Catalogue Entry: THEM00029
Drafts of portions of John Conduitt's intended Life of Newton
- Four draft plans for 'An Account of the State of Philosophy in general when Sr Isaac Newton first appeared'
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Account of Newton's life before going to university
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft account of Newton's early life
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft account of Newton's life at Cambridge
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - 'Miscellanea' (assorted notes and anecdotes concerning Newton)
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Notes on Newton's character
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Notes on Newton's care for his mother
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Account of Newton's manual dexterity
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Anecdotes about Newton from various sources
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Account of a conversation between Newton and Conduitt
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Extracts from Newton's notebooks
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Notes on Newton's dispute with Robert Hooke
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Notes on Newton's suitability for canonisation if not deification
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Eye-witness account of Newton's death
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Note on Newton's 'unpromising' infancy and (deleted) eulogy of Alexander Pope
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Rough draft preface for the Life of Newton
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text]
Custodial History
Bought by Keynes at the Sotheby sale for £16.
Sotheby Lot
SL212Contents
1. 'An account of the State of Philosophy in general when Sr Isaac Newton first appeared': 4 drafts of a list of sub-headings, 8 pp.
2. Account of Newton's life to the time of his going to Cambridge, c. 3,500 words, 36 pp.
3. An earlier draft of the preceding (some passages in pencil), 43 pp.
4. Account of Newton's life and work at Cambridge, c. 1,500 words, 16 pp.
5. 'Miscellanea': a collection of anecdotes about Newton, mostly collected from his acquaintances, c. 2,000 words, 17 pp.
6. Four small pocket books containing anecdotes of Newton written in pencil (in two books the writing has faded and is illegible, but the material appears to have been incorporated in no. 5).
7. An account of Newton's character, c. 2,500 words, 18 pp.
8. Newton's love of and gratitude to his mother, 2 drafts, each c. 150 words, in all 4 pp.
9. Newton's manual dexterity, etc., 2 drafts, each c. 400 words, and a partial draft, in all 8 pp.
10. Anecdotes about Newton, c. 1,800 words, 8 pp.
11. Account of a conversation between Newton and Conduitt on 7 March 1724/5, mainly about comets, c. 700 words, 2 pp. Written on an undated holograph letter from Conduitt to [?] concerning financial arrangements.
12. Extracts from Newton's notebooks concerning his discovery of the method of infinite series, and the computation of the area of a hyperbola, etc., c. 350 words, 2 pp.
13. Note on Newton's dispute with Hooke, c. 350 words, 4 pp.
14. A note to the effect that if Newton had lived in past ages or a different country he would have had a better claim to deification, or at least to canonisation, than those who have achieved these honours: 'his vertues proved him a Saint & his discoveries might well pass for miracles', c. 300 words, 2 pp.
15. A fragment containing notes for an account of Newton's last illness and death; also references to anecdotes, c. 400 words, 2 pp.
16. Note on Newton's 'unpromising habit of body' in infancy, a trait he shared with Descartes, Alexander Pope and other great geniuses, c. 150 words, 1 p.
17. Sketch of a 'Preface' to the intended Life, c. 500 words, 4 pp.
Related Material
Excerpts widely reproduced.
