Caspar Stoll
Encyclopedia
Admiralty of Amsterdam
The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various Admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests...
, he published several works on entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
. Stoll's publications of stick insects, mantids and their relatives
Phasmatodea
The Phasmatodea are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects , walking sticks or stick-bugs , phasmids, ghost insects and leaf insects...
are particularly well known.
Life
In 1791 Stoll wrote he spent fifteen years on Natuurlyke, his book on mantids. On the title page Stoll mentioned he was a member of the Scientific Society in HalleHalle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, but could not be confirmed. The introduction stated "All the drawings will be made from nature, based upon specimens found in the cabinets of our provinces". Besides he writes: "One should not expect learned and anatomical Descriptions which is above my reach, and using rented pencils many times causes rented thoughts, and as well as theft of characters". Stoll mentioned that all the butterflies and insects were collected in the Dutch colonies, like Surinam, Ceylon, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, Ambon
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. The work was completed "without losing sight of the all-powerful hand of the Creator". In the 18th century this was a sort of automatism, to safeguard a book from being banned or burned.
Caspar Stoll and his brother Georg Daniel both lived in the Hague. It looks like Caspar worked in 1746 for a notary, several times he put his signature as a witness. His first wife was Maria Sardijn, her brother was a tax collector and a notary. On January, 18th, 1761 they married in a church Scheveningen. Then they had four children baptized in The Hague. The godfather of the two boys was twice William V of Orange-Nassau and once baron Rengers. Before 1769 Stoll moved to Amsterdam, and in 1772 two children died within a few months. The couple lived on Haarlemmerdijk near Prinsengracht in a house he bought in 1778, and close to Jan Christiaan Sepp, who published some of his works.
His second wife was Anna Elisabeth Kaal, originally from Hamburg, her brothers lived in the area nearby. They married with a settlement on October 21, 1791, after having a baby, born a few months before. Stoll was working hard to finish his handwritten copies, now belonging to the Artis
Artis
Artis, short for Natura Artis Magistra , is a zoo in the centre of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands...
Library. On December 22, 1791 Stoll had made up his will. Before the end of the year he died. On the January 2, 1792 Stoll was buried in Noorderkerk
Noorderkerk
The Noorderkerk is a 17th century Protestant church in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A number of other towns in the Netherlands also have a Noorderkerk church, including The Hague, Hoorn and Kampen.-History:...
in the morning. Precisely a year after his death his widow, a member of the Lutheran church, married "surprisingly" A.R. van Weylik, a burgomaster of Edam
Edam
Edam is a city in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. Combined with Volendam, Edam forms the municipality of Edam-Volendam. Approximately 7,380 people live in Edam. The whole municipality of Edam-Volendam has 28,492 inhabitants...
. She must have had something special: it could be her beauty, but also a collection.
Works
- With Pieter CramerPieter CramerPieter Cramer , was a wealthy Dutch merchant in linen and Spanish wool, and an entomologist. Cramer was the director of the Zealand Society, a scientific society located in Flushing and a member of Concordia et Libertate, based in Amsterdam...
De Uitlandsche Kapellen, ([1775-] 1779-1782), Amsterdam. It consists of 34 issues in four volumes with 400 drawings accompanied with descriptions of the insects. The work was commissioned by the society Concordia et Libertate, founded in 1747 in Amsterdam. Cramer, a member of this literary and patrioticPatriots (faction)The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
society, died before the publication was completed. Stoll took over the entire responsibility for the project, also producing a supplement.
De Uitlandsche Kapellen is a key work in the history of entomology. Accurately illustrated with hand-coloured engravings this was the first book on exotic Lepidoptera to use the new system by Carl Linnaeus
Carolus Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
for naming and classifying animals. Over 1,658 butterfly species are described many named and illustrated first time. Gerrit Wartenaar
Gerrit Wartenaar
Gerrit Wartenaar is a Dutch and hardly known painter. His name is not in one of the manuals. Gerrit Wartenaar was the son of Lambertus Wartenaar, a mapmaker. In 1772 Gerrit married a fifteen-year-older woman, Maria Spekman...
is identified as the painter. The original paintings are in the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, London.
- Proeve van eene rangschikkinge der donsvleugelige insecten, Lepidopterae .. = Essai d'un ordre systématique des insectes à ailes farineuses, Lepidopterae / Caspar Stoll, 1782 and 1791.
- De afbeeldingen der uitlandsche dag- en nagtkapellen, voorkomende in de vier deelen van het werk van wijlen den heere Peter Cramer: in orde gebragt en gevolgd naar mijne proeve van eene systematische rangschikkinge ... Stoll, Caspar / Amsterdam etc. / 1787.
- Natuurlijke en naar het leven nauwkeurig gekleurde afbeeldingen en beschrijvingen der spoken, wandelende bladen, zabel-springhanen, krekels, trek-springhanen en kakkerlakken in alle vier delen der wereld, Europa, Asia, Afrika en Amerika huishoudende = Représentation exactement colorée d'après nature des spectres, des mautes, des sauterelles, des grillons, des criquets et des blattes, qui se trouvent dans les quatre parties du monde, l'Europe, l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amérique / bij een verzameld en beschreven door Caspar Stoll. Amsterdam, 1787.
- Natuurlyke en naar 't leeven naauwkeurig gekleurde afbeeldingen en beschryvingen der wantzen, in alle vier waerelds-deelen Europa, Asia, Africa en America huishoudende = Représentation exactement colorée d'après nature des punaises, etc. Stoll, Caspar / by Jan Christ. Sepp / 1788.
- Natuurlyke en naar 't leeven naauwkeurig gekleurde afbeeldingen en beschryvingen der cicaden, in alle vier waerelds-deelen Europa, Asia, Africa en America huishoudende = Représentation exactement colorée d'après nature des cigales, etc. Stoll, Caspar / by Jan Christ. Sepp / 1788.