Letter Book of the Royal Society: "original" copies
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
LBO
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (official language of the state)
Letter Book of the Royal Society: "original" copies
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
The Royal Society
Date(s)
1661/1740
Language(s)
deu
eng
fra
ita
lat
Extent
31 volumes
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This fonds contains copies of letters received by the Royal Society, whose originals are in the Early Letters series. The Letter Books were copied for security reasons. Among these copies, there were some addressed to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda, such as the following:
LBO/19/11: Copy of "Extract of a Letter to Dr. Samuda concerning an uncommon Shower of hail", read to the Royal Society on January 28, 1724.
LBO/18/18: Isaac de Sequeira Samuda's translation of part of a letter from a physician at Lisbon regarding an "epidemical distemper", read to the Royal Society on June 18, 1724.
LBO/19/10: Copy letter to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda giving an account of the effects of a violent storm at Lisbon and including a translation of a report published in the Gazeta de Lisboa (Gazette of Lisbon) on November 23, 1724.
LBO/19/11: Copy of "Extract of a Letter to Dr. Samuda concerning an uncommon Shower of hail", read to the Royal Society on January 28, 1724.
LBO/18/18: Isaac de Sequeira Samuda's translation of part of a letter from a physician at Lisbon regarding an "epidemical distemper", read to the Royal Society on June 18, 1724.
LBO/19/10: Copy letter to Isaac de Sequeira Samuda giving an account of the effects of a violent storm at Lisbon and including a translation of a report published in the Gazeta de Lisboa (Gazette of Lisbon) on November 23, 1724.
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 numbering of the volumes and their chronological range is slightly eccentric. Volumes 1-18 contain letters from 1662 to 1727. Within this group, volume 11 has been extended into two volumes, and volume 17 was created in order to leave a gap in the series for retrospective copying of original papers. The succeeding volumes 19-26 overlap in time, giving correspondence for the years 1720-1740. There are also five supplementary volumes providing fair copies of letters omitted from the main run; these are labelled A-B, B-C, D-G, G-H and H-S, the letters being arranged in order of author.
Finding aids
Volumes 1-19 (1661-1730) are indexed by name of author. Volumes 1661-1695 are indexed in Waller's general subject index to the Journal, Register and Letter Books, and its copy. The five supplementary volumes are indexed letter by letter in the Archive Card Catalogue, giving details of author, recipient, date and location.
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of originals
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Early letters: letters from correspondents in natural philosophy sent to the Royal Society and its Fellows | Existence and location of copies |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| The Royal Society | Collections (official language of the state) |