Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/2. (2011)
Paleontology
Rodica CIOBANU rest of Europe. He continues to improve his collection until the last years of his life. One may conclude that after the mid 90’s the collection was completed and a new stage in the evolution of the Brukenthal mineral collection was about to begin: the classification. It could be estimated that around 1795 years collections of minerals were formed. To sum up, he set up the most significant part of his collection between 1778 and 1787. The few acquisitions were done shortly before his death, namely between 1799 and 1800, when he bought golden samples. Nevertheless, we can estimate that around 1795 his mineral collection was established. In order to put together and look after these cultural treasures, he had by his side knowledgeable literates in this field such as Johann Fichtel, Johann Michael von Rosenfeld, Carl Eder etc. Abbot Carl Eder (1760-1810), the Director of the Normale School from Sibiu, supported Burkethal ’’with his advice and deeds”. As curator of the collection, not only does he ranks it by the most advanced scientific criteria of the time, but also puts together the first catalogue. The manuscript - catalogue, “Verzeichnis Siebenbürgischer Mineralien, die sich in dem von Brukenthal Cabinette often Freiherrn befinden,“ has 353 pages and can be currently found at the Brukenthal Library. In the catalogue, Carl Eder points out that up to that moment “that much pure gold” could not be found in any other European country, and that Baron Samuel von Brukenthal’s collection reflected this reality. The catalogue has mostly historical value and poises interest for the notes related to the location and the date when the items were gathered, as well as to the status of their examination and to the exploitation attempts registered. (Trausch, 1868, p.270; Schuller, 1969, p.286) The next curator of the collection, equally successful, was Neugeboren Johann Ludwig (1806-1887), one of the most prominent forerunners of paleontology in Transylvania. His work Notizen über Sammlungen Siebenbürgischer Mineralien, published in 1866, proved that Neugeboren was aware of most of the Transylvanian mineral collectors and of their collections from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This awareness enabled him to compare the Brukenthal collection to other collections of that time as well as to those that would follow it. Neugeboren believes that only one collection rises to its level, in what concerns samples of gold, copper, silver and nagyagite, namely that of Karl Knüpfer. (Neugeboren, 1866, p. 391) Baron Samuel von Brukenthal’s mineral collection reached 2018 items, most of which of Transylvanian origin, souring the time when Carl Eder was custodian. Collection grew richer over the years, but the most valuable collection acquisition was the collection belonging to the Thesaurus Counselor Johann Michael von Rosenfeld (1771-1837). When referring to the Rosenfeld Collection in his work published in 1866, L.J.Neugeboren, pointed out that the Baron’s buying this particular collection represented a great opportunity for the study of the Transylvanian minerals, since thus all the Transylvanian ores would be represented. As custodian, Neugeboren Baron arranged the Baron’s collection and put together the second catalogue of the collection. The three - volume manuscript - catalogue is currently hosted at the Brukenthal Library and is Brukenthalisches Hausarchiv, Verzeichnis der Mineraliensammlung. Most of the collectors of the time, although excited at the beginning to collect native minerals, would give in to the scientific urge to enrich their collections with items from abroad — as Fichtel would notice in 1774, with regards to the mineralogical collections of Transylvania. Baron Samuel von Brukenthal’s collection is therefore unique, since it includes only 50 pieces from outside of Transylvania (from Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Sweden). Tire location and the classification of the collection went through several changes throughout time. As per baron Samuel von Brukenthal’s will, after the last offspring of the family had passed away — Hermann von Brukenthal — in 1872, the collections were automatically taken over by the Evangelic Church (Ittu, 2007). The mineral collection, though originally 112
