The urban and territorial networks of the physician Johann Franc (1649-1725) and Ulm's medical market around 1700 as reflected in contemporary medical diaries: Franc's library as his knowledge base

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Heiner Fangerau
• Subject Area: History of Science
• Term: since 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 257059000

The aim of the project so far has been the systematic-critical evaluation of Johann Franc's (1649-1725) ephemeris, an autograph comprising some 1,400 manuscript pages, and of its accompanying documentation. On this basis, the territorial as well as the intra-urban network of Franc and the shape of the medical market in Ulm were examined, taking into account pharmacies, wound doctors, surgeons and midwives around 1700.The project revealed, among other findings, that each chapter of the Ephemeris was underpinned by theoretical considerations in which Franc relied on the statements of medical authorities from antiquity to his time. But Johann Franc (as was customary at that time) often did not refer to the sources from which he took entire passages and "transferred" them to Ulm by inserting names from his own patients. This method made it seem advisable already in the completed phase of the project to take a closer look at Franc's library as the knowledge base for his patient journal and his publications. For this purpose, a copy of the library catalogue was transcribed and the short titles listed in it were recorded in a database. In the course of his life Franc compiled an extensive library of about 2,500 titles in about 1,800 volumes. Even his contemporaries praised the extensive collection of medical and natural history writings. With the continuation proposal, we are now pursuing the goal of analysing the knowledge base of the Ephemeris more precisely and examining Franc's compilation technique. In doing so we hope to gain deep insights into the theoretical working methods of early modern physicians based on the literature available to them. In addition to public libraries, the doctors used private collections and built up extensive private libraries for their scientific work during the course of their work. Especially in the case of Franc, this was essential, because Ulm's public library had hardly any medical works at its disposal.The starting point of the investigation is the reconstruction of the private library to its original size of 1726 and its development after the donation to the library of the city of Ulm. In a second step, it will be determined which parts of the Franc's library can still be found in the holdings of the Stadtbibliothek today. On the basis thus created, further analyses of the original book collection will be performend: a material examination of the preserved book collection as well as an evaluation of Francs' correspondence regarding his book supply will be conducted. This will reveal his practices of (1) obtaining books, (2) collecting and (3) using his personal knowledge base in the context of his own publications and his scholarly and private networks. Our findings will allow further comparative insights into the medical bookmarket and into physicians' library usage in the early modern period.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Gudrun Litz; Professor Dr. Hans Joachim Winckelmann
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Hubert Steinke