Article ID: CBB200705827

Of Manuscripts and Men: The Editorial History of Isaac Newton's Chronology and Observations (2020)

unapi

This article introduces the editorial history of the most important of Isaac Newton's posthumously published scholarly writings, a history so far unwritten. Often attributed solely to Newton's executor, John Conduitt, the Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728) was in fact co-edited with the antiquarian Martin Folkes, who would eventually follow in Newton's footsteps and become President of the Royal Society. Likewise, the Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St John (1733) was edited by at least half a dozen of Newton's closest friends and colleagues. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but in particular during the twentieth, these publications were treated as solely Newton's, and analysed as such by both contemporaries and modern historians. However, as this paper shows, the Chronology and in particular the Observations were as much the product of their editors as of their author, and should be considered as such. Reconstructing the editorial history of Newton's posthumous publications reveals a fascinating tale of how his friends, relatives and colleagues tried to piece together meaning from the thousands of manuscripts with which they were confronted, a challenge that continues to this day.

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Authors & Contributors
Christianson, Gale E.
Dhombres, Jean G.
Ducheyne, Steffen
Engelstein, Stefani Brooke
Feingold, Mordechai
Haycock, David Boyd
Journals
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science
British Journal for the History of Science
Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
History of Science
Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Franz Steiner Verlag
Oxford University Press
University of Virginia Press
Voltaire Foundation
Concepts
Literary analysis
Editing (primary texts)
Transmission of texts
Science and literature
Primary literature (historical sources)
Natural philosophy
People
Newton, Isaac
Folkes, Martin
Stukeley, William
Algarotti, Francesco
Arbuthnot, John
Bentley, Richard
Time Periods
18th century
17th century
19th century
Modern
20th century
21st century
Places
Great Britain
Italy
England
China
Europe
France
Institutions
Royal Society of London
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