8 February 1770: “Circa 4 am ad Regiam itum. Circa
5 am [5a MS] Augustissimus Rex portam aperuit. R dus P. Hell Ei exemplar unum Observationis obtulit. acceperat
illum perquam benigne, modiceque inspexit. Tum Sermonem quasi ad ½ horam protraxit de aurora Boreali, de
decrescentia Maris, de Jdiomate Ungarorum [Ungarom MS] et Lapponum &ce: Verba faciens, imo etiam de
quadratura Circuli. Apparebat ex omnibus, eum de laboribus Hellianis valde bene instructum fuisse. atque
luculenter ostendit, Exspectationi Suæ, Ceterorumque abundanter esse Satisfactum” = “Around 4 o’clock we
went to the palace. At about 5 o’clock His Highness the King opened the door. Honourable Father Hell offered
him a copy of the Observatio. He accepted it very generously and inspected it for a while. Then he kept talking
for about half an hour, mentioning the Northern Light, the decrease of the sea level, the language of the
Hungarians and the Lapps, etc., and finally, the quadrature of the circle. It emerged from all this that the King
had been quite well informed concerning the works of Father Hell. He also demonstrated quite clearly that His
own as well as the others’ expectations had been amply fulfilled”.
79 Hielmstierne to J.A. Euler in St. Petersburg, dated 9 February 1770 (RAN St. Petersburg); Hielmstierne to
Wargentin in Stockholm, dated Copenhagen 10 February 1770 (CVH Stockholm). These examples corroborate a
claim made by Hell in the “De Parallaxi Solis…” 1772, p. 110, that his Venus-transit report was published in
Copenhagen 8 February and distributed by the post “to all academies” the next day: “Vera sunt […] ipsa die 8.
Haffniæ vulgatam, dieque sequente 9. Februarii typis Haffniæ editam dissertationem cum orbe Astronomico
illico communicandam ad omnes Academias per Tabellarios transmissam” (my italics).
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