Eleonore von Raab, also known as Éléonore de Raab, (17551811) was an Austrian collector of minerals, whose collection was catalogued by

Ignaz von Born Ignaz Edler von Born, also known as Ignatius von Born ( hu, Born Ignác, ro, Ignațiu von Born, cs, Ignác Born) (26 December 1742 in Alba Iulia, Grand Principality of Transylvania, Habsburg monarchy – 24 July 1791 in Vienna), was a mineral ...

in 1790.

Personal life

Von Raab was the daughter of

Franz Anton von Raab Franz Anton von Raab (1722-1783) was an Austrian agrarian reformer and a minister under Maria Theresa. He championed economic reforms known as Raabization, in which church-owned land was sold to peasants in return for cash payments that freed the ...

(although Wilson ''Information about Von Raab is included in section 9, about the catalogue of her collection'' names her father as Bartholomeus Raab). She married the Spanish ambassador della Huerta, or Friedrich von Uberta and is sometimes referred to as "Frau von Uberta". Huber and Huber in their 2015 paper about her collection give her dates as "1755-1811, having written earlier (2009) that she "must have lived from about 1745 to about 1830", while Wilson gives her dates as "(1741–1793?)", and Schuh could only say "( 1790s)". She died in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain.

Collection

Von Raab built up a collection of about 2,500 specimens, with the assistance of

. It included 41 specimens bought in 1791 and 1792 from the English collector Philip Rashleigh. Born produced his ''Catalogue Methodique et Raisonne de la Collection des Fossiles de Mlle. Éléonore de Raab'' in 1790, in two volumes in an edition of 70 copies. This formed the basis of William Babington's 1799 ''"A New System of Mineralogy, in the form of a Catalogue, after the manner of Baron Born's Systematic Catalogue of the collection of fossils of Mlle Éléonore de Raab''. A copy of Born's catalogue was among 213 books from

James Smithson James Smithson (c. 1765 – 27 June 1829) was an English chemist and mineralogist. He published numerous scientific papers for the Royal Society during the late 1700s as well as assisting in the development of calamine, which would eventually ...

's collection which were bequeathed to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. After Born's death in 1791, Von Raab's collection was sold to Count Moritz Christian Friess of Vienna. Friess's collection was sold in 1824, a major purchaser being Ferdinand Zimmerman of the Medicinisch-Chirurgische Josephs-Akademie. In 2009, Simone and Peter Huber reported that they believed they had found the collection, with about 45% of the specimens remaining. They had found a reference in the

Esterházy The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...

archives at

Forchtenstein Castle Forchtenstein Castle (german: Burg Forchtenstein; hu, Fraknó vára; hr, Fortnavski grad) is a castle built in the Late Middle Ages near the municipality of Forchtenstein in northern Burgenland, Austria. Forchtenstein Castle is above sea leve ...

to "Die kleinere Mineralien-Sammlung oder die ehemalige Sammlung des Fräulein von Raab." ("The smaller mineral collection, or the former collection of Miss von Raab"), described as being in two cabinets with drawers and glass doors. On being given permission to investigate a mineral collection which they knew was housed in the castle, they found two cabinets and a collection in a poor condition but with many specimens still labelled. The cabinets each held 30 drawers which were divided into 7x7 = 49 sections, allowing for a total of 2 x 30 x 49 = 2940 specimens. They compared some of the labels with Born's catalogue and found that they corresponded, supporting the identification of the collection. The castle archivist recognised the significance of the collection and agreed to have the cabinets professionally restored and to transfer the cabinets and collection to the

Schloss Esterházy Schloss Esterházy ( hu, Esterházy-kastély) is a palace in Eisenstadt, Austria, the capital of the Burgenland state. It was constructed in the late 13th century, and came under ownership of the Hungarian Esterházy family in 1622. Under Paul ...

Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074. In the Habsburg ...

. In the 2009 paper the authors say that work on the collection is ongoing and a detailed description is in preparation. The Hubers published a paper on "The mineral collection of Eleonore von Raab" in ''

The Mineralogical Record ''The Mineralogical Record is a'' mineralogy magazine, published in the United States by The Mineralogical Record Inc. with a periodicity of six issues a year, totaling approximately 700 pages. Publish, in English, articles on topographic mineralo ...

'' in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Eleonore Von 18th-century births Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Natural history collectors Women collectors Austrian collectors 18th-century Austrian women