“Chains of invincible reasoning”? New approaches to the Newton manuscripts at New College
This talk explores the possibilities raised by a manuscript-led approach to Newton’s thought and research, and in particular how it was shaped by his scribal practices. I will focus on the four manuscripts held at New College: these volumes comprise an eclectic set of notes on chronology made during the last decades of Newton’s life, and are written over a vast assortment of recycled documents. Such papers – Mint and business drafts, invitations, begging letters, and so on – anchor Newton’s chronological research to his life in London, and I will dig down through the layers of Newton’s manuscripts to reveal the surprising entanglements which emerge between these ostensibly separate fields. Addressing Newton through the overlapping scribal histories of his papers opens up new perspectives on his thought, not least his engagement with creative expression and early modern panegyric. Like his contemporaries, Newton was sensitive to imaginative political expression in verse and in images, and the New College papers demonstrate how his chronological research and work for the Mint were in a mutually creative exchange.
Date: 22 May 2023, 16:00 (Monday, 5th week, Trinity 2023)
Venue: Maison Française d’Oxford, 2-10 Norham Road, Oxford OX2 6SE
Speaker: Dr Jack Avery (Oxford)
Organising department: Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology
Part of: Oxford Centre for the History of Science Medicine & Technology (OCHSMT) Seminars and Events
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Belinda Clark