Judith Brouwer
The more exclusive an academy was, the more eager people were to join. The
ZGW soon realized that it had to set standards for the acceptance of members,
which turned out to be relatively strict.30 Furthermore, the ZGW did not distin
guish between members and foreign correspondents, a distinction the Royal So
ciety of London did make. This becomes clear in the Membership Register of the
ZGW, which makes no distinction between those residing within or outside of the
Dutch Republic.31 This is logical when considering the fact that those who lived
within the Dutch Republic, but not in Zeeland, had fewer opportunities to at
tend the society's lectures and meetings - much like international members. Thus,
members and directors residing outside of the province Zeeland had to connect
with the ZGW through correspondence, similarly to those who lived outside of
the Dutch Republic. The ZGW grew to include 135 directors and members in its
first five years of existence (1766-1771).32
Regarding these first five years, relatively little is known on how this society
created its network, which included not only renowned Dutch individuals but
also international members. Mijnhardt argues that the correspondence network
of the ZWG was established by chance and was mainly based on personal con
nections of the members of the ZWG. He bases his argument on the fact that re
nowned persons of that time were not part of the ZGW, although 'second or third
rank intellectuals' were.33 This argument is not convincing as it is unsupported
by substantial research into the primary sources that could substantiate such a
significant claim. The question arises to what extent - and if so, how - the ZGW
was able to build an active national and international network?
Methodology
Before analysing how the network of the ZGW contributed to the creation of
knowledge, it is critical to understand how the network was established and who
was part of it. The study of networks has become increasingly popular, which
can be attributed in part to the rise of new technologies that have improved the
ability to gather, store, analyse, and eventually visualise data of networks. Social
Network Analysis (SNA) is a combination of the techniques developed in the field
lOl
30 Mijnhardt, Tot Heil van't Menschdom, 150.
31 ZA, Archief KZGW, inv. nr. 121.
32 ZA, Archief KZGW, inv. nr. 121, scan 1-10; for a visualization of the members and directors of
the ZGW between 1766-1771 see Appendix I, Figure 1.
33 Mijnhardt, Tot Heil van't Menschdom, 158.
