Page - 348 - in Maximilian Hell (1720–92) - And the Ends of Jesuit Science in Enlightenment Europe

Chapter 8348 of a “ calendar tariff” in exchange for this service, the academy would have made a hefty income.11 This deal would not have been unique in eighteenth- century Europe: in Sweden, Hell’s colleagues had secured income for the Acad- emy of Sciences in Stockholm in exactly the same manner.12 The first and the second source initially seemed rather unproblematic, whereas the Hungarian proposal was in any case insufficient to finance the entire project. It was the third and most substantial source of income that in the end toppled the entire project. The government committee on academic affairs (Studien-Hof-Commission)13 discussed the matter on November 14, 1774, and four days later a calendar privilege was issued for the academy.14 Al- ready in the same year, Hell published his first German-language calendar, and soon he produced others: an almanac for the knightly order, a Physikalischer Almanach (Physical almanac), a chronological almanac, an almanac for chil- dren, and an almanac with riddles.15 Hell also informed the public about the expected benefits of the scheme in announcements in the Viennese newspa- pers, using his new official title.16 There were thus hopes that the proposed scheme would be adopted, but the optimism soon began to subside. While provincial authorities were instructed to make sure that upon the expiry of existing calendar privileges their publishers stop issuing them, they were also requested reports on the print-run and pricing of existing calendars. From the responses, Hell calculated that the predictable income was substantially short of what had been expected:17 twenty-four to twenty-six thousand florins, while 11 A large number of documents have been preserved among the holdings of the Öster- reichisches Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv. Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv (HHStA ava). Studienhofkommission. 75: Wien Akademie der Wissenschaften (Sig. 15); 132: Protokolle der Studienhofkommission (Sig. 28.) 12 Lindroth, Vetenskapsakademiens Historia, 1:1, 102–10. 13 The committee at this time consisted, among others, of long-standing and experienced servants of the Theresan reforms, such as Kollár and law professor Martini, as well as more recent recruits like Rautenstrauch—but also Ignaz Müller, by now dismissed as the confessor of the empress and an ex-Jesuit, but still the abbot of the prestigious Viennese Stift St. Dorothea. 14 For the protocols, HHStA ava Studienhofkommission, 132. Sig. 28. fols. 724–25; 75. For the privilege, Sig. 15. Akademie. Kalenderwesen 1774–1776: 1775. No. 2, fols. 1–2. “Privilegium impressorium privativum für die […] Akademie der Wissenschaften auf alle Kalender.” 15 Sommervogel, “Hell,” 256. On the encompassing meaning of “physical,” see above, 321. 16 See, e.g., WD, no. 92 (November 18, 1775): 8. 17 The reason for this was the amount of state duties included in the price of almanacs. Hell requested exemption from these duties. He, however, never requested “to be relieved of responsibility” as claimed in the introduction to the publication of the academy plan in Lengyel and Tüskés, Learned Societies, 67.