Page - 238 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 5238 seems strange that there is no mention at all of an attempt to contact the main authority on Sámi language and ethnography in the country during their three- week stay in Trondheim. Other factors that may point to the improvised char- acter of the linguistic research of the expedition include Sajnovics’s enthusias- tic mention of having been supplied with a copy of the famous Nova grammatica Ungarica (New Hungarian grammar [1610]) of Albert Szenczi Molnár (1574– 1634) during the southbound stay in Copenhagen: had there been a precon- ceived intention to inquire into the subject, this book ought to have been an almost mandatory item in the Jesuits’ luggage. It might be added that, besides this work, the only Hungarian grammar referenced in the Demonstratio is the standard Jesuit grammar by Pereszlényi, mentioned above.88 One would also have expected Hell to have already asked for the most recent literature on the Sámi language and ethnography while in Copenhagen, with the Royal Library and the avid collector of learned literature and mighty interior minister Thott close at hand.89 Throughout their stay in Denmark–Norway, Hell and Sajnovics enjoyed Thott’s support. It is in this connection that the idea of introducing Hungarian orthography into the Sámi language, as a fully new topic in the 1771 edition of the Demonstratio also ascribed there to Hell, merits separate mention.90 This had important, though short-lived resonances in Copenhagen: by Thott’s deci- sion, the recommendations of the Viennese visitors were to be followed in the revision and reissuing of the official Danish dictionary of the Sámi language. In doing so, Thott overruled protests from Norwegian priests and missionaries who had a different understanding of the Sámi language and its origins.91 The 88 Sajnovics, Demonstratio (1770), 82: “Alone Molnár’s words, full of perspicuity and honesty that they are, are found worthy of being quoted. He […] wrote a grammar of Hungarian, published in Hanover and not seen by me until it was communicated to me by the Illustri- ous Gentleman Langebeck […]”; repeated in 2nd ed. (1771), 130. We are grateful to Zsuzsa C. Vladár for having called our attention to the scarce reliance on Hungarian grammars in the Demonstratio. 89 There is no record of an (attempted) meeting with Leem in 1768. However, the diary for the southbound journey contains the brief statement that “Mr. Leem, professor of the Lapponic language was visited.” Sajnovics, travel diary, draft version (wus), on September 7, 1769. 90 Sajnovics, Demonstratio (1771), 33. 91 This story is recounted in detail by Bente Martinussen, “Anders Porsanger: Teolog og språkforsker fra 1700-tallets Finnmark,” Nordlyd 18 (1992): 15–59; for a brief English sum- mary of her conclusions, see Even Hovdhaugen et al., The History of Linguistics in the Nor­ dic Countries (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 2000), 54–55. See also Pekka Sam- malahti, “History of Finno-Ugric Linguistics in the Nordic Countries,” in Studies in the Development of Linguistics in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, ed. Carol Henriksen et al. (Oslo: Novus Forlag), 297–323; Per Pippin Aspaas, “Maximilian Hellin ja