Abstract EN:

IN 1753, HALLER FINALLY LEFT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOETTINGEN FOR BERNE. HE THUS HAD TO EXPAND HIS NETWORK OF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS. IN STRASBOURG, ON THE BORDER BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE AND THE EMPIRE, JACOB REINBOLD SPIELMANN BECAME A PRIVILEGED INTERLOCUTOR AND THEY CONDUCTED A lengthY CORRESPONDENCE. WRITTEN BETWEEN 1753 AND 1777, THEIR 111 UNPUBLISHED GERMAN LETTERS - KEPT AT THE BURGERBIBLIOTHEK IN BERNE - PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF PRECIOUS INFORMATION ON THE PREVAILING STATE OF THE SCIENCES OF NATURE AND MEDICINE. THE LETTERS DEAL WITH NEW LITERARY PUBLICATIONS, THE DISRUPTION TO ACADEMIC LIFE WHICH OCCURRED DURING THE SEVEN-YEAR WAR AND ALSO MIRROR THE ATTEMPTS AT RECORDING BOTANICAL DATA, THE STILL ARCHAIC STATE OF CHEMISTRY BEFORE LAVOISIER, THE BIRTH OF GEOLOGY, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMIC PROGRAMME OF THE LUMIERES. MOREOVER, SPIELMANN WHO CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THE REPUTATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG GIVES A DETAILED PICTURE IN HIS LETTERS OF WHAT LIFE AT THE UNIVERSITY WAS LIKE. THE CORRESPONDENCE ALSO HIGHLIGHTS HOW COMMUNICATION PLAYED SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE WORK OF THE LUMIERES AND ILLUSTRATES THE REALITY OF AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY "EUROPE OF SCHOLARS".