Narzędzia do eksploracji wnętrza ziemi podróżnika po Sycylii i Malcie, hrabiego Michała Jana Borcha (1753–1810)

Abstract

Count Michael Johann von der Borch (1753–1810), born into a Polish-Livonian aristocratic family in Varakļāni, authored a whole number of ground-breaking geological treatises and famous works on the mineralogy of Sicily. Shortly after appearing in print (1776–1782), his works gained well-deserved praise and recognition throughout Europe, and were extensively discussed in the literature well into the nineteenth century. In these works, the talented writer and naturalist, born in the former Polish Livonia (now Latgale in Latvia), made a number of observations that were highly innovative by the standards of the time. For example, he noted that the presence of certain plants could be used as an indication of prospective mineral deposits. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe himself, in his Italian Journey, a report on travels to Italy from 1786–1788, praised von der Borch for his Lettres sur la Sicile et sur l’île de Malthe as an excellent guide to the natural resources of the largest Mediterranean island. In the paper, we draw the reader’s attention not only to the scientific potential of Borch’s legacy (for decades, his natural history collections were kept in his native Varakļāni), but also to its symbolic significance for the early Romantic sensibility.