Although the concept of an artificial international language predates the eighteenth century, it was not until the late nineteenth century that it hit its stride. The rise of nationalisms (and antinationalisms) made the period a particularly fruitful one for universal languages, beginning with the appearance of Volapük ("World's Speech") in 1879, followed by Esperanto (1887), and Ido, or improved Esperanto (1907). All three have retained devotees into the present.

The first planned language to gain any degree of success, Volapük was the brain child of Johann Martin Schleyer (1831-1912), a Catholic priest from southern Germany who claimed to have received divine inspiration to improve international communication. Benefitting from a heavily systematized grammar, a rigorously consistency, and a clear method of word formation, Volapük aimed for ease of pronunciation and spelling, monosignificance of words (each word having only one meaning), and clarity in syntax and gender. At the same time, Schleyer made every effort to capture the richness and nuance of a natural language. His efforts, to say the least, struck a chord. During the 1880s, Volapük was wildly successful at attracting adherents drawn to the utopian dream of universal communication, with estimates of over 100,000 adherents at its peak of popularity. The language was spread through the formation of Volapük clubs, which sprang up throughout Europe and the Americas, and three International Congresses were held during the 1880s to promulgate the language, the first in Germany in 1884, followed by others in 1887 and 1889.

The decline of Volapük, however, was not long in coming. After the congress of 1889, Schleyer's vehement resistance to any alteration in his original conception eroded support, and the language began a slow decline relative to the upstart Esperanto. The problems with Volapük can be traced largely to internal causes, not only Schleyer's intransigence, but the complexity of verb forms, which featured a vast number of different endings to connoting subtle shades of meaning, its overly complex grammar, and its arbitrary choice of roots that made Volapük a chore for Europeans and Americans to learn. In the years following Schleyer's death in 1912, Volapük went into near total eclipse, enjoying only a brief revival in the Netherlands in the 1930s and, until the Nazis suppressed it, in Germany, as well. Arie de Jong's revision of 1931 (Volapük pebevoböl) made some significant improvements to Schleyer's idiosyncratic system, including in verb structures, tense, and grammar, however Volapük pebevoböl never regained the popularity of its parent. By the 1960s, only a handful of speakers remained, and these mostly Esperantists seeking little more than a point of linguistic comparison.

The Volapük Collection consists of approximately 0.25 linear feet of printed circular letters, newspapers, pamphlets, and ephemera, with a few hand-written postcards and letters, all relating to the first flowering of Volapük during the late 1880s and early 1890s. The collection reflects the brief, but intense international interest in the potential of Volapük to become a lingua franca of business and a medium for exchange across borders, and conveys some of the excitement its adherents felt at its potential.

The Volapük Collection appears to have been gathered largely by the American Volapükist, F. L. Hutchins of Worcester, Mass., probably for an informational exhibit on the language. Hutchins was involved both in his local Volapük club (the Volapükaklub de Worcester) and in the national Volapükaklub Nolumelopik (North American Association for the Propagation of Volapük), and the collection provides a slight, but balanced view of his internationalist aims. In addition to letters from European Volapükists, Hutchins displayed a letter in Volapük from China, and newspapers, promotional and informational circulars and publications in Volapük published by American Volapük advocates from Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon. Among the more interesting materials are a set of announcements for the First Annual Convention of American Volapükists and two circular letters (folder 33) describing the progress of Volapük in North America. Although most of these periodicals are represented by only a single issue, the geographic breadth of coverage is intriguing.

The collection has been retained in the order in which it was received, despite its somewhat chaotic nature. Several folders contain what appear to be exhibit labels (the text of which is transcribed in the descriptive notes below). Except as noted, all of the materials in the collection are printed or lithographic copies, intended for mass circulation.

None.

Acquired from M&S, June 1973 (accession number 1973-1167ms).

Cite as: Volapük Collection, American Philosophical Society.

Recatalogued by rsc, 2002.

The collection is completely microfilmed, Film 1319.

A broadside was removed from the collection to the Printed Materials Department:

Volapükaklub in Leitmeritz läsevom atoso söli Hutchins F. L. (Lietmeritz, 1891). Call no.: 973 C683, no.723

Volapük Centre, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Catalog of Contents, comp. by Brian R. Bishop (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, 1981). Call no.: 400 Pam., no.56