Early Royal Society manuscripts found; request for assistance.

10/3/06.

The following article, about some early Royal Society manuscripts by
Robert Hooke which have recently been rediscovered, will be included in
the next issue of the quarterly Newsletter of the Society for the
History of Astronomy (SHA; http://www.shastro.org.uk). I'm also
circulating it to various suitable Usenet newsgroups, both to reach
a larger audience and because time is pressing. Anyone who can offer
any assistance should contact Keith Moore ),
the Royal Society Librarian, directly.

Any help would be much appreciated.


Clive Davenhall

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Early Royal Society Manuscripts Found
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Important manuscripts which throw light on the early history of the
Royal Society and the work of Robert Hooke (1635-1703), its first
Curator of Instruments, have been found. The documents were discovered
by accident during a routine evaluation of a house in Hampshire by the
auctioneers Bonhams of New Bond Street.

The manuscripts comprise Hooke's personal copies of the minutes of
meetings of the Royal Society for several decades from 1661. There are
two sets of manuscripts. The first, covering the period 1661-1677,
consists of 'fair copies' of the minutes with (sometimes acerbic)
comments inserted by Hooke. In 1677 Hooke succeeded the recently
deceased Henry Oldenburg (1618-1677) to become the Royal Society's
second Secretary. The second set of manuscripts dates from after
this appointment and consists of Hooke's own rough notes of the
Society's meetings.

The manuscripts comprise a little over five hundred pages. They throw
important new light on a number of the important scientific issues of
the time, including early work on microscopes and accurate watches,
and the development of the theory of universal gravitation. The often
irascible Hooke was heavily involved in all these developments and
became embroiled in a number of priority disputes which hitherto it
has been impossible to disentangle satisfactorily.

The manuscripts are to be auctioned by Bonhams on 28 March (this
auction may well have happened by the time this Newsletter reaches
you) and are expected to fetch over GBP 1 million. The Royal Society
cannot afford to buy them, but it has appealed for a 'white knight' to
purchase them, who would allow them to be made available to scholars.
Also, an emergency application for National Lottery funding is being
investigated, for which it is important to demonstrate external support.
Assuming that the auction date has not passed, offers of even modest
financial assistance in this regard could be helpful, for example,
perhaps an offer to pledge a few pounds a month for several years.
Several SHA Councillors have already made such a commitment. If you
can help please contact Keith Moore ) the RS
Librarian.


Further reading
---------------

Royal Society press release:
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=4144

The particulars issued by Bonhams are available on their Web site:
http://www.bonhams.com/

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Clive Davenhall.