Newton as Theologian, Artisan, and Chamber-Fellow: Some New Documents

Abstract

This chapter presents a new source relating to the activity of Isaac Newton in the late 1670s and 1680s: three letters sent by Newton to his Trinity chamber-fellow, John Wickins, which deal with topics such as the making of telescopes and reading about the history of the early church. The chapter places the letters in context, demonstrating Newton’s engagement with the London instrument trade and with newly acquired books in the library of Trinity College. It also sheds light on the previously mysterious character of Wickins and his activities.

Appendix

Appendix, giving the authors mentioned in the correspondence and their books, listed in the order in which they appear in the letters, and with comments on their accessibility for Newton before 1682 and his early use of them (based on citation or reference in manuscripts that were written in whole or in part before Newton’s theological interests expanded and changed in the mid-late 1680s).⁵⁰

• ‘Justin Martyr’: Newton later owned the 1686 Cologne reprint of the edition in Greek and Latin of Justin’s works prepared by Friedrich Sylburg (first published at Heidelberg in 1593); Barrow, the dispersal of whose library Newton superintended in 1677, owned the 1593 edition and a Latin edition edited by Joachim Périon and published at Paris in 1544; Trinity almost certainly owned Robert Estienne’s 1551 edition in Greek and may also have owned the 1636 Paris reprint of Sylburg’s edition. MS Keynes 2 (sometimes called Newton’s theological notebook, and begun by the early 1680s) contains numerous references to Justin based on citations from English theological literature that Newton probably read in about 1684. There are also references to Justin in his reading of Denis Petau (Petavius), Opus de theologicis dogmatibus.⁵¹

• ‘Irenæus’: Newton owned the 1675 edition of Adversus… hæreses based on the work of Jacques de Billy, Fronton du Duc, and François Feuardent (see above), which he also gave to Trinity in December 1675; Barrow owned the edition by Nicolas des Gallars published at Geneva and Paris in 1570; Trinity owned the Basel edition of 1548, edited by Erasmus, and the edition edited by Gallars. Newton’s theological notebook contains numerous references to Irenaeus based on citations from English theological literature that Newton probably read in about 1684. There are also references in his reading of Denis Petau (Petavius), Opus de theologicis dogmatibus.⁵²

• ‘Origen against Celsus’: Newton owned William Spencer’s edition of this work in Latin and Greek published at Cambridge in 1658, for which he paid 12s. (the date of purchase is not known for certain, but was probably around 1680) and in which he copied out Jerome’s positive assessment of Origen’s value as an interpreter of Scripture; Barrow owned the Latin Opera published at Basel in 1536 and edited by Erasmus; Trinity owned the 1605 Augsburg edition of the Contra Celsum edited by David Hoeschel, and acquired Spencer’s edition also. Newton’s theological notebook contains occasional references to the Contra Celsum based on citations from English theological literature that Newton probably read in about 1684. There are also references in his reading of Denis Petau (Petavius), Opus de theologicis dogmatibus, and elsewhere in his theological notes.⁵³

• ‘Clemens Alexandrinus’: Newton at some stage owned Sylburg’s Greek and Latin edition of the Opera, reprinted at Paris in 1641; Barrow owned the Florentine edition of 1550, edited by Pietro Vettori; Trinity owned none of these books in 1600 but owned Sylburg’s edition by the 1670s. Newton’s theological notebook contains occasional references to Clement of Alexandria based on citations from English theological literature that Newton probably read in about 1684. There are also references in his reading of Denis Petau (Petavius), Opus de theologicis dogmatibus.⁵⁴

• ‘Tertullian’: Newton eventually owned the edition of the Opera by Nicolas Rigault, published at Paris in 1634; Barrow owned both that edition and that of Franciscus Junius based on the work of Beatus Rhenanus published at Franeker in 1597; Trinity owned numerous editions of particular works by Tertullian, including the Adversus nationes edited by Rigault (1641) and acquired a Froben printing of Beatus Rhenanus’s edition (first published in 1521) possibly in the 1670s: Newton singled out the Basel edition for praise. Frequent references to Tertullian in Newton’s theological notebook and elsewhere do not, however, suggest citation from the 1634 edition (which is used by Newton in later manuscripts); instead they indicate citation from Petavius and other intermediate sources (in some cases, using the Basel edition).⁵⁵

• ‘Cyprian’: Newton at some stage owned Rigault’s edition of the Opera, published at Paris in 1648, and also acquired the edition edited by John Fell and published in 1682 at Oxford; Barrow owned the 1574 Parisian edition edited by Jacobus Pamelius; Trinity may have owned the Basel edition of 1525 edited by Erasmus, singled out by Newton, but certainly owned that of Rigault. References to Cyprian in Newton’s theological notebook derive from intermediate sources.⁵⁶

• ‘Usher’s Edition of Ignatius’s Epistles. Londini 1647’: Newton did not own this book at the time of his death; Barrow also did not own it; as described by Newton, it was not available at Trinity. References in Newton’s theological notebook to Ignatius derive from intermediate sources.⁵⁷

• ‘Eusebius’s History’: Newton owned an edition by Geoffroy Boussard published at Paris in 1525 (for which he paid 6d.). At some stage, he acquired the three-volume edition produced by Henri de Valois (Valesius) and published at Paris in 1678: this included texts by Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. Barrow owned a bi-lingual, Latin and Greek, edition published at Paris in 1544 by Robert Estienne, which also provided all of those texts. That edition was also available at Trinity, as were the version by François Viger and, as a recent accession, the edition of Valesius.⁵⁸

• ‘Bibl. Gr. Patr.’: Newton owned three volumes of the fourth edition of Marguerin de la Bigne’s compilation of the Greek and Latin fathers (first published at Paris in 1575); Barrow did not own this work; Trinity may have owned various volumes from the second and fourth editions. Newton referred to it explicitly in a chronological list of writers on ecclesiastical history in his theological notebook.⁵⁹

• ‘Augustine De Civitate Dei’: Newton eventually owned Erasmus’s edition of Augustine’s works, as printed at Paris in 1531–2, published in ten volumes and bound in five; Barrow also owned this edition; Trinity owned the same edition as published at Basel in 1528–9, and also Plantin’s edition. References to De civitate dei appear in Newton’s theological notebook.⁶⁰

• Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret: see above, ‘Eusebius’s History.’

• ‘Historia Magdeburgensis’: Newton owned a set bound in seven volumes of the work of the Magdeburg Centuriators, published at Basel between 1560 and 1574, for which he paid the substantial price of £2.15s and which shows heavy signs of use; Barrow did not own a copy; Trinity owned the same edition as Newton.⁶¹

• ‘Salvian de Providentia Dei’: Newton did not own either this book (which had been edited by Pietro Galesini and published in Rome in 1564) or the works of Salvian (which had been edited by Conrad Ritterhusius and later by Étienne Baluze). Barrow owned Baluze’s edition, published at Paris in 1664. Copies of the Opera edited by Ritterhusius and of an Oxford (1633) edition of De gubernatione dei eventually entered the library at Trinity but do not appear to have been there in 1682. Salvian featured in the chronological list of authors on ecclesiastical history in Newton’s theological notebook and citations occurred frequently in Newton’s theological writings, although these were not necessarily based on a reading of the original text.⁶²

• ‘Epistles of Clemens’: Newton eventually owned the bilingual Greek and Latin edition of the epistles of Clement of Rome that Patrick Young had edited from Codex Alexandrinus and published at Oxford in 1633; Barrow also owned it. Trinity did not yet own it, although it did own other works by Clement. Newton may also have encountered the text through references in the work of Petavius.⁶³

• ‘Barnabas and Ignatius… Vossius’s Edition’: Newton eventually owned a bilingual Greek and Latin edition of the letters of Barnabas prepared by Hugues Menard and published at Paris in 1645, bound (as often) with Young’s edition of the Clementine epistles. He did not own Isaac Vossius’s edition (Amsterdam, 1646), based principally on a manuscript from the Laurentiana in Florence, of the epistles of Ignatius and Barnabas. Barrow did not own either edition. Trinity owned Vossius’s edition.⁶⁴

• ‘Erasmus’s Paraphrase on the New Testament’: Newton owned an early copy of this work, originally published in English from 1548, as well as an up-to-date edition in Latin (Hannover, 1668); Barrow owned two editions in Latin (Basel and Paris, both 1540). Trinity owned no copy in around 1670 but acquired a number of editions subsequently. Newton referred frequently to Erasmus’s textual work on the New Testament in manuscripts that can be dated to around 1690, but does not seem to have made much direct reference to the Paraphrases.⁶⁵

• ‘the Criticks’: Newton did not own a copy of Critici sacri (see above), nor did Barrow. Trinity had recently acquired it.⁶⁶

• ‘Pool’s Synopsis’: Newton did not own a copy of this alternative compilation of authorities on Scripture edited by Matthew Poole and published in four volumes which appeared by subscription (15s. each for volumes 1–3 and 20s. for volume 4) between 1669 and 1676. Barrow also did not own it. Trinity acquired it, probably after 1676.⁶⁷

• ‘Jerome’: Newton did not own a copy of the works of Jerome. Barrow owned the Plantin edition of Jerome’s Opera (nine volumes bound in three), published at Antwerp in 1578–9 and an edition of his letters (Salamanca, 1572). Trinity owned numerous works by Jerome. Newton referred repeatedly to Jerome, but appears frequently to have relied on the edition given in the Bibliothecae veterum patrum or citations from the Annals of Baronio.⁶⁸

• ‘Chrysostom’ (and ‘Opus imperfectum’): for Newton, see above, note 44; Barrow did not own Chrysostom in any form; Trinity owned several editions of all or part of his works (including the famous Eton edition superintended by Henry Savile). Newton referred frequently to Chrysostom’s homilies on Scripture, including those on the Gospel of Matthew.⁶⁹

• ‘Maimonides De cultu Dei’: Newton eventually owned this Latin translation from book eight of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides by Louis de Compiègne de Veïl, printed at Paris in 1678, as well as other editions of Maimonides. Barrow owned no works of Maimonides. Trinity did not own de Veïl’s edition. The account of the worship of the Temple in Maimonides had direct relevance for Newton’s later efforts to describe Jewish cultic practice. Although De Veïl’s translation was not the only relevant source that he used, Newton made extensive notes drawn from it.⁷⁰

• ‘Joma’: Newton did not own Robert Sheringham’s edition of this important Talmudic tractate, which concerns sacrifice in the Temple at Yom Kippur, and which was widely consulted by contemporary students of ancient Judaism. Sheringham’s work was originally published in London in 1648. Barrow seems not to have owned it (although he did own an unidentifiable Talmudic tractate). Although Trinity acquired extensive additions to its collections of Hebraica during the 1670s, it does not seem to have owned this book before receiving it as a legacy from James Duport (d. 1679). Newton made extensive notes from Sheringham’s work.⁷¹

• ‘Peganius on y^e Apocalyps’: See above. Newton did not own the Genuine explication of the visions of the Book of Revelation, which Henry Oldenburg had translated from the German (Eigentliche Erklärung über die Gesichter der Offenbarung S. Johannis ([Amsterdam], 1670)) of Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (concealed under the pseudonym ‘A.B. Peganius’) and published in London in about 1670. Barrow also did not own it and there was no copy in Trinity.

• ‘Garret on the Apocalyps’. See above. Newton did not own Walter Garrett’s Discourse concerning Antichrist (London, 1680), and Trinity did not acquire its copy until much later. Newton undoubtedly read it, however, since he made notes both about its conclusions, including its identification of the Holy Roman Empire with the image of the beast of Revelation, and concerning patristic, biblical, and other sources cited by Garrett.⁷²