“Voir cette merveille et la faire voir”

What is it about?

This article examines the early circulations of the Drebbelian microscope between France and Italy in 1622-1624 and maps the material and personal links that connected these territories. It addresses the question of the value of those new microscopes for the learned community and the way they could serve as gifts as well as means of introduction or of gaining reputation. The microscope was seen as a curiosity likely to bestow credit on the person who “makes one see”, which explained the attempts to control information about it, until its value declined because of the difficulties to operate the device properly or the absence of persuasive scientific or philosophic uses.

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