Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése
Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726
T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE Trionfetti, who seems to have been an intermediary between Marsigli and Francia, wrote in his letter of April 19, 1703 that Marsigli had also been very pleased with the prints he had received. 14 8 The manuscript was even modified just before publication. I found a list of Marsigli's expenses in the above-mentioned Archivio di Stato. 14 9 Among other things, he paid an unnamed person for five frontispiece drawings, which were still missing and for six ornamental drawings and the initials of the all the volumes. Signore Ghizzi from Rome, who drew the frontispiece of the volume on Roman antiquities, asked for a box of mortadella instead of money. He paid 35 florenas to Sig. Dottor Margagni for the anatomical drawings of great sturgeons in volume VI and to an unknown person for two other great sturgeon depictions. 15 0 In April 1725, a Sig. Dott. Ant. Matelocci was paid 12.10 florenas for certain drawings. The list of expenses also contained the price for wrapping the work that was to be transported from Bologna to Amsterdam through Verona (14 florenas) and the sum paid to copiers who worked six months on the book in Bologna (22 florenas). The Nürnberg workshop The Danube monograph mainly took its final form in Nürnberg in 1702-1703. Georg Christoph Eimmart, whom Marsigli probably had contacted when astronomical problems came up, coordinated the work. The renown astronomer and copperplate engraver's letters to Marsigli only suggest how their relationship started. Marsigli's attention may have been caught by Eimmar's observations concerning Jupiter and the Moon. We also know, as previously mentioned, that Marsigli would have liked to order a portable sextant. Eimmart agreed that he would design and have it prepared. 151 He even undertook the construction of an instrument designed by Professor Sturm and executed by a mechanic that could produce vacuum. 15 2 Both letters deal with the technique for determining longitudinal position. Eimmart found the observation of Jupiter to be the best method but accepted that the observation of the phases of the Moon was also useful. These planets, together with their drawings, were give particular attention in his book. 15 3 He praised Marsigli's Jupiter observations made in Vienna and sent him lists of books, a catalogue of books on natural history by German authors and even books to a military camp somewhere in Hungary. It was not, as it turned out, simply a friendly favor. He had received, he said, what he was due for his services. Eimmart won Marsigli's unconditional confidence. He told the German master that the emperor had granted him two thousand florenas for the preparation of the Danube book, and even invited him to Hungary to draw maps. 15 4 Eimmart declined the respectful request and proposed instead his 23-year-old student, Johann Christoph Müller, 15 5 who seemed to be more suited for such an adventure. 14 8 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 82. p. 129. Lelio Trionfetti; Bologna, 19. April 1703. 14 9 Archivio di Stato, Bologna; Assunteria di Istituto - Diversorum - B. n. 7. fasc. 5. 150 -p[j e curren cy j s no t named in the text, only the character "summa" marks the sums. 15 1 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 79. p. 78. Nürnberg, 25 May 1696. 15 2 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 79. p. 79. Nürnberg, 22 June 1696. 15 3 Vol. I. Pars II. According to Eimmart, the moon-method requires simultaneous measurements from two distant spots.Certain spots on the eastern side of the moon should be determined when it is waning and the spots on the western side when it is waxing. With this method thought Eimmart, one could determine the distance of the moon from the meridian of the Sun and also from the fixed stars on the zenith. 15 4 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 79. pp. 81-82. Nürnberg, November 16, 1696. Dürer's complete works, which are available for 300 florenas, astronomical problems and available books are also discussed in the letter. 1 5 5 Müller was talented in mathematics, mapdrawing, astronomical observations and drawing, perfectly fulfilled the task of a secretary and proved to be an ideal collaborator. For seven years he worked hard in his patron Marsigli's service. He collected and organised the data for Marsigi's main work, the Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus, drew the Roman monuments in situ and made maps of the way they occured. His astronomical observations helped in the determination of the direction of the courses of the Danube and the Tisza. Parallally, he drew maps based on Marsigli's demands, almost without break. This was especially the case in the period between May 1702 and the autumn of 1703, when he drew maps, from dawn to dusk, according to Marsigli's wishes and instructions. In one of his letters to his former master, Marsigli mentioned Eimmart's room. 120
