Buyers 1747 auction
The names of the 45 buyers and the prices they paid are recorded in one of the two surviving copies of the auction catalogue. The lists below are slightly expanded from Zuidervaart and Anderson's "Antony van Leeuwenhoek’s microscopes and other scientific instruments: new information from the Delft archives". The names are ordered within each group in declining amount of money spent at the auction. The images below (click to enlarge) are the Dutch and Latin title pages and, lower down, pages 7 and 41 of the catalogue. Each page shows the careful hand-written entries of the buyers and the prices they paid.
The auction catalogue records sales totalling 737 guilders, 3 stuivers. They are expressed here as decimals, but 20 stuivers equalled one guilder, so 93.8 guilders is 93 guilders 16 stuivers. Five men accounted for almost half of the total.
Willem Vlaardingerwout: 93.8 guilders, 12.7% of the yield of the auction
Hendrick Halder: 77.5 guilders, 10.5%
‘De Heer Ouwens’: 53.55 guilders, 7.9%
Michiel Van Leeuwen: 41.60 guilders, 6.2%
Dirck Haaxman: 31.7 guilders, 4.3%
Leeuwenhoek's relatives
Dirck [Jans] Haaxman (1718–1782)
Noted in the catalogue as ‘Haagsman’. Great-grandson of Antony van Leeuwenhoek’s sister Margrieta (‘Grietgen’). Baker of bread. He bought Leeuwenhoek’s house in 1745 and refurbished it into a bakery.
Bought seven lots, containing five silver and seven brass microscopes for 22.9 guilders, as well as two of the lacquered cabinets with drawers for 8.8 guilders, in total 4.3% of the yield of the auction. Three of the brass microscopes on the left sidebar -- the 118x, 74x, and no lens -- were among those that Haaxman bought. See Loos-Haaxman's "Delftse Burgers" for more.
Steeven Bolland († 1776)
Kuiper (barrel-maker). Husband of Maria Haaxman (1710–1767), sister of Dirck (above).
Bought four lots, containing five silver and four brass microscopes for 17.6 guilders. When the couple separated in 1763, only four silver and three brass microscopes were still present. See Loos-Haaxman's "Delftse Burgers" for more.
[Philip] Du Mo(u)lijn (1701–1775)
Leeuwenhoek's great-nephew. He was the only remaining son of the medical doctor and surgeon Anthony de Molijn (1656–1729), who was the son of Antony van Leeuwenhoek’s sister Margrieta.
Bought three lots, containing five brass microscopes for five guilders and one of the lacquered cabinets with drawers for 3.60 guilders.
Delft citizens
Those who bought more than three lots
Willem Salomons Vlaardingerwout (1679–1760)
Delft notary, admitted in 1705; retired 1741. The Delft poet Hubert Korneliszoon Poot (1689–1733), who composed the text of Leeuwenhoek’s epitaph and made several other poems in his honour, dedicated the second volume of Gedichten, his collected poems, to Vlaardingerwout, calling him a vermaert rechtsgeleerde (‘renowned lawyer’).
Bought 22 lots, containing 17 silver, 26 brass, and 12 unassembled microscopes for 77.3 guilders. He also bought two of the lacquered cabinets with drawers for 16.5 guilders. In total 12.7% of the yield of the auction.
Hendrick Halder (1708–1767)
Delft notary, admitted in 1734, living in the house De Bock on the Wijnhaven. Brother of Andries Halder (see below).
Bought 22 lots, containing eight silver, 24 brass, and 48 unassembled microscopes for 56.75 guilders. Among these was the only brass microscope with three lenses side by side. Halder also bought two of the lacquered cabinets with drawers for 20.75 guilders. In total 10.5% of the yield of the auction.
Jan [Pietersz] Verboom († 1751)
Stofjes wever (textile weaver) on the Marktveld in 1721.
Bought 13 lots.
Dr. [Cornelis] Van Gijsen (c. 1687–1758)
Delft medical doctor since 1710.
Bought 11 lots.
Hendrick Verbrugge (1705–1785)
Delft coppersmith.
Bought nine lots.
Cornelis de Vegter († 1748)
Surgeon on the Koornmarkt in Delft (admission 1721). In 1740 he acquired three catheters from the estate of the Delft medical doctor Anthony Hendrik Stork. (see: H.A. Bosman-Jelgersma,Vijf eeuwen Delftse Apothekers (Amsterdam, 1979)).
Bought six lots, including the only silver microscopes with three lenses side by side.
Adriaan Rees
Auctioneer (1745–1749) living on the East side of the Hippolytusbuurt (1749) across the gracht from Leeuwenhoek. In 1750 Rees became collecteur van de impost (collector of taxes). He bought four lots, probably commissions, including the only sold microscope mounted in gold.
Those who bought three lots
Matthijs Van Den Briel (1725–1776)
Klerk (clerk). Lived on the Delft Koornmarkt.
Adriaan Scheer († 1764)
Lived in Vrijeban, just outside Delft in 1745. On page 7 of the catalogue (above right; click to enlarge), Adr. Scheer is the first buyer. He bought Een kokertje en daarin 1 zilver stel; object / Poot en aderen van een Vloo (A case and in it 1 silver piece; object / Leg and veins of a flea) for 2 gulden 4 stuivers.
Those who bought two lots
Johannes Berghuis (1725–1802)
Carillon and organ player in Delft. Scientific enthusiast. Bought one of the two available large viskijkers (fish viewers). In 1773 he traded in optical instruments. Learn more in Zuidervaart's ‘Reflecting “Popular Culture”.
Jacobus Berghuis
Not identified. Probably a relative of the preceding person.
‘De Heer Franc Van Der Burch’
Either Frank Jansz van der Burch (1718–1775), Delft lawyer in 1747, who became a director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1765. Or Franc Reijersz. van der Burch (1725–1764), Lord of Spierinxhoek, veertigraad of Delft (member of the Delft city council) after 1750.
Jacob [Van Der] Dussen [Ewoutsz] (1710–1772)
Lord of Souteveen en Middelharnis. Veertigraad; Governor of the Delft Gasthuijs (hospital).
Andries Halder
Brother of the Delft notary Hendrick Halder. Head of the reformatory De Gekroonde Kabel in Delft (1754). Also vaandrig (officer) in the Delft civic guard (1766). Lived on the Marktveld (1740). Moved later (1765) to Amsterdam.
Isaak De Lespaul (1722–1771)
Also written as ‘De L’Espaul’. Gasthuismeester (1746) and Veertigraad (1752) of the city of Delft.
W[Illem] Van Der Lely (1698–1772)
Delft notary admitted in 1724. Was in 1723 one of the executors of Antony van Leeuwenhoek’s will. The viewing day for the auction was in his house. His library and cabinet of rarities were sold in Amsterdam on 15 March 1773.
Pieter (or Petrus) Van Marum
Teacher of mathematics and navigation in Delft since 1740. Lived on the west side of the Hippolytusbuurt near Leeuwenhoek. In 1754, Van Marum bought the faience factory De Romeyn on the Achterom, where he produced Delft earthenware. Moved in 1764 to Groningen. Father of Martinus van Marum (1750-1837), first director of Teylers Museum in Haarlem.
Casper Staakenbeeck († 1765)
Portier (‘keeper’) of the Rotterdam Gate (1741). Lived in 1754 in the Vlamingstraat in Delft.
The following Delft persons bought one lot
Nicolaas Bart
Keeper of the coffee house De Pelikaan in Delft since 1746 (sold in 1761, when he left for the West-Indies). Mentioned in 1771 as vendumeester (auctioneer) on Curaçao. Buyer of one of the small lacquered cabinets for three guilders.
‘Advocaat Boogert’
Probably François Boogert († 1766). Raad en schepen (council member and magistrate) of Delft.
Willem Box (1707–1763)
Medical doctor in Delft since 1744. Lived on the Hippolytusbuurt, close to Leeuwenhoek’s house. 
Jan [Nordingh] Doij[T]Sma
Baker of bread in Delft. Brother of Bernardus Nordingh Doitsma († 1803), ‘preceptor’ (teacher) of the Delft Latin School from 1738–1771, who until 1781 lived on the Hippolytusbuurt. Their father Johannes Doitsma (1675–1734) was rector of the Latin School in Hoorn.
Pieter De Groot († 1773)
Quartiermeester (1752) and Collecteur van de Gruitgelden (1766), living on the Achterom (1750).
‘De Heer Loockemans’
Probably Dirk (Fransz) Lokermans (1693–1767), tingieter (‘tin founder’), from Rotterdam, who later in life made a bequest to the Delft protestant church. His elder brother Willem (Fransz) Lokermans (1697–1731) had lived near Leeuwenhoek on the Hippolytusbuurt.
Hendrick De Meester († 1753)
Confiturier (‘jam maker’). Maria’s northern neighbour on the Hippolytusbuurt (1747).
Joris Menschert
Delft citizen, named as the owner of several houses since 1718. Probably a variant spelling for George Mesch († 1757), apothecary, who in 1740 bought materials from the estate of the Delft medical doctor A.H. Stork.
Ds. [Petrus] Onderdewyngaart (1706–1782)
Delft Calvinist Minister since 1735. Grandfather of Jan Hendrik Onderdewyngaard Canzius (1771–1838), who in 1800 founded a scientific instrument maker’s factory in Delft and was later director of the Musée de l’Industrie in Brussels.
Maarten [Van] Outheusden († 1761)
Living in Delft on the Achterom. Brother-in-law of Petrus van Marum (see above).
Johannes Paspoort († 1788)
Chemist who in 1740 bought materials from the estate of the Delft medical doctor A.H. Stork. Witness at the baptism of Martinus van Marum (1750) (son of Pieter above). Lived on the Hippolytusbuurt (1788).
Heronimus Proene
Probably Hieronijmus Andreas van Proenen, military officer (?) from Maastricht, who married in Delft in 1741.
‘De Heer Van Slingeland’
Probably Barthoud van Slingeland, raad en schepen (council member and magistrate) of Delft, whose library was auctioned in 1753.
Nicolaas Snip († 1767)
Also called ‘Snep'. Sworn zout- en zeepkramer (‘salt and soap pedlar’) of Delft (1749). Lived on the Koornmarkt (1747). Married to Anna Geisweit († 1748).
Jan Fredricq Stembor († 1781)
Makelaar in obligatien (‘stock broker’) (1741). Also lieutenant in the Delft civic guard. Married in Delft (1744).
Johannes Van Tonningen († 1766)
Coster (‘sexton’) of the Delft ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ (1757), living in Delft since his marriage in 1715.
Dirck Tronset († 1764)
Variant of ‘Tronchet’. Surgeon (?) on the Voorstraat in Delft. Father of the Delft surgeon Daniël Tronchet (1721–1811).
Persons outside Delft
(or not identified)
‘De Heer Ouwens’
(1) Most probably Willem Ouwens (1717–1779), medical doctor in The Hague, born in Delft. Ouwens was appointed professor of medicine at Franeker University in 1748. His library was sold in The Hague in December 1779. (2) Another possibility is his father Rutgerus Ouwens (1692– 1780), former schoolmaster at the Delft Latin School. Was in 1747 rector of the Latin school in The Hague.
Bought 10 lots, for 53.55 guilders. In total 7.9% of the yield of the auction.
M[ichiel] Van Leeuwen († 1769)
Haarlem bookseller and auctioneer.
Bought 11 lots for 41.60 guilders. In total 6.2% of the yield of the auction.
‘De Heer Fas’
Not identified. Perhaps Arent Fas, a koperslager (‘coppersmith’) from Leiden, father of Jan Arent Fas († 1817), who in 1763 became lecturer of mathematics at Leiden University.
Bought nine lots.
Abraham Edens (c. 1690–1765)
Retired merchant from Rotterdam with English roots. Brought in 1723 a box with 26 Leeuwenhoek microscopes to the Royal Society. Moved in 1746 to Warmond, where he had a large cabinet of experimental philosophy.
Bought eight lots.
‘Ds. Smit’
Perhaps Franciscus Smit, Lutheran reverend in Rotterdam. His library was sold in 1782.
Bought seven lots.
‘De Heer De Wilde’
Perhaps Frederik de Wilde (1694–1757) from The Hague. His library with scientific instruments and naturalia was auctioned in 1755.
Bought seven lots.
‘Ds. Wesseling’
Perhaps P. Wesseling, Lutheran minister in Amsterdam. His library including scientific instruments and rarities was auctioned in 1779.
Bought four lots.
‘De Heer Van Reede’
Probably Frederik Willem van Reede (1717–Dec. 1747), 4th count of Athlone, living in the Hague.
Bought two lots.
Wed. Toornburg
Not identified. The Delft Toornburg family had many members, but mostly not well-to-do. Toornburg is also the name of some brokers in Amsterdam. This weduw (widow) bought one lot, containing the only two (silver) microscopes with two lenses side by side. In 1800 one of these was present in the Vosmaer auction (see In Collections, right sidebar).
Bought one lot.
