Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése
Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726
T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE Danube section drawings, so he asked them to send samples. Müller sent two sheets of each section and eagerly awaited his patron's opinion. He chose the sheets that contained the greatest number of characteristic elements: I have, so-to-say, lifted them out from among the others since they contain all the features that can be found in the rest as well, namely, a little of the mountains, the forests, the swamps, the banks — both sandy and rocky; at the same time, they illustrate what tasks await Mr Eimmart's copperplate engraving art. — he wrote. 20 2 A month later they were still looking for the right concept for representation. He drew the borderline running along the Sava not in the middle of the river but along the bank. He did it after deep consideration and after seeking the advice of others. He considered the river a single and undivided unit, which contains nothing that could exclusively belong either to the Austrian or the Turkish emperor. The division of the river would also contradict the spirit of the peace treaty. Nor could he leave the drawing of the borderline to the end, as Marsigli had wished, since if he applied colour on the black contours of the mountains at the end it would show through and spoil the map. 203 After another month it turned out that Marsigli was pleased neither with the Buda section or Eimmart's work. Müller promised in a letter that he would do his best to redraw the disputed section according to Marsigli's taste but, as he said, he could not direct Eimmart's hands. In parallel, he was working on the frontier sections as well, he wrote, 14 of which had been finished, although he could hardly draw more than two in a week. And he was happy that Marsigli had sent his fee, because he could free himself of his debts. A month later Müller was confronted with some difficulties: an Roman inscription had gotten mixed up in the Roman antiquities volume and he wanted to know where to put it. It was the inscription, he wrote, that Marsigli had had sent him to Vienna when he was last time in Sopron and when he had written that he had found it in the village of Orka. But he had to know if the village could be found in Sopron's environs or somewhere else, if he wanted to put the inscription in the right place. He had to stop working on the frontier sections as well, because he had come to the territories beyond the Danube and could not decide if he should start from the interfluve of the Danube and the Tisza. At the same time, he sent a sample to check if he had placed the names of the provinces properly. At the end of the letter, we can read Eimmart's lines in a postscript: he had run out of money and could not pay Müller to buy parchment. 204 According to Müller, there was a slight misrepresentation in the matter: Eimmart had spent the 30 florenas intended for Müller to buy parchment on copperplates, Müller complained, and he could not get on with his work. 20 5 A few days later Müller sent his sixth unanswered letter. He complained once again that he had had to suspend work due to a lack of money and parchment. 20 6 He had, however, finished the drawing of the Danube sections, and they were ready to be engraved in copper. 20 7 We can also imagine after seeing these the letters, the great care with which Müller worked on the Danube sections: a Danube section, especially the one of the Szigetköz, took at least as much time as two frontier sections, he said. 20 8 He also intended this comment as a resonse to 20 2 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 82. pp. 279-280 , letter no. 103 from Müller to Marsigli, Nürnberg, September 18, 1702. 20 3 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 80 B. pp. 112-115. Nürnberg, October 11, 1702. (He also expresses his joy that the astronomical matters in Bologna have been successful and the idea that was born yesterday has magnificendy come to fruition today.) 20 4 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. II. B. Müller to Marsigli, Nürnberg, November 7, 1702. 20 5 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 80. II. B. Müller to Marsigli; Nürnberg, December 2, 1702. 20 6 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 80. B. Nürnberg, December 8, 1702. 20 7 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 80. B. pp. 17-19. Nürnberg, December 12, 1702. (He also finished the 24 frontier sections from this side of the Danube.) 20 8 BUB Mss di Marsigli Vol. 82. p. 52. Nürnberg, January 6, 1703. (He again presses for more money saying Tempus enim consumitur, debita crescunt - Time is consumed, the debts increase.) 127
