The Library of Isaac Newton

by John R. Harrison

When Newton died in 1727 he left a library of some 2,100 volumes. This was largely a collection of books regarded by him as a set of working tools – several of the well-thumbed surviving items are evidence of this. The books Newton owned are of considerable interest and importance principally to Newtonian scholars and to historians of science, as well as to booksellers, librarians and book-collectors. The library was kept virtually intact until 1920 when more than half the volumes were auctioned and subsequently dispersed. Scholars have hitherto had to rely on the unpublished Huggins List (1727) and Musgrave Catalogue (c. 1766), or on their less than satisfactory transcription issued in 1931. John Harrison has now remedied this deficiency by compiling a complete and comprehensive catalogue of Newton's library.

308 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 1978

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly not popular science, in fact, very much one for specialists - but for historians of science this is an extremely valuable look at the 2000+ books that Isaac Newton collected.

Infuriatingly, the collection remained in one piece until the 1920s, but then a good chunk of it was sold off to a collector. There will be some surprises. For instance, Newton doesn't seem to have a copy of Galileo's definitive physics book 'Two New Sciences'. And his library contained far more books on theology than physics. He also had a fair amount of fiction... and even some books on medals.

Along with an erudite exploration of the library's history and its various oddities, the book contains a complete catalogue of the volumes, and whether they had any oddities like markings and page turnings by Newton.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting account of how Isaac Newton used his books, the contents of his library, and what happened to the books after he died. Ends with a painstakingly recreated catalog of the books in his library with notes such as their present location and if there were annotations by Newton in the books.