Letters and Papers of a scientific nature submitted for publication by the Royal Society
Item
Country
GB
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
Contact information: phone number
0044 2074512500
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
library@royalsociety.org
Reference number
L&P
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Letters and Papers of a scientific nature submitted for publication by the Royal Society
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
The Royal Society
Date(s)
1741/1806
Language(s)
eng
Extent
119 volumes and 2 boxes
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This series comprises scientific papers sent to the Royal Society, many of which were published in the Philosophical Transactions. The earlier papers contain larger numbers of short letters, but by the 19th century, most of the manuscripts are in the form of long monographs. The texts are supported by a large number of original illustrations throughout the series. This collection provides a virtually unbroken run of presentations by leading 18th-century scientists. The few gaps include 1746-49 when no papers were collected.
Some of these letters and papers were written by or addressed to Sephardic Jews who were Fellows of the Royal Society, namely Jacob de Castro Sarmento, Emanuel Mendes da Costa, and Joseph Salvador. Some examples are the following:
L&P/2/7/1: Letter regarding spars and diamonds found in the Cornish mines from William Borlase to Emanuel Mendes da Costa. December 18, 1749.
L&P/2/103: Paper "Of an iliac passion from palsy of the large intestine" by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on February 21, 1751.
L&P/2/310: Letter on the lava of Mount Vesuvius from Emanuel Mendes da Costa to Thomas Birch. June 4, 1752. Other letters from, to, or addressed to Emanuel Mendes da Costa on scientific matters are L&P/2/377, L&P/4/194, L&P/4/138, L&P/4/54, L&P/3/243/1, L&P/4/223, L&P/4/76, L&P/4/146, L&P/4/181, L&P/4/280, among others.
L&P/3/41: Paper "Of a lunar eclipse" by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on November 20, 1755.
L&P/3/386: Letter "Cure of paralysis by electricity" by John Godfrey Teske to Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on May 17, 1759.
L&P/4/63: Letter regarding an uncommon meteorological phenomenon in Dorsetshire from John Stevens to Emanuel Mendes da Costa. April 4, 1761.
L&P/4/71: Letter from an unknown author to Joseph Salvador regarding the earthquake at Lisbon on March 31, 1761, read to the Royal Society on April 23, 1761.
Some of these letters and papers were written by or addressed to Sephardic Jews who were Fellows of the Royal Society, namely Jacob de Castro Sarmento, Emanuel Mendes da Costa, and Joseph Salvador. Some examples are the following:
L&P/2/7/1: Letter regarding spars and diamonds found in the Cornish mines from William Borlase to Emanuel Mendes da Costa. December 18, 1749.
L&P/2/103: Paper "Of an iliac passion from palsy of the large intestine" by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on February 21, 1751.
L&P/2/310: Letter on the lava of Mount Vesuvius from Emanuel Mendes da Costa to Thomas Birch. June 4, 1752. Other letters from, to, or addressed to Emanuel Mendes da Costa on scientific matters are L&P/2/377, L&P/4/194, L&P/4/138, L&P/4/54, L&P/3/243/1, L&P/4/223, L&P/4/76, L&P/4/146, L&P/4/181, L&P/4/280, among others.
L&P/3/41: Paper "Of a lunar eclipse" by Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on November 20, 1755.
L&P/3/386: Letter "Cure of paralysis by electricity" by John Godfrey Teske to Jacob de Castro Sarmento, read on May 17, 1759.
L&P/4/63: Letter regarding an uncommon meteorological phenomenon in Dorsetshire from John Stevens to Emanuel Mendes da Costa. April 4, 1761.
L&P/4/71: Letter from an unknown author to Joseph Salvador regarding the earthquake at Lisbon on March 31, 1761, read to the Royal Society on April 23, 1761.
Archival history
This series is a combination and continuation of the Early Letters and Classified Papers series into the 19th century. Later, the series was divided into the Philosophical Transactions series for those papers that were published and Archived Papers for those that were not published at the time. From the time that the Letters and Papers (or New Guard Books as they were originally known) were created, none of these original papers was copied into Letter or Register Books.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Royal Society is the oldest national scientific society in the world and the leading British organisation for the promotion of scientific research. It originated on November 28, 1660, when 12 men met after a lecture at Gresham College, London, by Christopher Wren (1632-1723), then professor of astronomy at the college, and resolved to set up a college for the promoting of "Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning". Those present included the scientists Robert Boyle (1627-91) and Bishop John Wilkins (1614-72) and the courtiers Sir Robert Moray (1609-73) and William, 2nd Viscount Brouncker (1620-84).
This group's ambition to create a national society devoted to the promotion of science was put into effect over the next few years, particularly through a charter of incorporation granted by Charles II in 1662 and revised in 1663. The royal charter provided an institutional structure for the society, with a president, treasurer, secretaries, and council. Though it had royal patronage almost from the start, the society has always remained a voluntary organisation, independent of the British state.
A key development of the Royal Society was the establishment in 1665 of a periodical that acted as the society's mouthpiece, the Philosophical Transactions, which still flourishes today as the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication.
The presidency of Isaac Newton from 1703 to 1727 saw this great mathematician and physicist asserting the society's dominant role in science in Britain and farther afield. Endowments from the 18th century onward made possible prizes for various aspects of science that are still awarded today. In the 1830s, a reform program reinvigorated the society and restored it to a prominence that it has retained ever since.
Since 1967, the society has occupied premises in Carlton House Terrace, London, where meetings are held, and the society's extensive archival and other resources are housed.
This group's ambition to create a national society devoted to the promotion of science was put into effect over the next few years, particularly through a charter of incorporation granted by Charles II in 1662 and revised in 1663. The royal charter provided an institutional structure for the society, with a president, treasurer, secretaries, and council. Though it had royal patronage almost from the start, the society has always remained a voluntary organisation, independent of the British state.
A key development of the Royal Society was the establishment in 1665 of a periodical that acted as the society's mouthpiece, the Philosophical Transactions, which still flourishes today as the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication.
The presidency of Isaac Newton from 1703 to 1727 saw this great mathematician and physicist asserting the society's dominant role in science in Britain and farther afield. Endowments from the 18th century onward made possible prizes for various aspects of science that are still awarded today. In the 1830s, a reform program reinvigorated the society and restored it to a prominence that it has retained ever since.
Since 1967, the society has occupied premises in Carlton House Terrace, London, where meetings are held, and the society's extensive archival and other resources are housed.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The series is arranged into "Decades", these are groups that originally consisted of ten volumes rather than ten years, with supplementary volumes interspersed with these sets. Twelve such decades form the whole series, originally 126 volumes, are now bound as 119. There is also a supplementary box of loose papers. The item numbers run consecutively for the entirety of each decade, rather than each volume. The items are arranged broadly chronologically by the date of the Royal Society meeting at which they were read, but there are significant inconsistencies in the chronology within certain volumes.
Access, restrictions
The Letters and Papers have been filmed with funding from the Mellon Foundation. The microfilm is available to researchers in the Library.
Finding aids
Each volume contains a list of contents providing a reference number, author, title, extent, date of reading to the Royal Society and place of publication in the Philosophical Transactions for each paper. Each paper is listed in the Archive Card Catalogue, where the information is expanded to include the number of pages of illustrations in the papers.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2022
Bibliography
Linked resources
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