Academy of the Lynx




Letter from Marilyn Ogilvie:

On March 6, 2002, we inaugurated a new support group for the History of Science Collections. Since our handsome screen has a lynx as one of its emblems and since our Collections are known for works by Galileo containing his own handwriting, we decided that it was altogether appropriate to name our new group “The OU Academy of the Lynx” after the early Italian scientific society Accademia dei Lincei. The original Lincei was established in 1603 by Frederico Cesi and three friends as a private scientific academy that would provide a valuable channel of communication and facilitate scientific research. The first decades of the 1600s were a glorious period in the life of this society, and its best-known member, Galileo Galilei, proudly published books under the symbol of the lynx.

The society’s original fame was short-lived, for the prestige associated with Galileo was replaced by opprobrium after his trial in 1633. The Lincei disbanded in that year, not to be reconstituted until 1847 when Pope Pius IX founded the Pontifical Academy of the Lynx. Charles Darwin was a celebrated member of the new Lincei. Edoardo Vesentini, the president of the current Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, answered a letter from Judge Robert Henry requesting permission to call our group the “Academy or Society of the Lynx.” Vesentini wrote:

“The quality and quantity of volumes in the collection are indeed impressive, and we are especially envious of the first editions of Galileo’s works as, I am sure you know, Galileo was among the first members of the Accademia dei Lincei. I have no objection to your calling the proposed group of friends of the Collections the Society of the Lynx, and I hope to have the occasion to visit your Library sometime in the future.”

It is our hope that members of the OU Academy of the Lynx will support our Collections by word of mouth (let people know what Oklahomans have here!), by your presence at functions (we hope to bring in well-known speakers for our annual meeting), and financially as you are able (helping us buy books to fulfill our mission which we would otherwise be unable to acquire; see the article inside on the first edition of Ptolemy’s Almagest).

I hope that you will decide to become a Lynx. With your support, we will sustain the excellence of one of Oklahoma’s most precious resources.

Marilyn B. Ogilvie
Curator and Professor

Maintained by: History of Science Collections
Last updated: 8/5/2009 9:50:58 PM
Accessible at: http://libraries.ou.edu/cms/?id=44