Magnets, minerals and books for Teyler’s Museum Martinus van Marum’s Russian aspirations in the period c.1800

Teyler’s Museum in Haarlem, today one of the most remarkable historic institutions in the Netherlands, owes its existence to the estate of textile merchant and banker Pieter Teyler van der Hulst (1702–1778). However, the foundations for both the collections and the building which houses this encyclopaedic museum of nature and art were laid largely thanks to the efforts of one man, the physician and natural philosopher Martinus van Marum (1750–1837), first director of Teyler’s Museum from 1784. The present article focuses on Van Marum’s efforts to establish contacts with Russia alongside his many international connections. It examines how and why he attempted to gain foreign membership of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and how and why he endeavoured to augment the Teyler’s Museum collections through the acquisition of books on Russia, Siberian minerals and a highly powerful Russian magnet. It also attempts to explain why some of his efforts were more successful than others.