John Johnston
John Johnston (also John Johnstonus ; * 3. September 1603 in Szamotuły (city in Poland , German Samter ); † 8. June 1675 in Składowice ) was a physician and a European polymath , the twelve languages understood and numerous books wrote, amongst which are the scientific works were successful.
resume
John Johnston came from an old noble family, his name is derived from the Barony Johnstone in the English county of Arundel . His father Simon (1559-1618) and his two brothers had emigrated to Poland because of their Protestant beliefs; Religious refugees from various Protestant backgrounds had settled in Johnston's birthplace of Samter near Posen . His mother was Anna Beckerin († 1617), the parents had been married since 1601. He attended schools in Bytom (1614) and Toruń (1619). As a Protestant, he was unable to study at the nearby Jagiellonian University in Kraków / Kraków . In 1622 he traveled through Denmark and England to Scotland , where he studied theology , philosophy and Hebrew at the University of St Andrews and in 1623 became a Master of Arts .
In 1625 he returned to Lissa and worked as a court master (i.e. private tutor) in noble families. There he began to acquire knowledge in medicine . In 1628 he went on a journey through Europe and studied botany and medicine in Frankfurt (Oder) , Wittenberg , Leipzig , Franeker in the Dutch province of Friesland , in Leiden and Cambridge . He turned down a chair for philosophy in Deventer in the Netherlands in 1630, instead returned to Poland and became court master of the lords of Lissa, the Leszczynski family.
Between 1632 and 1636 he went on an educational trip through Europe with two pupils, visiting France , England, Italy and the Netherlands. The University of Leiden awarded him a doctorate in medical sciences in 1634. After his return he became a personal physician for the Leszczynskis . During these years he was friends with Johann Amos Comenius (1592–1670), the important philosopher and educator who temporarily lived in Lissa. The universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Leiden offered him chairs, which he also turned down. In 1652 he acquired the Ziebendorf estate (Składowice) near Liegnitz in Habsburg Silesia . In 1665 he left Poland and retired to his estate as a private scholar. There he died in 1675; his body was transferred to Poland and buried in Lissa.
The work
Motifs and variety of topics
The motivations for John Johnston's writing were in the field of education. His early endeavors as a teacher and travel companion of young noblemen continued in his writings. He is thus in the humanistic tradition of the Renaissance , which was concerned with using the art of printing to give as many learners as possible access to solid knowledge. Independent research achievements are hardly the basis of his books. He limited himself to preparing large stocks of knowledge on the basis of his own extensive education and the sources available to him in such a way that the respective reader had the greatest possible benefit.
The variety of topics can be recognized from a small selection of his writings. He wrote, for example, about education for nobility ( Ephorus nobilis et orthodoxus, seu Sceleton nobilis & orthodoxae institutionis . Berlin 1628), natural history ( Thaumatographia naturalis . Amsterdam 1632), the philosophy and theology of history ( Naturae constantia , directed against the thesis of the decline of creation and the Human sex . Amsterdam 1632) and universal history ( Sceleton historiae universalis civilis et ecclesiasticae . Leiden 1633), but also about medicine, pharmacology and mineralogy .
The works were initially published in Latin , the universal language of all scholars of that time (but some of them were also translated into newer languages). The name of the author was also Latinized. From "Johannes Jonstonus" later, forms like "John Jonston" or "Jan Jonston" developed later, which misunderstand the actual origin of the name. Older lexica use the name form "Johnston".
Title page of Historia naturalis ... . About the birds.
Illustration from Historia naturalis ... . The Eagles.
Illustration from Historia naturalis ... . The Lions.
Illustration from Historia naturalis ... . The elephant.
"Historia naturalis animalium"
Johnston's biggest project remained unfinished. He intended a comprehensive, generally understandable, illustrated representation of the plant world, the animal kingdom and man. In doing so, he followed a thought of the 17th century that had been formulated by Francis Bacon (1561–1626), the statesman, philosopher and pioneer of empiricism : that one could gain general knowledge from the observation of the individual in nature and thus possibly learn to rule nature. In the foreword to his main work ( Historia naturalis animalium ), Johnston explained why he considered the examination of the phenomena of nature to be desirable: it promotes the worship of the power and goodness of God ; they make up a large part of general education ; it is much more interesting and useful than the philosophy of nature taught in the universities , which goes back to Aristotle ; they provide stimulating topics of conversation; Above all, however, it could induce people to compete with nature - “We are almost like God when we use nature, using its own mechanisms, to develop, re-function, transform, increase, restrict, divert, dismantle, but separate etc. force to submit to us and to serve us ”(Latin: Deo quasi similes reddimur, dum ipsius naturae machinamentis usi, eandem, generando, corrumpendo, transformando, provehendo, impediendo, divertendo, resolvendo, seducendo, etc. nobis quasi subiiciet famulari cogimus ).
The “Historia naturalis ...” in five volumes was published between 1650 and 1653 by Matthäus Merian the Elder's publishing house in Frankfurt am Main . It contained 1,025 pages of text and 2859 illustrations of quadrupeds, birds, fish and whales , insects, snakes and dragons on 248 plates . This work is also compiled from existing sources, sometimes a little uncritical, as the images of various mythical creatures show. Nor did Johnston try to hide this genesis. He noted that he had paid particular attention to bringing the extensive material together, streamlining it, structuring it better, and ensuring good illustrations . The copperplate engravings were created in Merian's workshop, but the templates for this come mainly from other sources, mostly from the “ Historiae animalium ” by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner (1516–1565) and the work of the Italian zoologist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605). Such bonds are marked in Johnston's work: Ges. Stands for Gesner, Aldr. for Aldrovanti, Clus. for Clusius and Mouf. for Mouffet.
John Johnston's elaborately produced work reached a far larger audience than his main sources, the books by Gesner and Aldrovandi, which were still available in bookshops. It remained the authoritative handbook of animal science for about a hundred years. Proof of its success were new editions in Amsterdam (in six volumes 1657, 1665 and 1718) and Heilbronn (1755–1769).
literature
- Siegfried Wollgast: Johann Johnston (1603–1675). A doctor between Scotland, Poland and Silesia. In: Würzburger medical history reports 20, 2001, pp. 474-518.
Web links
- Digitized works by Johnston - SICD of the Universities of Strasbourg
- Extensive page with digitizations of the " Historia naturalis animalium "
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johnston, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Johnstonus, Johannes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polymath |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1603 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Velvet |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 8, 1675 |
| Place of death | Składowice |