Early letters: letters from correspondents in natural philosophy sent to the Royal Society and its Fellows
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
EL
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Early letters: letters from correspondents in natural philosophy sent to the Royal Society and its Fellows
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
The Royal Society
Date(s)
1613/1740
Language(s)
dut
eng
fra
lat
Extent
38 volumes
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This series is composed of incoming letters to the Royal Society via its secretaries, officers and fellows, on natural philosophy topics from the period 1660-1740 (with smaller collections of earlier material). These papers form the raw material from which the Royal Society's Letter Books and Register Books were compiled. Many were published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The series also contains English translations of foreign language letters and other document formats, including printed material.
Some of these letters and papers were addressed to Sephardic Jews who were Fellows of the Royal Society, namely Isaac de Sequeira Samuda and Jacob de Castro Sarmento, such as the following:
EL/C2/61 and EL/C2/62: Letters on astronomical observations by John Baptista Carbone, dated at Lisbon, to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda. 1726 and 1727.
EL/C2/83 and EL/C2/84: Letter from Joseph Israel Carrillo, physician to the King of Tunis, to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, and its translation. August 25, 1728.
EL/C3/4: Letter from Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real to Jacob de Castro Sarmento, offering himself as a candidate for election to the Fellowship. October 15, 1735.
Some of these letters and papers were addressed to Sephardic Jews who were Fellows of the Royal Society, namely Isaac de Sequeira Samuda and Jacob de Castro Sarmento, such as the following:
EL/C2/61 and EL/C2/62: Letters on astronomical observations by John Baptista Carbone, dated at Lisbon, to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda. 1726 and 1727.
EL/C2/83 and EL/C2/84: Letter from Joseph Israel Carrillo, physician to the King of Tunis, to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, and its translation. August 25, 1728.
EL/C3/4: Letter from Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real to Jacob de Castro Sarmento, offering himself as a candidate for election to the Fellowship. October 15, 1735.
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
Volumes are arranged alphabetically by author, and chronologically within author letter groups, with a single supplementary volume of letters essentially to Robert Boyle from Henry Oldenburg and John Beale.
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Letter Book of the Royal Society: "original" copies | Existence and location of originals |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| The Royal Society | Collections (official language of the state) |