Case studies
The case studies in this section analyze ten samples of Leeuwenhoek's writing by closely examining the letters at the level of the words and then the sentences.
Words
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Sentences
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The case studies then analyze the transcriptions in Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters and the translations in Philosophical Transactions, Hoole's Selected Works, and Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters.
Samples from the letters below can help quantify our understanding of Leeuwenhoek's written Dutch. All but one of the letters from which the samples came was published in Philosophical Transactions. Four were excerpted by Hoole. The ten span all six decades of Leeuwenhoek's letter-writing career. Six of them were published in Dutch and Latin by Leeuwenhoek. The ten include most of the known Philosophical Transactions translators as well as all of the Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters translators.
No | date | AB | addressed to | Philosophical Transactions | translator | Hoole | Alle de Brieven | transcriber | tanslator |
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2 | 1673-08-15 | 2 | Henry Oldenburg | vol 9 no 102 | Oldenburg | vol 1 p 39 | Mendels | Swaen | |
18 | 1676-10-09 | 26 | Henry Oldenburg | vol 12 no 133 | Oldenburg | vol 2 p 61 | Mendels | Swaen | |
26 | 1678-09-27 | 40 | Nehemiah Grew | Oldenburg | vol 2 p 381 | Mendels | Querido | ||
42 | 1684-07-25 | 81 | Royal Society | vol 15 no 168 | Aston? | vol II p 97-106, 133-134, 137-138 | vol 4 p 253 | Damsteegt | Bunnemeijer |
43 | 1685-01-05 | 82 | Royal Society | vol 15 no 170 | Aston? | vol I p 126-128 | vol 5 p 3 | Damsteegt | Hollander |
71 | 1692-03-07 | 119 | Royal Society | vol 18 no 213 | Lodewijk? | vol I p 24-34 | vol 8 p 273 | Damsteegt | van Loo |
128 | 1700-07-09 | 214 | Hans Sloane | vol 22 no 263 | Miller | vol II p 235-241 | vol 13 p 141 | Damsteegt | Dikshoorn |
1703-02-05 | 240 | Royal Society | vol 23 no 286 | Chamberlayne | vol 14 p 181 | Damsteegt | Dikshoorn | ||
VII | 1713-06-28 | 302 | Royal Society | vol 28 no 337 | Chamberlayne | vol 17 p 121 | Damsteegt | Kegel-Brinkgreve | |
XLVII | 1720-01-09 | 347 | Royal Society | vol 31 no 367 | Sprengell | vol 19 p unk | Damsteegt | Kegel-Brinkgreve, Anderson |
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from each, about 1,000 words in the middle with figures
- Dutch
- Philosophical Transactions English
- Hoole
- Alle de Brieven / Collected Letters English
No | date | AB | words in ms | Philosophical Transactions | Hoole | A de Brieven | |||
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2 | 1673-08-15 | 2 | |||||||
18 | 1676-10-09 | 26 | |||||||
26 | 1678-09-27 | 40 | |||||||
42 | 1684-07-25 | 81 | |||||||
43 | 1685-01-05 | 82 | |||||||
71 | 1692-03-07 | 119 | |||||||
128 | 1700-07-09 | 214 | |||||||
1703-02-05 | 240 | ||||||||
VII | 1713-06-28 | 302 | |||||||
XLVII | 1720-01-09 | 347 |
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Count number of words
number of sentences (either period or end of paragraph)
number of paragraphs
readability of the English?