The Republic of Letters (Res Publica Litterarum or Res Publica Literaria) was the long-distance intellectual community that began during the early 16th century through the early 19th century in Europe and the Americas. It was a network of intellectual communication that emerged as a way to overcome distance between scientific communities and to overcome the growing polarization between nations and the political tension. It is believed that references to a republic of letters date back as far as the 13th century, but that the first time the term came into broader circulation was beginning in 1684 as a result of new publications in Amsterdam by French philosopher Pierre Bayle . It fostered communication among the intellectuals of the Age of Enlightenment, or philosophes as they were called in France, and ultimately arose as a way to combat growing censorship from the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation. These communities that transcended national boundaries formed the basis of a metaphysical republic. Because of societal constraints on women, the Republic of Letters consisted mostly of men.
The Republic of Letters relied heavily on handwritten letters for correspondence. In addition to correspondence, the first form of communication was travel using educational circuits and physical forms of scholarly interactions. As time progressed, handwritten letters and print culture became more prominent, and scholars would often use students as a way to transmit information while also avoiding shipping costs that were ever increasing. Periodicals and printed publications remained the most successful however, when trying to spread information and scientific discovery to the masses.
History
The first known occurrence of the term in its Latin form (Respublica literaria) is in a letter by Francesco Barbaro to Poggio Bracciolini dated July 6, 1417. Currently, the consensus is that Pierre Bayle first translated the term in his journal Nouvelles de la République des Lettres in 1684. But there are some historians who disagree and some have gone so far as to say that its origin dates back to Plato's Republic.
Academies like the Royal Society encouraged discourse and debate that led to enlightenment. Their motto Nullius in verba (take nobody's word for it) embodied the spirit of inquiry and scientific investigation.
The Royal Society primarily promoted science, which was undertaken by wealthy gentlemen acting independently. Preceded by the Invisible College, The Royal Society created its charters and established a system of governance. Its most famous leader was Isaac Newton, president from 1703 until his death in 1727. Other notable members include diarist John Evelyn, writer Thomas Sprat, and scientist Robert Hooke, the Society's first curator of experiments. It played an international role to adjudicate scientific findings, and published the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society edited by Henry Oldenburg.
The seventeenth century saw new academies open in France, Germany, and elsewhere. By 1700, they were found in most major cultural centers.[pageneeded]Anne Goldgar argues that, in the transitional period between the 17th century and the Enlightenment, the most important common concern by members of the Republic was their own conduct. In the conception of its own members, ideology, religion, political philosophy, scientific strategy, and other intellectual or philosophical frameworks were not as important as their own identity as a community.
A radical critique of worldliness, inspired by Rousseau, emerged in salons after 1770. These radicals denounced the mechanisms of polite sociability and called for a new model of the independent writer who would address the public and the nation.
Female contribution
There are several examples of important female figures who have contributed significant works to the Republic of Letters, and they would often offer important contributions to the scientific world while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of education for women and the flaws of the system at the time, which enforced gender inequality. These female figures included Anna Maria van Schurman , who is known for her ability to foster a sense of community among the women involved in the Republic of Letters. She is considered to be the first female university student in Europe today, and had multiple works in the Republic about the rights of women to education. In addition to her work on social reformation, she was particularly known for her education and correspondence about theology and philosophy and the connections between natural observations and the work of God. Another significant female figure includes Marie de Gourney, a female writer born in Paris at the peak of the Renaissance period in France. From a young age, Gourney was very involved in several languages, including Greek, Latin, Spanish, and more, and as she grew older, she developed an interest in humanist scholarship and the French language. Her correspondence with Justus Lipsius, a known French Humanist, as well as her interactions with Michel de Montaigne, who adopted her as his pupil, are known as the beginning of her writing career in the Republic of Letters. Later in her life, she had letters to Montaigne that were in retaliation to his views about female education. These examples both demonstrate that women had a significant role not only due to their contributions to science, but also in how they merged social reform with scientific innovation.
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