INTERNATIONAL MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER

PROPOSAL TO ADD AN EXEMPLAR/DOCUMENT TO AN EXISTING INSCRIPTION

1. SUMMARY

Newton’s fame as one of the greatest scientists of any age continues to this day. As his

biographer Richard Westfall notes, his ‘work may have done more to shape the modern world

than any other ever published’. However, it is only through the documentary heritage

represented by his scientific and mathematical papers at Cambridge University Library that we

see a full picture of Newton and how he worked. The papers represent one of the most

important archives of scientific and intellectual work on global phenomena. They document the

development of his thought on universal gravitation, calculus, and optics and reveal not

discoveries fully formed through inspiration of a lone genius, but ideas worked out through

painstaking experiments, calculations, correspondence and revisions. It would be difficult to

find a more striking illustration of the historical background to our own scientific age, which is

why we wish to propose the collection for inscription in the International Memory of the World

Register. We also propose to include UK documentary heritage of Isaac Newton consisting of

personal notebooks, correspondence, the manuscript and annotated editions of Philosophiae

naturalis principia mathematica from the libraries of Trinity College and the Fitzwilliam Museum

in Cambridge and the Royal Society of London; and the substantial and significant collection of

alchemical, theological and administrative manuscripts form the Isaac Newton collection in the

Keynes Manuscripts in the library of King’s College, Cambridge.

2. CASE DETAILS

This nomination was initiated in May 2016 by Anne Jarvis, then University Librarian of

Cambridge University Library and Oren Wienburg, Director of the National Library of Israel to

recognise the outstanding international importance of this documentary heritage in the 600th

anniversary year of the Cambridge University Library and to add our nomination to the existing

inscription of Isaac Newton’s Theological and Alchemical Papers (National Library of Israel),

inscribed in 2015 on the Memory of the World International Register. A copy of this application

is attached which details our consultations with stakeholders including The Newton Project,

The Royal Society, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

and Cambridge University Press (the major publisher of Newton’s works). Additionally eminent

scholars of Newton’s work were consulted and agreed to act as referees for the nomination

including Rob Iliffe, University of Oxford, Scott Mandelbrote, Fellow and Perne Librarian,

Peterhouse Cambridge and Niccolò Guicciardini, University of Bergamo. In April 2017 the

Cambridge University Library received feedback from the Register Sub-committee endorsing

the suggestion of adding our nomination to the existing inscription of Isaac Newton’s

Theological and Alchemical Papers, inscribed in 2015 on the Memory of the World International

Register, but also recommending the inclusion of additional UK documentary heritage of

importance to the work of Isaac Newton in the nomination. Subsequent consultation with the

Fitzwilliam Museum, Trinity College Cambridge, King’s College Cambridge and the Royal

Society of London have received favourable responses from those institutions for including

scientific and alchemical papers and manuscripts of Isaac Newton belonging to those

institutions in the addition to the nomination.

3. IDENTIFICATION OF THE EXISTING INSCRIPTION

Isaac Newton’s Theological and Alchemical Papers (Israel, year of submission 2014)

4. THE CASE FOR ADDITION

Authenticity

Newton himself deposited copies of his lectures as Lucasian Professor with the University

Library in the seventeenth century. His personal papers were relatively undisturbed after his

death until they travelled to Cambridge University in 1872 in order for the ‘Portsmouth

Committee’ to extract and retain the scientific and mathematical papers. The Macclesfield

Collection was examined for Cambridge University Library by Bernard Quaritch Ltd in 2000 and

its history and authenticity recorded.

World significance

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton are unique and irreplaceable. They

let us see behind the myth of Newton as a lone genius by revealing how he revised and

developed his ideas over time—in letters, notebooks, lectures and manuscripts, on gravitation,

calculus, optics, comets and other subjects. Although Newton is widely known for his discovery

of universal gravitation, his scientific and intellectual interests were vast, and the range of

creative thinking is also reflected in these papers—from his undergraduate notebook whilst a

student at Trinity College Cambridge in the 1660s (MS Add.3996), to his notes on calculus

developed in his large ‘Waste Book’ (MS Add. 4004), to his numerous revisions and corrections

written into his own copy of his great published work, the Philosophiæ naturalis principia

mathematica (1687) (MS Add. 3991), in which he lays out in mathematical terms his laws of

motion and account of universal gravitation.

The papers also include a significant body of correspondence with fellow natural philosophers

and mathematicians, such as Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society (founded in

1660, the year before Newton was admitted to Trinity College Cambridge) supplemented by

those held in the Royal Society (EL/N1/35-65); the astronomer Edmond Halley, who was

instrumental in persuading Newton to publish the Principia; John Collins, a mathematician and

fellow of the Royal Society; and a wide network of correspondents who supplied Newton with

observations of comets, such as John Flamsteed in Greenwich or Arthur Storer, who sent

Newton information from Maryland, New England. Newton’s letters document the exchange of

ideas on topics related to the ‘new science’, a science based on experiment and mathematical

analysis. They also illustrate the international arena in which these ideas were created and

played out—for example, Oldenburg communicated Newton’s work to the Dutchman Christiaan

Huygens, the preeminent natural philosopher of the day, who was living in Paris; Collins was

instrumental in mediating for Newton in the priority dispute with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over

the invention of the calculus. The material here represents the drafts for publications which

would inspire mathematicians, scientific travellers, and astronomers such as Clairault,

Maupertuis, d'Alembert, Laplace, and Lagrange, as well as mathematicians such as Euler or

writers on colour theory such as Goethe. Ultimately, of course, Newton’s work would be of

great significance for Albert Einstein, who modified Newton’s theory for his own theory of

general relativity.

For almost a hundred and fifty years after Newton’s death, the Portsmouth Collection was all

but inaccessible to scholars. It is only since the transfer of the collection to Cambridge in 1872,

and the subsequent acquisition of the Macclesfield Collection in 2000, that people from all over

the world have been able to study this important documentary heritage. The digitisation of the

majority of the papers for the Cambridge Digital Library has made the collection even more

accessible, with around three million ‘page views’ from across the globe—further testament to

the international importance of the papers.

Comparative criteria

Time

The collection marks a key moment in the development of the ‘new science’ in the seventeenth

century and the importance it placed on observation and an experimental approach to the

study of nature. It is a first-hand record of Newton’s own influential approach and theories

(described in detail below under ‘Subject and theme’), and it provides documentary evidence

for those of his correspondents and his fellow members of the Royal Society.

The importance of observation for the new experimental method (one’s own observations and

the observations of others) is clearly shown in the documents. For example, MS Add. 3966 is a

collection of papers connected with the Principia on lunar theory, which includes tables of

eclipses of the sun and moon that Newton prepared using data largely derived from the

observations of Tycho Brahe and John Flamsteed. Newton also made use of calculations on

the orbits of comets made by Edmond Halley (see e.g. Halley’s letter to Newton of 7 Sept.

1695, MS Add. 3982).

One very striking illustration of the experimental approach adopted by Newton is shown in his

‘Laboratory Notebook’ (MS Add. 3975), which includes details of his investigations around

1669 into light and optics in order to understand the nature of colour. His essay ‘Of Colours’ in

this notebook includes a diagram that illustrates the experiment in which he inserted a bodkin

into his eye socket to put pressure on the eyeball to try to replicate the sensation of colour in

normal sight. This vividly illustrates the importance of the documents in showing Newton’s

dedication to the experimental method of the ‘new science’.

Subject and theme

The scientific and mathematical papers—the notebooks, letters and lectures as Lucasian

Professor—document the development of Newton’s pioneering work in mathematics and its

application to the study of the natural world, which provided a template for the sciences and

established a framework whose influence extended into the twentieth century and beyond.

Newton’s fame rests largely on his great published works, Philosophiæ naturalis principia

mathematica (1687) and the Opticks (1704). However, the detailed, difficult and time-

consuming work behind the publications can only be seen in the papers themselves, which

include the private notes and calculations—often on small scraps of paper—in which Newton

grappled with the study of mathematics and natural philosophy, from his earliest notes on

authors such as Euclid and Descartes to his later development of the calculus and his theories

of universal gravitation and optics. Some highlights of the collection are mentioned here.

Newton’s ‘Trinity College Notebook’ (MS Add. 3996) was used by him as an undergraduate,

from about 1661 to 1665. It includes his notes on books he was recommended to read for his

studies, but it also shows him starting to read for himself and comment not only on classical

sources, but also contemporary natural philosophical writing, such as the works of René

Descartes or the Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snell. Newton also makes his own

observations on a comet. In this notebook we see Newton, in his independent reading,

reflection and observations of the world around him embarking on his career as a natural

philosopher. A glimpse of his personal life prior to and at university is provided by two

notebooks held at Trinity College Cambridge written between 1659 and 1661 (R.4.48C) listing

Newton’s expenses and a guide to Latin pronunciation and the Fitzwilliam Museum written

between 1662 and 1669 (MS 1-1936), which list Newton’s sins, expenses, problems in

geometry and the conic sections.

Newton’s work on optics is documented throughout his papers, and the manuscripts are rich in

revealing the complexity of his developing ideas. Newton expounded his new theory of light in

his first series of lectures as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics and used a prism to

demonstrate his ideas. He finally presented a copy of his lectures to the University in 1674 (MS

Dd.9.67), but also retained a fair copy for himself (MS Add. 4002). However, the two

manuscripts differ in places, and differ also from his published version in the Opticks (1704),

prompting his executors to publish an English translation (1729) and a Latin edition (1729).

Newton had taken decades to be ready to publish the Opticks, and the printers’ copy of the first

edition (MS Add. 3970(3)) shows him still making last-minute corrections. Even after its

publication, Newton continued to revise: his copy of proof-sheets of the first edition (MS Add.

4001, now Adv.b.39.3) shows the corrections he made towards a second edition.

Newton’s ‘Waste Book’ (MS Add. 4004) was a large notebook inherited from his stepfather.

From 1664, he used the blank pages for optical and mathematical calculations and gradually

mastered the analysis of curved lines, surfaces and solids. By 1665, he had invented the

method of calculus. The dated, documentary evidence provided by the Waste Book, along with

letters sent at the time to John Collins, would later be used by Newton to argue his case in the

priority dispute with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the invention of the calculus.

Undoubtedly the ‘star’ of the collection is Newton’s own copy of the first edition of the Principia

(1687) (MS Add. 3991, now Adv.b.39.1), which is interleaved and covered with his corrections,

revisions and additions for the second edition. Page 402 in particular is of special significance:

at the start of Book III, Newton had defined a number of ‘Hypotheses’ governing his approach

to natural phenomenon. In the 1690s, he developed these hypotheses into a set of rules, and

on page 402 we can clearly see ‘Hypotheses’ firmly crossed through and replaced with

‘Regulæ philosophandi’ (‘Rules of philosophising’). Strengthening these holdings are the

printer’s manuscript of the Principia at the Royal Society (MS 69), The Trinity College

annotated copy of the Principia from Newton’s Library (NQ.16.200) and Newton’s

correspondence with Richard Bentley outlining his findings as detailed in the Principia and

further speculating on the divine, motivating force behind the laws of motion.

The manuscripts gathered in the Keynes Collection were the first to collectively portray an

alternative view of Newton and his works; as a man of profound magical and religious interests

whose alchemical and theological studies and writings were pursued on an epic scale. It was

estimated that of the 3,000,000 or so words for sale at Sotheby’s in 1936, 1,250,000 words

were on theological subjects and 650,000 on alchemy. The alchemical texts comprised

transcripts and translations of works of other authors, summaries, indexes and comparisons

including the 20,000 subject index on the literature of chemistry ‘Index Chemicus’ (MS 29), and

a small number of Newton’s own works. It also contains 69 letters from Nicholas Bernouilli,

William Derham, Fatio de Duillier, Charles Montagu Earl of Halifax, the Abbé Conti, Pierre

Vaignion, John Locke, Edmund Halley (on the publication of the Principia) and on science

subjects published in H.W. Turnbull (ed.) The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, The Royal

Society, London 1959–1977. There are 11 autograph drafts and 84 early transcripts of letters

from Newton to the likes of John Flamsteed (Keynes MS 107) on Flamsteed’s theories on the

sun, the action of heated magnets and the motion of comets and a copy of a letter to Thomas

Burnet describing Newton’s theory of the creation of the earth. The theological manuscripts

amply outline Newton’s anti-Trinitarian views in pamphlets and statements like his ‘twelve

articles of religion’ (Keynes MS 8). Keynes was in correspondence with A.S. Yahuda now held

at the National Library or Israel concerning the disposition and meaning of Newton’s alchemical

and theological manuscripts.

Contextual Information

Rarity

The manuscripts are unique, with no known copies. Newton’s copies of the Philosophiae

naturalis principia mathematica held by Cambridge University Library and Trinity College

Library are annotated in his own hand.

Integrity

Cambridge University Library possesses by far the most extensive and important group of

Newton’s scientific and mathematical papers, complemented by personal, scientific, alchemical

theological and administrative papers at King’s College Cambridge, Trinity College Cambridge,

the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Royal Society. With the existing MoW inscription of theological

and alchemical papers held at the National Library of Israel, this additional nomination would

include most of Newton’s archival heritage handed down to his niece’s family by marriage. This

addition to the existing nomination would, in a sense, help to recover the integrity of Newton’s

papers despite their dispersal by transfer of the scientific manuscripts and papers to

Cambridge in 1872 and the subsequent sale of the remainder of the Portsmouth Papers in the

1930s. There are other smaller collections, notably at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA,

the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and Stanford University Library.

5. DETAILS OF NOMINATOR

1) Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian, Cambridge University Library (Contact Dr

Katrina Dean, Curator of Scientific Collections, +44 1223 765739 kjd32@cam.ac.uk)

2) Mr Peter Jones, Fellow Librarian, (Contact Mr Peter Jones, Fellow Librarian,

Email: peter.jones@kings.cam.ac.uk)

3) Dr Nicolas Bell, Wren Librarian (Contact Mr Nicolas Bell, Trinity College Library, Email:

njb25@cam.ac.uk)

4) Mr Keith Moore, Librarian (Contact Mr Keith Moore, Librarian, Email:

Keith.moore@royalsociety.org)

5) Mr Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, (Contact Dr Suzanne Reynolds,

Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts and Printed Books, Email: scr42@cam.ac.uk

6) Oren Weinberg, Director of the National Library of Israel (Contact person Dr Milka

Levy-Rubin, Humanities Curator Address The National Library of Israel E.J. Safra

Campus, Givat Ram P.O.B. 39105, Jerusalem, 9139002, Israel)

6. DECLARATION OF AUTHORITY

I certify that I have the authority to nominate the documentary heritage described herein to the

International Memory of the World Register

Signature

Date

7. IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ADDITIONAL EXEMPLAR

Name and identification details

Cambridge University Library

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton, Cambridge University Library

a. MSS Add. 3958–4006: the Portsmouth Collection (ca. 1664–1732)

b. MS Add. 9597/2: the Newton papers in the Macclesfield Collection (1667–1724)

c. MSS Dd.4.18, Dd.9.46, Dd.9.67, Dd.9.68: copies of Newton’s lectures as Lucasian

Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, deposited in the University Library

in the seventeenth century.

King’s College Cambridge

Keynes MS 1-152: Sir Isaac Newton Collection, King’s College, Cambridge

Trinity College Cambridge

Sir Isaac Newton notebook, correspondence and his copy of the first edition of the Principia,

annotated in his own hand, Trinity College Library, Cambridge

a. R.4.48C: The notebook of Isaac Newton (1659–1661), paper, Latin, 50 pp.

b. R.4.47: Correspondence between Richard Bentley and Isaac Newton (1692–1693 and

1708–1713).

c. NQ.16.200: Isaac Newton’s annotated copy of the first edition of Philosophiae

naturalis principia mathematica (1687), given by the Pilgrim Trust, 1943, Trinity

College, Cambridge.

Royal Society London

Original manuscripts and letters of Sir Isaac Newton, Royal Society, London

a. MS/69: Sir Isaac Newton, manuscript of ‘Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica’

(1685), written out by Humphrey Newton, Isaac Newton's assistant and amanuensis,

and annotated by Newton and Halley from which the First Edition was printed, Royal

Society London. Paper, leather bound in two volumes.

b. MS/81: Original letters (1669-1667) published in Commercium Epistolicum Domini

Johannis Collins et Aliorum (1712) on the Newton–Leibnitz dispute on priority for the

invention of calculus. Includes two manuscript copies of Sir Isaac Newton ‘De Analysi

per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas’, 1669.

c. EL/N1/35-65: Letters of Isaac Newton to Henry Oldenburg and others, including his

communications to the Royal Society on light and colours, on the invention of the

Newtonian reflecting telescope, and on the publication of the Principia (1671–1687).

d. MS/210 Vol. 1: writings by Sir Isaac Newton, entitled 'Notæ in Newtoni Principia

Mathematica Philosophiæ Naturalis’ and 'Theory of the Moon', which was incorporated

in the Astronomia Physicae et Geometricae Elementa published by the Savilian

Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. Contained in the Gregory family papers (1658–

1860).

Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge

MS 1-1936: The notebook of Isaac Newton, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (1662 and 1665-

69) in English, c. 4,948 words, 34 pp. on 118 ff. In original calfskin binding with inscription on

flyleaf: 'Isaac Newton, pret 8d' . Shorthand notes dated 1662, list of expenses dated 23.5.1665

to April 1669.

Catalogue or registration details

Cambridge University Library

MSS Add. 3958–4006: the Portsmouth Collection. A catalogue is available online at:

https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Add.3958-4007

MS Add. 9597/2: the Newton papers in the Macclesfield Collection. A catalogue is available

online at:

https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Add.9597%2F2

MSS Dd.4.18, Dd.9.46, Dd.9.67 and Dd.9.68: copies of Newton’s lectures as Lucasian

Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, catalogued in A catalogue of the

manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge, 6 vols. (Cambridge, 1856–

67)

King’s College Library

Keynes MS 1-152: Sir Isaac Newton Collection, King’s College, Cambridge. Listed in: A.N.L.

Munby, A catalogue of the mss. and printed books in the Sir Isaac Newton collection forming

part of the library bequeathed by ... Baron Keynes of Tilton to King's College, Cambridge.

London; Cambridge (1936–1949). A large proportion of the Keynes Newton MS are catalogued

and transcribed in full and available online at the Newton Project and Chymistry of Isaac

Newton websites:

http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/search/results?keyword=Keynes&all=1

http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/search?field1=text&text1=Keynes&btnG.x=0&b

tnG.y=0

Trinity College Library

R.4.48C: The notebook of Isaac Newton. A catalogue entry and digital version is available

online at:

http://trin-sites-pub.trin.cam.ac.uk/james/viewpage.php?index=1476.

A full transcription is available on the Newton Project website:

http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/PERS00001

R.4.47 Correspondence between Richard Bentley and Isaac Newton. A catalogue entry is

available online at:

http://trin-sites-pub.trin.cam.ac.uk/james/viewpage.php?index=14

Selected letters are transcribed and available online at The Newton Project website:

http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/search/results?keyword=Trinity+College+Library%2C+Cam

bridge%2C+UK&all=1

NQ.16.200, Isaac Newton’s annotated copy of the first edition of Philosophiae naturalis

principia mathematica, 1687. A catalogue entry is available online at:

http://lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/search~S5?/cNQ.16.200/cnq+++16++200/-3%2C-

1%2C0%2CE/frameset&FF=cnq+++16++200&1%2C1%2C

Royal Society, London

MS/69: Sir Isaac Newton, manuscript of ‘Principia’, 1685. A catalogue entry is available online

at:

https://collections.royalsociety.org/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Cat

alog&dsqCmd=Browse2.tcl&dsqItem=MS/69&dsqKey=RefNo

MS/81: Original letters printed in Commercium Epistolicum Domini Johannis Collins et Aliorum.

A catalogue is available online at:

https://collections.royalsociety.org/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Cat

alog&dsqCmd=Browse2.tcl&dsqItem=MS/81&dsqKey=RefNo

A full transcription of MS/81/4 is available online at the Newton Project website:

http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/catalogue/record/NATP00204

EL/N1/35-65: Letters of Isaac Newton to Henry Oldenburg and others. A catalogue entry is

available online at:

https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Ca

talog&dsqCmd=NaviTree.tcl&dsqField=RefNo&dsqItem=EL/N1/35#HERE

Full transcriptions of these letters are available online at the Newton Project website:

http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/search/results?keyword=Royal+Society+Library%2C+Londo

n%2C+UK&all=1

MS/210: The work of Isaac Newton on lunar theory contained in the Gregory family papers. A

catalogue entry is available online at:

http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=5980&inst_id=18&nv1=browse&nv2=sub

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University Library

MS 1-1936: The notebook of Isaac Newton (1662 and 1665-69), Fitzwilliam Museum,

Cambridge. A catalogue entry is available online at:

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/collections/archives/166816.

A detailed catalogue entry and full transcription is available online at the Newton Project

website: http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/catalogue/record/ALCH00069.

Visual documentation if appropriate

Manuscripts from the Cambridge University Library collection can be view online as part of the

‘Newton Papers’ collection on the Cambridge Digital Library

(http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton).

Heritage items held in the Trinity College Library are available online at the Wren Digital Library:

R.4.48C The notebook of Isaac Newton (1659–1661):

http://trin-sites-pub.trin.cam.ac.uk/james/viewpage.php?index=1476

NQ.16.200 Isaac Newton’s annotated copy of the first edition of Principia Naturalis

Philosophiae Mathematica (1687):

http://sites.trin.cam.ac.uk/manuscripts/NQ_16_200/manuscript.php?fullpage=1

A selection of images is appended to this document.

History/provenance

Isaac Newton entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1661. He was elected a Fellow in 1667,

and in 1669 was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a

position which he held until 1701. Under the regulations for the Chair of Mathematics, he

deposited copies of his lectures in the University Library and these were assigned the

classmarks MSS Dd.4.18, Dd.9.46, Dd.9.67, and Dd.9.68.

Similarly, the manuscript of the ‘Principia’ and other works held by the Royal Society of London

was published by the Society and thus remained in the Society’s Library, along with letters to

Isaac.

After his death, Newton's friend (and relative by marriage to Newton’s half-niece Catherine)

John Conduitt posted a bond for Newton’s debts and claimed entitlement to the manuscripts.

That the papers were not sold at the time owes much to the Conduitts, who appreciated their

inestimable scholastic value. In 1740 the Conduitt's daughter, also Catherine, married John

Wallop, whose father was created first Earl of Portsmouth, the manuscripts thus being inherited

by succeeding generations of the Portsmouth family. It was the fifth earl who, in 1872, passed

all the Newton manuscripts he possessed to the University of Cambridge, where a catalogue of

the collection was made by a syndicate comprising the University scientists George Gabriel

Stokes, John Couch Adams, Henry Richards Luard and George Downing Liveing. The

catalogue having been prepared, the earl generously presented all the mathematical and

scientific manuscripts to the University in 1888, and it is these that form the Portsmouth

Collection in the University Library. The remainder of the papers, many concerned with

alchemy, theology and chronology, were returned to Lord Portsmouth. These manuscripts were

sold at auction at Sotheby's in London in 1936 by Gerard Wallop, Viscount Lymington, the

Ninth Earl of Portsmouth.

The Sir Isaac Newton Collection of Keynes MS 1-152 at King’s College, Cambridge was

purchased by economist and Fellow of the College John Maynard Keynes and bequeathed to

the College on his death in 1946. The collection mainly arises from purchases of manuscripts

that became available at the 1936 Sotheby’s sale where Keynes purchased 38 lots and in

subsequent dealings managed to acquire a total of 130 of the original 329 lots.

The Fitzwilliam notebook was bought at the Sotheby’s sale (SL210) by Maggs Brothers for

£180 on 14 July 1936. By the end of the month it had been presented to the museum by the

Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum with financial assistance from Sir Thomas Barlow.

Given by Sir T. Barlow, M.A., Trinity, 20 July, 1936, Newton’s correspondence with Bentley

were lots 122, 123 on the Sotheby's sale catalogue for Lymington, 13 July 1936. Bought at the

Sotheby sale by Maggs Brothers for £210 and later offered for sale as Item 35 in their

catalogue 'Mercurius Britannicus' (the date of which is unknown), the Newton notebook held at

Trinity College Cambridge was presented by the Pilgrim Trust to Trinity in 1949.

Isaac Newton’s copy of the first edition of Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica held at

Trinity College Library and annotated in his own hand (NQ.16.200) 1687 was given to the

College by the Pilgrim Trust in 1943, one of eighty-three annotated books in Newton’s Library

out of 885 included in the gift.

The Newton manuscripts in the Macclesfield Collection were acquired by the University Library

in 2000. The Macclesfield Collection is a very important collection of scientific manuscripts from

the Earl of Macclesfield, which includes many of the earliest and most significant Newton

letters, together with a number of his mathematical and other papers. The papers were the

collection of John Collins (1625–1683), a mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society, with

whom Newton had corresponded extensively from 1669. About twenty-five years after his

death, they came into the possession of William Jones (1675–1749), a teacher of mathematics,

known to Newton. Jones was tutor to Thomas Parker (first Earl of Macclesfield and Lord

Chancellor) and to his son George (second Earl of Macclesfield, astronomer and president of

the Royal Society from 1752 to 1764) and for many years he lived with the family at Shirburn

Castle. He bequeathed to the second Earl his manuscripts and correspondence, including the

Collins papers.

The Newton manuscripts and letters in the Royal Society arise from its role in publishing the

Principia and through Newton’s intercourse as President of the Royal Society with its secretary

Henry Oldenburg (1660-1677). David Gregory (1659-1708), mathematician and astronomer,

was a friend and scholar of Newton’s work. Newton’s lunar theory was included in Gregorie’s

Astronomiae Physicae et Geometricae Elementa 1702, the first text book composed on

gravitational principles and remodelling astronomy in conformity with physical theory. Newton

wrote the preface. It can be surmised that Gregory obtained these papers from Newton to

support Gregory’s work on the publication. The papers were presented to the Royal Society in

1866 by John Gregory.

8. RELATIONSHIP TO THE NOMINATED EXEMPLAR/DOCUMENT

Details of the Owner (including contact details)

Cambridge University Library

University of Cambridge, The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK, Tel: +44

(0)1223 333000, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333160, Email: reception@admin.cam.ac.uk

King’s College, Cambridge

Provost and Scholars of King's College, Cambridge, King's College, King's Parade

Cambridge CB2 1ST, Tel: +44 (0)1223 331100, Email: info@kings.cam.ac.uk

Trinity College, Cambridge

The Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge, Trinity College Cambridge

CB2 1TQ, U.K., Tel: +44 (0)1223 338 400, Email: enquiries@trin.cam.ac.uk

The Royal Society, London

The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG,Tel: +44 207 451 2500

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2

1RBTel: +44(0)1223 332900, Fax:+44 (0)1223 332923, Email: fitzmuseum-

enquiries@lists.cam.ac.uk

Details of the Custodian (If different)

Cambridge University Library

Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB39DR, UK, Tel: +44 (0)1223 333000,

Fax: +44 (0)1223 333160, Email: library@lib.cam.ac.uk

King’s College, Cambridge

Librarian, King's College, King's Parade, Cambridge CB2 1ST, Tel: (+44) (0)1223 331232, Fax:

(+44) (0)1223 331891, Email: library@kings.cam.ac.uk

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College Library, Cambridge CB2 1TQ, Tel: +44 (0)1223 338488, Email:

wren.library@trin.cam.ac.uk

The Royal Society, London

The Royal Society Library, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, Email:

library@royalsociety.org

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Same as owner

Legal status

Cambridge University Library

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton. The collection is owned by the

University of Cambridge and is in the custodianship of Cambridge University Library, under the

direction of the University Librarian. It is part of the collections looked after by the Department

of Manuscripts, under the direction of the Keeper of Manuscripts and University Archives, and

there is a separate Library Officer designated the Curator of Scientific Manuscripts, with

specific responsibility for this and other scientific collections. Cambridge University Library is

governed by the Library Syndicate, whose role is to supervise the management of the

University Library, the affiliated libraries and the University Archives. The Library Syndicate

meets termly and an Annual Report is presented to the Syndicate by the Librarian.

King’s College, Cambridge

Keynes MS 1-152: Sir Isaac Newton Collection. Bequeathed to King's College, Cambridge in

1946 by Lord Keynes of Tilton.

Trinity College, Cambridge

Sir Isaac Newton notebook (1659–1661), correspondence and his copy of the first edition of

the Principia, annotated in his own hand. Property of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College,

Cambridge. Property of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge.

The Royal Society, London

Original manuscripts and letters of Sir Isaac Newton. The collection is owned by the Royal

Society (founded 1660) and is under the custodianship of the Society’s Library, under the

direction of the Head of Collections. Day-to-day care of the manuscripts is the responsibility of

the Royal Society’s Archivist. The work of the Library is overseen by the Library Committee

(est.1678) to which the Head of Collections reports at least twice-yearly. The Library

Committee in turn presents an annual report to Council of the Royal Society, the senior policy

and strategy group consisting of the President, Officers and elected Fellows of the Royal

Society.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The notebook of Isaac Newton (1662 and 1665-69). Fitzwilliam Museum permanent collection

9. DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION OF THE EXEMPLAR/DOCUMENT

Authenticity

The collections represented in this nomination have established authenticity written in Newton’s

hand (or in the case of the printers manuscript of ‘Principia’ at the Royal Society that of an

amanuensis) and their provenance is documented in inheritance, donation and sales. Newton’s

manuscripts in his possession at his death were inherited by his descendants who retained

them relatively undisturbed for 200 years. A major share of this Portsmouth collection was

donated to Cambridge University Library in 1888 and the remainder disbursed at the

subsequent well-documented Sotheby’s sale in 1936, from which a number of items including

the notebooks at Trinity College and the Fitzwilliam Museum originate. The Macclesfield

Collection, purchased by Cambridge University Library in 2000, principally comprises the

archives of John Collins (1625–1683) and William Jones (1675–1749). As well as being

mathematicians in their own right, both men corresponded with leading scientific figures of their

day and so the collection includes autograph material by Isaac Newton. The Royal Society

acquired its Newton manuscripts in the course of its business or association with other eminent

scientists contemporary with Newton.

Uniqueness

The manuscripts are unique, with no known copies. Printed books are connected with Newton

through his ownership and many works are annotated in his hand.

Rarity

The collections represented here are much of what remains of Newton’s papers at the time of

his death, with over half of these now deposited in the Cambridge University Library. The

Papers in the Royal Society provide an additional perspective on his importance to the early

Royal Society and its networks of natural philosophy. The alchemical and theological

manuscripts in King’s College are a major deposit of manuscripts on this theme representing

the interests of its collector, John Maynard Keynes, in Newton’s life and intellectual

contributions. Combined with Newton’s Library and correspondence at Trinity College and his

personal notebooks there and at the Fitzwilliam Museum—added to the existing inscription—

the whole represents a remarkably extensive and varied collection despite the dispersal of

Newton’s papers since the latter decades of the nineteenth century. This combined with the

stature and fascination of their creator for scholars, scientists and the public constitute a rarely

rounded perspective on the life of one of the world’s most famous thinkers.

Integrity

Cambridge University Library possesses by far the most extensive and important group of

Newton’s scientific and mathematical papers, complemented by personal, scientific, alchemical

theological and administrative papers at King’s College Cambridge, Trinity College Cambridge,

the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Royal Society. With the existing MoW inscription of theological

and alchemical papers held at the National Library of Israel, this additional nomination would

include most of Newton’s archival heritage handed down to his niece’s family by marriage. This

addition to the existing nomination would, in a sense, help to recover the integrity of Newton’s

papers despite their dispersal by transfer of the scientific manuscripts and papers to

Cambridge in 1872 and the subsequent sale of the remainder of the Portsmouth Papers in the

1936. There are other smaller collections, notably at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA,

the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and Stanford University Library.

10. CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS (of existing inscription)

The following groups have been consulted, and were all supportive of the nomination:

The Newton Project, University of Oxford

The Royal Society

Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

Cambridge University Press (the major publisher of Newton’s works)

In addition the following collection custodians have been consulted—and responded positively

—concerning the inclusion of the collections they care for in the nomination:

Mr Peter Jones, Fellow Librarian, King’s College Cambridge

Dr Nicolas Bell, Wren Librarian, Trinity College Cambridge

Mr Keith Moore, Librarian, Royal Society, London

Dr Suzanne Reynolds, Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts and Printed Books, Fitzwilliam

Museum, Cambridge

11. DESCRIPTION OF CONDITIONS OF PRESERVATION AND ACCESS AND

MANAGEMENT PLAN

Cambridge University Library

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton. There is no separate management

plan in place for the collection, which is governed by the policies and procedures in place for all

collections in Cambridge University Library. The collection is stored in one of the manuscripts

strongrooms at Cambridge University Library, with access controlled by an electromagnetic

card system operating electromechanical locks. Access is restricted only to those members of

staff who need it to carry out their duties; access is also restricted by time: e.g. a member of

the Manuscripts Department is granted access to the Manuscripts stacks during normal

working hours, but not outside those times. CCTV cameras monitor and record all entrance/exit

points to these closed access stacks. Environmental conditions conform to PAS 198:2012 and

are monitored by the Library’s Conservation Department as well as the University’s Estates

Management and Buildings Services. The Curator of Scientific Manuscripts has designated

responsibility for the collection, reporting to the Keeper of Manuscripts and University Archives

and, ultimately, the University Librarian. S/he is responsible for the all enquiries relating to the

collection, including requests for images of items, and ensures the accuracy of all catalogue

descriptions. S/he liaises with scholars and other individuals worldwide on the content of the

collection and its interpretation for both academic and public audiences.

King’s College, Cambridge

Keynes MS 1-152: Sir Isaac Newton Collection. All manuscripts have been assessed for

conservation and preservation needs by professional manuscripts conservators employed by

the Cambridge College Conservation Consortium, and treated accordingly. They are kept in an

alarmed and air-conditioned store. Access is by permission of the Librarian and by appointment

only.

Trinity College, Cambridge

Sir Isaac Newton notebook (1659–1661), correspondence and his copy of the first edition of

the Principia, annotated in his own hand. All of these objects are in a good state of preservation.

The Library is open to the public on all weekdays and some weekends, free of charge, and one

or more of these items are regularly on display. Researchers may make appointments to

consult them under supervision. Digital copies of most parts are freely available online.

The Royal Society, London

Original manuscripts and letters of Sir Isaac Newton. Management of these collections and

access to them is part of a broader preservation strategy within the Library and Archives of the

Society. The manuscripts are stored within a purpose-built and environmentally controlled

archive store conforming to PD 5454 2012. Conditions are monitored by a building

management system which is the responsibility of the Society’s Facilities Department and

secondary monitoring and environmental spot-checks are conducted by the Society’s Archive

team. Access to this store is limited to designated members of the Library and Archive team

who exercise key control of the main strongroom door. This is itself is within a secure floor of

the building accessed by electromagnetic cards and with entrances/exits monitored by CCTV.

Access to manuscripts by checked and accredited readers is under supervision of two

members of staff in a purpose-built reading room. This is also environmentally controlled and

has CCTV coverage and security doors for entrance/exit. The Head of Collections holds

ultimate responsibility for the safety of the manuscripts and other historical artefacts belonging

to the Royal Society. The Society’s Archivist is responsible for day-to-day management of the

systems in place: also for producing catalogue information and answering enquiries concerning

the manuscripts.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The notebook of Isaac Newton (1662 and 1665-69). The item is held in secure storage with full

environmental controls, accessible by security-cleared staff only. Application can be made to

consult the item; requests require curatorial level approval, evaluated on the basis of the

research reasons given. Consultation takes place in an invigilated study space.

12. ASSESSMENT OF RISK

Cambridge University Library

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton. The collection is not considered to

be at risk. It has benefitted from two major conservation projects (in 1992 and 2000) and has

been in large part digitised; it is stable and all major preservation concerns have been

addressed. It is held in a secure strongroom in environmentally appropriate conditions. Access

to the collection is limited to authorised members of staff via an electromagnetic card system.

The collection is covered by the Library’s Preservation Policy and Emergency Action Plan.

King’s College, Cambridge

Keynes MS 1-152: Sir Isaac Newton Collection. The Newton manuscripts are covered by the

Library's Disaster Plan, approved by King's College, Cambridge, which is supported by the

Cambridge Colleges Conservation Consortium.

Trinity College, Cambridge

Sir Isaac Newton notebook (1659–1661), correspondence and his copy of the first edition of

the Principia, annotated in his own hand. These items are all kept in the securest part of the

Library, where risk of damage or loss is regularly assessed.

The Royal Society, London

Original manuscripts and letters of Sir Isaac Newton. The collection is not considered to be at

risk. Materials are stored in appropriate conditions of environment and security. High resolution

digital surrogates have been made of the ‘Principia’ manuscript and the associated Newton

letters. Conservation work has been carried out only as necessary and the current (1950s)

binding of MS/69 is quite sound and in good condition. The Society regularly updates its risk

register across the organisation, monitoring any potential new risks as they are identified.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The notebook of Isaac Newton (1662 and 1665-69). The manuscript is in original binding which

is weak and inflexible in the spine, requiring curatorial supervision when the book is read. The

book is housed in a secure storage area (accessed by authorised members of staff via an

electromagnetic card system), which is covered by the Museum's Emergency Plan.

13. OTHER INFORMATION

The MoW Programme emphasises the importance of preservation, access and awareness,

and these are guiding principles for the custodianship and curation of all collections at

Cambridge University Library, including the scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac

Newton. Inscription in the International Register would be of great significance in assisting the

Library to reinforce to importance of continued investment in the archive, its preservation and

documentation, and would undoubtedly strengthen applications to grant-giving bodies for future

projects to enhance its accessibility for scholarly and public audiences. If the nomination is

successful, we would use this to promote the Memory of the World Programme by issuing a

formal press release and by publicising the inscription in the International Register on our

catalogue and collection pages for the Newton papers, and on the relevant section of the

Cambridge Digital Library, which to date has attracted around 3 million ‘page views’ for the

Newton papers from all parts of the globe.

Bibliography

J.C. Adams, G. Stokes, H.R. Luard and G.D. Liveing, A catalogue of the Portsmouth collection

of books and papers written by or belonging to Sir Isaac Newton, the scientific part of which

has been presented by the Earl of Portsmouth to the University of Cambridge, drawn up by the

syndicate appointed 6th November 1872 (Cambridge: The University Press, 1888)

I.B. Cohen and R. Schofield, eds., Isaac Newton's papers and letters on natural philosophy and

related documents (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1978; first ed.

Cambridge: CUP, 1958)

N. Guicciardini, "Isaac Newton and the publication of his mathematical manuscripts", Studies in

the history and philosophy of science 35 (2004), 455-470

A.R. Hall, "Sir Isaac Newton's note-book, 1661-65", Cambridge historical journal 9 (1948), 239-

50

A.R. Hall and M.B. Hall, eds., Unpublished scientific papers of Isaac Newton (Cambridge: CUP,

1962)

R. Iliffe, “A ‘connected system’? The snare of a beautiful hand and the unity of Newton’s

archive”, in M. Hunter, ed., Archives of the Scientific Revolution (Woodbridge: Boydell Press,

1998), 137–57

R. Iliffe, "Digitizing Isaac: the Newton Project and an electronic edition of Newton's papers", in J.

E. Force and S. Hutton, eds., Newton and Newtonianism: new studies (Dordrecht: Kluwer,

2004), 23-38

P. Jones, ed., Sir Isaac Newton: a catalogue of manuscripts and papers collected and

published on microfilm by Chadwyck-Healey (Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 1991)

A. Koyré and I.B. Cohen, "Newton & the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence with notes on Newton,

Conti, & Des Maizeaux", Archives internationales d'histoire des sciences 15 (1962), 63-126

S. Mandlebrote, Footprints of the lion: Isaac Newton at work (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Library, 2001)

A.N.L. Munby, A catalogue of the mss. and printed books in the Sir Isaac Newton collection

forming part of the library bequeathed by ... Baron Keynes of Tilton to King's College,

Cambridge. London; Cambridge (1936-1949)

A.N.L. Munby, ‘The Keynes Collection of the Works of Sir Isaac Newton at King’s College,

Cambridge, Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 10, No. 1, (Oct., 1952) pp.

40-50

J.E. McGuire and M. Tamny, 'Certain Philosophical Questions': Newton's Trinity notebook

(Cambridge: CUP, 1983)

S.P. Rigaud, ed., Correspondence of scientific men of the seventeenth century: including

letters of Barrow, Flamstead, Wallis, and Newton, printed from the originals in the collection of

the Right Honourable the Earl of Macclesfield, 2 vols. (Oxford: OUP, 1841)

H.W. Turnbull (ed.), The correspondence of Isaac Newton, 7 vols. (Cambridge: CUP, 1959–77)

D.T. Whiteside, ed., The mathematical papers of Isaac Newton, 8 vols. (Cambridge: CUP,

1967-81)

Appendix: Images

Cambridge University Library (CUL) MS Add. 3996 Papers connected with the Principia on

Lunar Theory

CUL MS Add. 3975 Notes on colours

CUL MS Add. 3982 Edmund Halley to Isaac Newton about comet’s orbits

CUL MS Add. Trinity College Notebook (1661-1665) notes on certain philosophical questions

CUL MS Add. 4002 Newton’s copy of his University Lectures on Optics

CUL MS Add. 4004 original cover of the ‘Waste Book’ containing notes on algebra

CUL Adv.b.39.1 Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, 1687 interleaved with Newton’s

annotations, sheet facing p. 24

King’s College Library, MS 30 an extract from ‘Index Chemicus’

’

Royal Society manuscript MS/81, Newton’s De analysi… sent by Isaac Barrow to John Collins,

31 July 1669.

Royal Society Early Letters EL/N1/37, 11 January 1672, drawing of the reflecting telescope

invented by Isaac Newton.

Trinity College Library, NQ.16.200, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, list of

annotations [not in Newton’s hand]

Trinity College Library, R.4.48C Notebook of Isaac Newton

Fitzwilliam Museum MS 1-1936 The Notebook of Isaac Newton

5. DETAILS OF NOMINATOR

1) Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian, Cambridge University Library (Contact Dr Katrina

Dean, Curator of Scientific Collections, +44 1223 765739 kjd32@cam.ac.uk)

2) Mr Peter Jones, Fellow Librarian, (Contact Mr Peter Jones, Fellow Librarian,

Email: peter.jones@kings.cam.ac.uk)

3) Dr Nicolas Bell, Librarian (Contact Dr Nicolas Bell, Trinity College Library, Email:

njb25@cam.ac.uk)

4) Mr Keith Moore, Librarian (Contact Mr Keith Moore, Librarian, Email:

Keith.moore@royalsociety.org)

5) Mr Tim Knox, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, (Contact Dr Suzanne Reynolds, Assistant

Keeper of Manuscripts and Printed Books, Email: scr42@cam.ac.uk

6) Oren Weinberg, Director of the National Library of Israel (Contact person Dr. Milka Levy-Rubin,

Humanities Curator Address The National Library of Israel E.J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram

P.O.B. 39105, Jerusalem, 9139002, Israel)

6. DECLARATION OF AUTHORITY

I certify that I have the authority to nominate the documentary heritage described herein to the

International Memory of the World Register

Signature

Date 8 May 2016