Classified papers of the Royal Society
Item
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Country
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GB
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
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Contact information: phone number
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0044 2074512500
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Contact information: email
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library@royalsociety.org
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Reference number
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CLP
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Classified papers of the Royal Society
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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The Royal Society
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Date(s)
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1660/1741
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Language(s)
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eng
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lat
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Extent
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31 volumes
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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This fonds is composed of scientific and other papers sent to the Royal Society, presented at meetings of Fellows, or commissioned by the Society before 1741. Some of the papers pre-date the grant of the First Charter to the Society on July 15, 1662. The majority of the papers in these volumes are manuscripts, but there are a few printed documents throughout the series.
Some of these papers were authored or presented to the Royal Society by Fellows who were Sephardic Jews, namely Isaac de Sequeira Samuda and Jacob de Castro Sarmento. Some examples are the following:
CLP/15i/73: Paper regarding a description of a large fish seen off the coast of Lisbon by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, read to the Royal Society on February 14, 1723.
CLP/12ii/19: Paper "Observatio anatomica" by Antonio Monrava, communicated by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda and read to the Royal Society on May 21, 1724.
CLP/14ii/18: "Part of a letter of an ingenious physician at Lisbon of the 17 April" communicated by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, on an "epidemical distemper", read to the Royal Society on June 18, 1724. Copy in LBO/18/18.
CLP/5/34: Paper regarding weather observations from Lisbon for October to December 1724 by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda.
CLP/4i/80: Paper "Astronomical passage of a Lumen Boreale [aurora borealis] observed near Bologna on March 14, 1727" by Eustachio Manfredi, read to the Royal Society by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda on May 16, 1728.
CLP/8ii/30: Paper on astronomical observations from Peking sent by Giovanni Battista Carbone in a letter to Jacob de Castro Sarmento, communicated by Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, and read to the Royal Society on February 18, 1730.
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Archival history
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This fonds was organised according to a simplified version of the classification by subject area devised by John Lowthorp (1659-1724) for his abridgement of the Philosophical Transactions. This arrangement was completed in 1741 by Thomas Birch.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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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.
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(source: Hunter, Michael. "Royal Society" in Britannica)
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System of arrangement
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The fonds is organised according to subject areas, following a simplified form of the Philosophical Transactions abridgment by John Lowthorp. The volumes are ordered as follows: 1. Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry; 2. Surveying, Optics, Perspective, Sculpture, Painting, Music, Mechanics; 3. (Volumes i and ii) Mechanics, Trades; 4. (Volumes i and ii) Physiology, Meteorology, Pneumatics; 5. Weather; 6. Staticks, Hydrostaticks, Hydraulics, Hydrology; 7. (Volumes i and ii) Architecture, Ship-building, Geography, Navigation, Voyages, Travel; 8. (Volume i and ii) Astronomy; 9. (Volume i and ii) Mineralogy, Magnetics; 10. (Volume i, ii and iii) Botany, Agriculture; 11. (Volume i and ii) Pharmacy, Chemistry; 12. (Volume i and ii) Anatomy, Surgery; 13. Monsters, Longevity; 14. (Volumes i and ii) Physic; 15. (Volumes i and ii) Zoology; 16. Grammar, Chronology, History, Antiquities; 17. Miscellaneous; 18. (Volumes i and ii) Papin, Hawksbee (sic), Desaguliers Papers; 19. Questions and Answers; 20. Hooke Papers; 21. Halley Papers; 22. (Volume i and ii) Accounts of Books; 23. (Volume i and ii) Inoculations; 24. Collins, Oldenbourg, Hooke; 25. Political Trade
Towards the end of the scheme, the classification diverges from its model. Although the majority of volumes are classified by subject, there are several which contain collections by individual scientists. There is a chronological run in each volume of the total number of papers.
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(source: The Royal Society online catalogue)
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Existence and location of copies
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LBO
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2022
Linked resources
Items with "Collections (official language of the state): Classified papers of the Royal Society"
| Title |
Class |
| The Royal Society |
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