The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, 1636–1691

The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, 1636–1691 is the first edition of Boyle's correspondence, transcribed, mostly for the first time, from the original manuscripts. It is fully annotated, with an introduction and comprehensive general index. The Correspondence of Robert Boyle is a British Academy Research Project.

Robert Boyle (1627–91) was not only one of the founders of modern Western science but also a key figure in late 17th-century English culture. Himself a prolific and innovative experimenter, he was at the centre of a network of figures with similar interests. These included some of the most important European intellectuals of his day, together with many leading figures in the most innovative and influential scientific institution of the 17th century, the Royal Society. This is the first complete edition of Boyle’s correspondence. More than a third of the letters presented here have never previously been published, while the text of others is more complete and accurate than hitherto.

Contents

Boyle's principal correspondents:
John Aubrey (1626–97), virtuoso and author; William Avery (d.1687), Boston doctor; Thomas Barlow (1607–91), Bodley’s librarian and bishop; Richard Baxter (1615–91), Presbyterian divine, Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), critic; John Beale (1608–83), divine and natural philosopher; Edward Bernard (1638–96), Oxford professor; Olaus Borrichius (1626–90), Danish chemist and savant; Gilbert Burnet (1643–1715), churchman and politician; Frederick Clodius (fl. 1650–70), chemist and projector; Samuel Colepresse (d.1669), medical student and virtuoso; Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (1566–1643), Boyle’s father; Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork (1612–97), Boyle’s elder brother; Charles Boyle, Lord Clifford (1639–94), Boyle’s nephew; Samuel Collins (1619–70), physician and traveller; Daniel Coxe (1640–1730), physician and natural philosopher; Ralph Cudworth (1617–88), Cambridge Platonist; Peter du Moulin (1601–84), divine and author; John Eliot (1604–90), missionary; John Endecott (1588?–1665), Governor of New England; John Evelyn (1620–1707), diarist and virtuoso; Nicolas Fatio de Duiller (1664–1753), natural philosopher; John Fell (1625–86), Bishop of Oxford; Joseph Glanvill (1636–80), divine and author; Valentine Greatrakes (1629–83), Irish ‘stroker’; Samuel Hartlib (c.1600–62), intelligencer; Nathaniel Highmore (1613–85), physician and natural philosopher; Robert Hooke (1635–1703), natural philosopher and inventor; Robert Huntington (1637–1701), orientalist and divine; Thomas Hyde (1636–1703), Bodley’s librarian and orientalist; Henry Jones (1605–82), divine; Henri Justel (1620–93), Huguenot librarian; James Kirkwood (1650?–1708), divine; Jean Le Clerc (1657–1736), philosopher and theologian; Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), microscopist; Nicholas Lemery (1645–1715), chemist; John Locke (1632–1704), philosopher; Richard Lower (1631–91), physician and anatomist; Sir John Mallet (c.1623–86), Recorder of Bridgewater and MP; Narcissus Marsh (1638–1713), churchman; Guy de Mesmin, French Protestant physician; Sir Robert Moray (1608–73), statesman; Henry More (1614–87), Cambridge Platonist; Allen Moulin (d.1690), anatomist; New England Company; Isaac Newton (1647–1727), mathematician and natural philosopher; Henry Oldenburg (1618–77?), first Secretary of the Royal Society; Margaret Boyle, Countess of Orrery (1623–89), Boyle’s sister-in-law; Denis Papin (1647–c.1712), natural philosopher and inventor; William Penn (1644–1718), Quaker and colonialist; Sir William Petty (1623–87), political economist; Georges Pierre (d.1680), alchemist; Edward Pococke (1604–91), orientalist; Henry Power (1623–68), physician and natural philosopher; Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh (1614–91), Boyle’s sister; Richard Jones, 3rd Earl of Ranelagh (1641–1712), Boyle’s nephew; Sir Paul Rycaut (1629–1700), diplomat and writer; Andrew Sall (1612–82), Jesuit convert and divine; William Seaman (1607-80), orientalist; Robert Sharrock (1630–84), divine and author; Sir Robert Southwell (1635–1702), statesman and diplomat; George Starkey (1628–65), chemist; Henry Stubbe (1632–76), physician and controversialist; Thomas Sydenham (1624–1718), physician; Daubeney Turberville (1612–96), physician; James Tyrrell (1642–1718), political writer; John Wallis (1616–1703), Oxford professor; Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick (1624–78), Boyle’s sister; Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea (d.1689), diplomat and author; John Winthrop (1606–76), Governor of Connecticut; Benjamin Worsley (1618–77), natural philosopher and projector

Reviews

‘All serious students of Boyle and all scholarly libraries have no option but invest in these essential resource-pair [The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, 1636–1691 and The Works of Robert Boyle] The editors and the publishers are to be congratulated on exemplary editorial and production standards.’
– D Thorburn Burns, Ambix
‘This is a monumental work of scholarship, an indispensable resource for all future studies of Boyle’s life and thought…. we should be grateful that a publisher such as Pickering & Chatto is willing to produce such a superbly old-fashioned edition – old fashioned, that is, in its attention to layout, footnotes, indexing and sheer readability…. These modern keepers of the flame have done their work so well that it strongly deserves, one feels, to be kept in such a durable form, with no risk of disappearing in an electronic puff of smoke.’
– Noel Malcolm, The Times Literary Supplement

Related titles

• The Historiography of the Chemical Revolution : Patterns of Interpretation in the History of Science
• Robert Boyle: By Himself and His Friends : With a Fragment of William Wotton's lost Life of Boyle
• The Works of Robert Boyle

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