Wizards and Scientists

Written Culture in a Colonial Context

“…63. addressed to two different destinations. 36 Paez determined the approach to his refutation by effectively altering the order of the chapters of Urreta's books and responding to them point by point. So much so that the organisation of his 'book I' 37 is identical to that of Urreta: he maintained this ordering in books II and III, but not in book IV, which attempted to blend the history of the 17th-century Jesuits with that of Ethiopia, and allowed for no reference to Urreta, since Paez placed himself outside the chronological period reached by the Dominican.…”

“…81 Chaker & Hachi, 'À propos de l'origine et de l'âge de l'écriture libyco-berbère', p. 5, n. 1. 82 Malika Grasshof, Signes et rituels magiques des femmes kabyles. 1st edition (Aix-en-Provence:…”

“…36 The administration of the VOC was divided into six chambers, among which Zeeland and especially Amsterdam stood out for the number of its representatives (four and eight, respectively) among the Heeren XVII, the highest institution of the Company. In principle, each chamber was to receive all the documents sent from Asia; however, this arrangement was impractical, and led to repeated complaints from the four minor chambers (Enkhuisen, Delft, Hoorn and Rotterdam).…”

“…As Anne Good observes, this was 'part of the emerging trope of the Noble Savage' and one that would be employed by Kolb himself. 36 Later 18th-century writers on the subject of the Khoikhoi -such as Mentzel, 37 La Caille 38 and Gordon 39 -pounced on Kolb's errors gleefully and were disparaging of his efforts, seeking to cast doubts on his veracity. This may have stemmed partly from authorial competitiveness, but it should also be remembered that those who came after Kolb were no longer able to observe Khoikhoi society in anything like its original form.…”

“…40 After experiencing the savage customs of the Dutch sailors and German soldiers for months on end in a confined space, Khoikhoi society must have seemed relatively humane. Good has suggested that exposure to a Pietistic education at the 36 Although Kolb himself did not claim to be able to speak the language, he did provide a word list as proof that it was possible for Europeans to learn it. Kolb never claimed to be the author of this list, and acknowledged that he had benefited from the knowledge of a Company official at the Cape called De Greevenbroek as well as information collected on this subject by Nicolas Witsen, but this did not save him from subsequent accusations of plagiarism.…”