Page - 206 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 4206 transferred as knowledge items. Also almost immediately upon arrival in Vardø, they started constructing their modest observatory, as an annex to the house they were offered. The building consisted of two small rooms, observato- riola (or “small observatories”), with hatches in the roof and walls for observa- tions of the sky. The two small observatories faced north and south respectively. In the middle, between the northern and southern observatory, was a small laboratory. Soldiers from the local garrison were hired to take care of the con- struction process. By Christmas, the building was finished, so Hell unpacked his instruments and started mounting them in early January.108 A scientific ex- pedition program of encyclopedic dimensions was ready to begin. astronomy did not require as refined drawing skills as, e.g., botany, Hell was apparently a quite proficient drawer. 108 The best source-based, contextualized study of Hell’s stay in Vardø is still Helge Kragemo, “Pater Hells Vardøhusekspedisjon: Belyst ved Pater Sainovič’s dagbok 1768–1769,” in Vardøhus Festning 650 år. Jubileumsskrift, ed. G.I. Willoch (Oslo: Generalinspektøren for Figure 7 The ship of Hell and his associates approaching Kjelvik, the last harbor before reaching Vardø Drawing by Hell, published in the Ephemerides for the year 1791 (printed 1790). Note the Sámi tents in the bottom right corner marked by letter “d,” with Hell’s expedition tent conspicuously placed in the middle of the camp (“C”). Digitized by the Department of Astrophysics, University of Vienna