Early career Born in Delft, Van Marum moved to
Haarlem in 1776 "because the Haarlemmers had more taste in the sciences than anywhere else in the Netherlands"
. Besides being involved with the
Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen, he was an ordinary member (5 December 1776) and a corresponding member (from 25 December 1776) of the
Provinciaal Utrechtsch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, a member of the
Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke wijsbegeerte from 1784, a member of the
Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen from 27 August 1782, corresponding member of the
Académie des Sciences from 1783, and a member of the
Assembly of Notables on 29 March 1814. In 1808 he was asked by
Louis Bonaparte to be a member of the
committee for the formation of the Koninklijk Instituut along with
Jeronimo de Bosch,
Jean Henri van Swinden, and
Martinus Stuart. He became member of the institute the same year.
Merging societies, separate collections Under his guidance the two societies slowly merged. His name is associated with the
Electriseermachine, the largest electricity demonstration machine with
Leiden jars built in the 18th century and at the time a crowd pleaser for the young Teylers museum. The demonstration model is still on display, as is a smaller version in the
Museum Boerhaave of
Leiden. Van Marum's researches (especially in connection with electricity) were remarkable for their number and variety. The Teyler's Museum kept its role as a museum of scientific research (some of the periodical subscriptions he started are still running) and is a repository of important scientific demonstration models from the period. Not only items regarding electricity, but also weather stations, industrial models, steam engines, and other examples of the budding industrial revolution were collected and lovingly displayed. The collection of the Teyler's was mostly based on scientific theory, while the collection of the Dutch Society of Science was mostly based on scientific practise. The rooms in the Grote Houtstraat were filled with stuffed animals and other "naturalia", while the summer garden was a modern continuation of Linder's old
Linnaeus hortus once located behind the original city hall quarters in the Prinsenhof. Since Linder had not known any Latin, it was easier for Van Marum to entertain foreign visitors with stories of Linnaean trivia and of course, the Haarlem story of
tulip mania.
Teylers Museum In 1784, when the Teylers Museum opened its new 'Oval Room', the artist
Vincent Jansz van der Vinne was hired as curator of the art collection and lived in Pieter Teyler's former residence that was called the "
Fundatiehuis" as concierge and caretaker of the art collection. He left the next year because of continuous disagreements with Van Marum over art and the opening hours of the museum. Van der Vinne was an artist born into an important Haarlem artist family – he was the great-grandson of
Vincent van der Vinne. The Teyler's museum replaced him with another local artist,
Wybrand Hendricks, who painted the famous oval room and many other Haarlem scenes. Hendricks is largely responsible for the Teyler's collection of
Old Master prints, most notably the purchase in Rome 1790 of a print & drawing collection formerly owned by
Christina of Sweden. Apparently he got along under Van Marum, but when he left in 1819 at the age of 75, the Teyler's decided to discontinue the purchase of art "for the decline in art enthusiasts in this city". During the tenure of Hendriks, Van Marum himself was busy giving public demonstrations of electricity in the Oval room, but was also collecting in this period (this is why he was so involved with the lifestyle of the concierge of the Fundatiehuis, since he was there every day). He concentrated on scientific publications for the Teyler library. He concentrated his efforts on three aspects: 1) Greek and Latin authors, among them the church fathers, 2) Works of natural history including
travelogues, and 3) natural history periodicals, including all publications of the
Royal Society of London and all publications of the Dutch Society of Science, which Teyler had been a member of, but could not be on the board of, due to religious differences with the board. The criteria for purchase was always expense. If a Society member could afford to purchase it himself it was not worth adding to the collection. Any member could suggest purchases, however, which explains why the collection is filled with richly illustrated examples of contemporary publications. The most impressive of these are the large illustrated books of travellers. To view the collection, Van Marum organised
gentleman evenings in Pieter Teyler's library, a tradition that still exists. ==Legacy==