Abstract
As a result of the sale of the Newton Papers, and other articles of interest in connexion with Sir Isaac Newton, by Messrs. Sotheby and Co. on July 13-14, two gifts of scientific importance have now been made possible, and are worthy of record. That portion of the Papers which deal with Newton's work as warden, and afterwards master, of the Royal Mint, is bound in three folio volumes and contains 529 pieces. These were sold for £1,400 to Mr. Gabriel Wells who placed them at the disposal of Lord Wakefield at cost, on the understanding that they would be presented to the nation. Lord Wakefield has presented them to the Royal Mint, where they will be available for inspection. The very valuable and unique collection of Newtoniana already in the possession of the Royal Society has been enhanced by a gift from Sir Robert Hadfield which he purchased at the same sale. The gift comprises the following letters: four from Edmund Halley to Newton: four from Edmund Halley to Thomas Molyneux; two from Fontenelle to Newton; one from Philip Naude to Newton; and one from Brook Taylor to Newton. A portrait of Sir Isaac Newton, painted in 1702 by Sir Godfrey Kneller (the most famous of the Newton portraits), has been purchased by the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery (with a contribution of half from the National Art-Collections Fund) from Messrs. Rosenbach, of New York. The portrait was actually sold at the same sale for £800, but through the generosity of Dr. Philip Rosenbach, was re-sold to the Trustees of the Gallery at cost price. Among the many other items of interest in connexion with Newton disposed of at the sale were the following: nine letters to Newton from Edmund Halley, containing the history of the publication of the “Prin-cipia” (£310); a note-book in Newton's own handwriting, giving an interesting and amusing list of expenses, and, at the other end, various problems in geometry and conic sections (£180); an autographed draft of about 1,000 words of a very important statement on the invention of the calculus (£210).
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Sale of Newtoniana. Nature 138, 195 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138195b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138195b0