ABSTRACT
Warsaw in the early eighteenth century became the capital of a newly united Kingdom of Poland and Saxony, thus an occasion for new public representations of a city, and a case for studying the involvement of a royal physician in such activity. Far from restricting his activity to court or diplomacy, royal physician Christian Heinrich Erndtel (1676–1734) made Warsaw an object of research. The result was Warsavia physice illustrata (1730), a novel mix of natural history, description of culture and mores, architecture, airs and waters, including three years of daily weather observations printed in tables, a catalog of plants observed, and traditional panegyric. Putting these in parallel physicalized the city. Public medical office made possible and shaped Warsavia physice illustrata. Being a descendant of court and town physicians attuned Erndtel to place, and holding office as two realms came together encouraged expanding such awareness into published inquiry. Yet Erndtel’s respect for Polish sources did not entail integration into civic life. Office could link yet also separate a physician from his surroundings, and formalizing local knowledge could distance the observer from the observed. Erndtel exemplifies a capital city’s physician more than a civic one.
