Accademia dei Lincei

Accademia dei Lincei =
Academy of the Lynxes

Founding of the Society

Year Authority / Notes

1603 This date is supported by Stillman Drake's article on Frederico Cesi (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
The Accademia dei Lincei (Academy of Lynxes), was founded in 1603 by Duke Frederico Cesi, and was the earliest society that appears to have published any proceedings. The founding members chose the society's name because of the visual acuity of the lynx. The society's most illustrious member, Galileo, joined in 1609. But the Copernican disputes caused a schism in the group in 1615. With the death of their patron, Cesi, the group disbanded in 1630. This was followed soon after by the ecclesiastical condemnation of Galileo (1633).
According to Maylender (1926-1930), v.3, p.367, after the disbanding of the Roman Accademia dei Lincei in 1630, the centre of scientific study passed from Rome to Napoli and Florence, where two illustrious scientific societies carried on the tradition of the Lincei: the Accademia degl' Investiganti (founded 1650 in Napoli) and the Accademia del Cimento (founded in 1657 in Florence).
For a history of the various attempts to revive the Accademia, the reader may consult both the Italian and English histories at the website of its current incarnation, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. The reader is advised that neither version of the history is a simple translation of the other, and that the English version erroneously indicates that Pope Pius IX revived the Academy in 1817 (the correct date is 1847).
It is interesting that the first substantive revival of the Accademia dei Lincei was by an ecclesiastical authority, Pope Pius IX, in 1847 (more than two centuries after it had been disbanded) when he resurrected it as the Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei. In 1870 or 1871, the Accademia split into two parts, one retaining the ecclesiastical name (which was changed in 1903 to Pontificia Accademia Romana dei Nuovi Lincei), and the other taking a secular name Reale Accademia dei Lincei indicating royal patronage. It is this latter society that later became the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Seat of the Society

City Authority / Notes

Rome
Italy This location is supported by Stillman Drake's article on Frederico Cesi (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

Name of the Society

Dates Name Authority

1603 - 1630 Accademia dei Lincei This name and date of cessation are supported by Stillman Drake's article on Frederico Cesi (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Webpage = http://www.lincei.it/

Journals of the Society

Years Full Journal Title Abbrev. Indexed
1609 Gesta Lynceorum

On p.75 of The Rôle of Scientific Societies in the Seventeenth Century, Martha Ornstein indicates that this publication (the proceedings of the Academy) is mentioned on p.11 of Domenico Carutti's Breve Storia della Accademia dei Lincei (Rome, 1883).
It would appear that this record of the proceedings of the Accademia dei Lincei exists only in manuscript form in the Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, Archivio Linceo 3, Italia, XVII secolo, c. 3r, Oroscopo Linceo (see the second thumb-nail figure on Il Trionfo sul Tempo _Manoscritti illustrati della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei)

Accademia dei Lincei = Academy of the Lynxes
Founding of the Society
Year	Authority / Notes
1603	This date is supported by Stillman Drake's article on *Frederico Cesi* (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the *Dictionary of Scientific Biography. The Accademia dei Lincei* (Academy of Lynxes), was founded in 1603 by Duke Frederico Cesi, and was the earliest society that appears to have published any proceedings. The founding members chose the society's name because of the visual acuity of the lynx. The society's most illustrious member, Galileo, joined in 1609. But the Copernican disputes caused a schism in the group in 1615. With the death of their patron, Cesi, the group disbanded in 1630. This was followed soon after by the ecclesiastical condemnation of Galileo (1633). According to Maylender (1926-1930), v.3, p.367, after the disbanding of the Roman Accademia dei Lincei in 1630, the centre of scientific study passed from Rome to Napoli and Florence, where two illustrious scientific societies carried on the tradition of the Lincei: the Accademia degl' Investiganti (founded 1650 in Napoli) and the Accademia del Cimento (founded in 1657 in Florence). For a history of the various attempts to revive the Accademia, the reader may consult both the Italian and English histories at the website of its current incarnation, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. The reader is advised that neither version of the history is a simple translation of the other, and that the English version erroneously indicates that Pope Pius IX revived the Academy in 1817 (the correct date is 1847). It is interesting that the first substantive revival of the *Accademia dei Lincei* was by an ecclesiastical authority, Pope Pius IX, in 1847 (more than two centuries after it had been disbanded) when he resurrected it as the *Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei. In 1870 or 1871, the Accademia split into two parts, one retaining the ecclesiastical name (which was changed in 1903 to Pontificia Accademia Romana dei Nuovi Lincei), and the other taking a secular name Reale Accademia dei Lincei* indicating royal patronage. It is this latter society that later became the *Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei*.
Seat of the Society
City	Authority / Notes
Rome Italy	This location is supported by Stillman Drake's article on *Frederico Cesi* (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the *Dictionary of Scientific Biography*.
Name of the Society
Dates	Name	Authority
1603 - 1630	*Accademia dei Lincei*	This name and date of cessation are supported by Stillman Drake's article on *Frederico Cesi* (1585-1630) on pp.179-180 of v.3 of the *Dictionary of Scientific Biography*.
*Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei* Webpage = http://www.lincei.it/

Journals of the Society
Years	Full Journal Title	Abbrev.	Indexed
1609	*Gesta Lynceorum* On p.75 of *The Rôle of Scientific Societies in the Seventeenth Century, Martha Ornstein indicates that this publication (the proceedings of the Academy) is mentioned on p.11 of Domenico Carutti's Breve Storia della Accademia dei Lincei* (Rome, 1883). It would appear that this record of the proceedings of the Accademia dei Lincei exists only in manuscript form in the Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana, Archivio Linceo 3, Italia, XVII secolo, c. 3r, Oroscopo Linceo (see the second thumb-nail figure on Il Trionfo sul Tempo _Manoscritti illustrati della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei)