Eduard Hackel and his Italian correspondents

In the late 1800s to early 1900s, thanks to the developments of the postal services that made correspondence increasingly easier and quicker, there was an intense exchange of scientific ideas inside what can be defined as “invisible colleges”. Those were correspondence networks connecting several scientists and intellectuals that regularly exchanged ideas and knowledge. 

Eduard Hackel was no exception: since he became well known in the botanical community as a grass specialist, he started receiving hundreds of letters, often containing specimens to be identified, coming from all parts of Europe and the world (or at least, Europe’s colonies).

In fact, he lived at the end of the phase of big trans-oceanic scientific expeditions: by the middle of the 19th century all of the world's major land masses, and most of the minor ones, had been discovered by Europeans and their coastlines charted, and it became possible to earn a living as a professional scientist on an exploratory sailing ship. Many scientists choose to establish themself for long periods of time in European colonies.

Although correspondence between Europe and the rest of the world was still more expensive and less certain than within European states, colonial powers had courier networks for official correspondence, some of which expanded into full-fledged postal systems. As commerce grew, the post followed in its wake. Newly independent nations in the Americas established national postal services and, increasingly, signed postal treaties with one another and European powers. 

In 2024 the botanical department of the Natural History Museum of Vienna came in possession of a collection of more than 700 letters sent to Eduard Hackel between 1870 and 1932 by botanists writing from 40 different countries, in 6 different languages, in which he must have been fluent (German, English, Italian, French, Spanish and Latin). 

Among the senders, we identified 17 Italian scientists, whose letters are available for consultation in this Site.