Aurorae Borealis Studia Classica

The first French dictionaries and the emergence of Aurore Boréale as a lexical entry

Muriel Brot, Per Pippin Aspaas — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100

The eighteenth volume provides an overview of the Aurore Boréale (northern lights, aurora borealis) as described in monolingual French dictionaries from the first half of the eighteenth century. The very first examples of such dictionaries – published in the 1680s and 1690s – had no coverage of the northern lights. Since 1701, however, the phenomenon was included in the following dictionaries: posthumous versions of Antoine Furetière’s Dictionnaire universel edited by Henri Basnage de Beauval (1701) and Jean-Baptiste Brutel de la Rivière (1727); the "Dictionnaire de Trévoux" edited by a group of Jesuits (editions from 1704, 1721, 1732, 1743); and the Dictionnaire de l’Académie françoise (third edition, 1740). The introductory essay by Muriel Brot and Per Pippin Aspaas contextualises the introduction of the northern ligths as a lexical term and provides English translations of relevant entries in the dictionaries. Digitisations of the original entries are included in facsimile.

This publication is based on a presentation given by Muriel Brot, research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Unité Mixte de Recherche of the Université Paris-Sorbonne), at an international workshop organised by the Malaurie Institute of Arctic Research Monaco-UVSQ in Versailles, 23 January 2025.

Title pages and extracts from French dictionaries printed in the first half of the eighteenth century

Various French Lexicographers — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100

The following dictionaries are included:

Antoine Furetière’s Dictionnaire universel edited by Henri Basnage de Beauval’s (1701), title page and pages with description of the Aurore, taken from the Gallica database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Antoine Furetière’s Dictionnaire universel edited by Jean-Baptiste Brutel de la Rivière (1727), title page and page with description of the Aurore, taken from the Gallica database.
The “Dictionnaire de Trévoux” edited by a group of Jesuits (editions from 1704, 1721, 1732, 1743), title pages and descriptions of the Aurore, taken from the Gallica database.
The Dictionnaire de l’Académie françoise (third edition, 1740), title page and description of the Aurore Boréale, taken from the Gallica database.

For an explanation of the context, see the introductory essay by Muriel Brot and Per Pippin Aspaas.

Introduction

Per Pippin Aspaas — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The seventeenth volume in the series presents articles on the aurora borealis published in the journal of the Swedish Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (now Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) covering the years 1740 to 1750. In this period, the Acta of the society were edited by the natural historian Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), who showed less interest in the aurora than his predecessors. One article on the aurora by Anders Celsius and another by his assistant Olof Peter Hiorter were however published. They are presented here along with the obituaries for three central auroral researchers from early eighteenth-century Sweden – Erik Johan Burman, Conrad Quensel and Celsius. In the Introduction, neo-Latinist and historian of science Per Pippin Aspaas summarizes these texts and provides a short history of the society in the period.

Vita Andreæ Celsii

Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This file is a facsimile of an obituary for Anders Celsius, published in the Acta (Proceedings) of the Uppsala-based Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (Royal Society of Learning and Sciences, or Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) for the years 1744 to 1750.

Vita Conradi Quensel

Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This file is a facsimile of an obituary for Conrad Quensel, published in the Acta (Proceedings) of the Uppsala-based Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (Royal Society of Learning and Sciences, or Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) for the year 1734.

Vita Erici Burman

Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This file is a facsimile of an obituary for Erik Johan Burman, published in the Acta (Proceedings) of the Uppsala-based Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (Royal Society of Learning and Sciences, or Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) for the year 1730.

Extracts from Acta Societatis Regiæ Scientiarum Upsaliensis Ab Anno DMCCXLIV Ad MDCCL

Olof Peter Hiorter — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The file is a facsimile of extracts from the Acta Societatis Regiæ Scientiarum Upsaliensis for the years 1744 to 1750 (printed 1751), comprising the Title Page, Editor's Preface, Table of Contents and an article on the aurora borealis by Olof Peter Hiorter. For a detailed summary of contents, see the introduction by Per Pippin Aspaas.

Extracts from Acta Societatis Regiæ Scientiarum Upsaliensis Ad Annum MDCCXL

Anders Celsius — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The file is a facsimile of extracts from the Acta Societatis Regiæ Scientiarum Upsaliensis for the year 1740 (printed 1744), comprising the Title Page, Table of Contents and an article on the aurora borealis by Anders Celsius. For a detailed summary of contents, see the introduction by Per Pippin Aspaas.

Introduction

Per Pippin Aspaas — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The sixteenth volume in the series presents all articles on the aurora borealis that were published in the journal of the Swedish Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (now Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) from 1730 to 1739. The articles are by the society’s secretary, the professor of astronomy in Uppsala, Anders (in Latin: Andreas) Celsius and by several other Swedish professionals and amateurs of science. In the introduction to this volume, neo-Latinist and historian of science Per Pippin Aspaas summarizes the contents of all articles dealing with the aurora and presents extracts of these texts in English translation. He also provides a short history of the society in the period and gives brief presentations of Anders Celsius, Herman Spöring, Sven Hof, Johan Göstaf Hallman, Johan Sparschuch and Nils Wallerius as auroral researchers.

Acta Literaria et Scientiarum Sveciæ, Volumen Tertium

Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This file contains the entire third volume of the Acta (Proceedings) of the Uppsala-based Societas Regia Literaria et Scientiarum (Royal Society of Learning and Sciences, or Kungl. Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala).