Paper short abstract:

By the 18th century, whales were the subject of news appearing in Lisbon newspapers and pamphlets as local curiosities. This was an efficient way of communicating concepts of the natural world, conducted from the periphery to the center of Europe and directed to distinct audiences.

Paper long abstract:

News about exotic large marine animals started to spread around Europe since the second half of the 16th century. These, containing both written and visual information, were typically included in encyclopedias and treaties, but also in pamphlets that easily moved from one person to another, disseminating the available information through distinct means of communication and to different audiences. By the 18th century, both as part of newspapers and pamphlets, information about strange natural events were amply printed and translated in several vernacular languages. These became increasingly of great interest to common people and not only to scholars, naturalists or collectors. Printed news included records and rare occurrences of local and exotic fauna. The analysis of Portuguese sources contributed with good examples of such events, firstly published in Portugal and then copied and translated to other vernacular tongues. It is the case of a fin whale stranded in the Tagus estuary (Lisbon) reported in the "Gazeta de Lisboa" (January 1723) with a detailed description of the specimen, accompanied by an illustration of the whale with its measures, which was afterwards translated and printed in a German pamphlet. The title of both is similar, even though the German illustration is rather different from the Lisbon illustration. Here, the transfer of natural history accounts and communication of new concepts of the natural world was conducted from the periphery to the center of Europe. Generally, these took part of news nets of knowledge, were executed by distinct actors and directed to several audiences.