Catalogue Entry: THEM00028
Memoir of Newton sent by Conduitt to Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle for use in the latter's Eloge de Monsieur le Chevalier Newton (Paris, 1728), with drafts, and the correspondence between Conduitt and Fontenelle relating to the Eloge
- Fair copy of the Memoir of Newton
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Drafts of various sections of the Memoir of Newton
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - French translation of Conduitt's memoir and of the report of Newton's funeral from the London Gazette
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Three drafts of a letter from John Conduitt to Bernard de Fontenelle offering him Conduitt's Memoir of Newton, and draft of a letter from Conduitt to Horace Walpole
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Letter from Bernard de Fontenelle to John Conduitt, dated 14 April 1727 (new style)
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft letter from John Conduitt to Bernard de Fontenelle, c. 21 July 1727
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft letter from John Conduitt to Bernard de Fontenelle, dated 31 July 1727
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft letter from John Conduitt to Bernard de Fontenelle, dated 5 October 1727
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Letter from Bernard de Fontenelle to John Conduitt, dated 15 November 1727 (new style)
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft letter from John Conduitt to Bernard de Fontenelle, dated 23 November 1727
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Draft letter from John Conduitt to Bernard Fontenelle, dated 1 January 1727/8
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Account of Newton's funeral from "The London Gazette", No. 6569
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - Letter reacting to Newton's death, from "Mist's Weekly Journal", No. 103
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text] - 'Plan of Education, for a young Prince' (part 1), from "Fog's Weekly Journal", No. 195
[Normalized Text] [Diplomatic Text]
Custodial History
Bought at the Sotheby sale by 'Tregaskis' (James Tregaskis & Son, 66 Great Russell St., London WC1) for £13. Keynes wrote to Tregaskis on 22 July 1936 asking if the company had it, whereupon Tregaskis offered it to Keynes for £20. Yahuda also enquired after it but on 19 September Tregaskis advised him it had already been sold.
Sotheby Lot
SL213Contents
Consists of eleven items, as follows.
1. The memoir, in English, in Conduitt's hand, with many alterations by him, and also some additions in the hand of Catherine Conduitt (née Barton), c. 3,000 words, 31 pp.
2. Drafts of various sections of the memoir, in English, in Conduitt's hand, the last page in pencil, 20 pp.
3. The memoir translated into French, in another hand, with some revisions, followed by a translation into French of the report of Newton's funeral in the London Gazette, 4 April 1727. In total, c. 3,500 words, 27 pp.
4. Three drafts of a letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle, in French, in Conduitt's hand, offering him the memoir, 27 March 1727; 5 pp., each draft c. 200 words.
5. Original letter from Fontenelle to Conduitt, in French, thanking him for the offer, Paris, 14 April 1727 (presumably New Style), c. 500 words, 3 pp.
6. Draft of a covering letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle sent with the memoir, in Conduitt's hand, in French [about 21 July 1727: in no. 7 below Conduitt mentions that it was sent ten days ago], c. 700 words, 7 pp.
7. Draft of a letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle, in Conduitt's hand, in French, covering a manuscript copy of Edmond Halley's 'réponse au R P Souciet' [i.e. 'Remarks upon some dissertations lately publish'd at Paris, by the Rev. P. Souciet, against Sir Isaac Newton's Chronology', published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 34 (1726-7): 205-10 and 35 (1727-8): 296-300], 31 July 1727; c. 100 words, 1 p.
8. Draft of a letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle, in Conduitt's hand, in French, concerning the French translation of Halley's 'Remarks', 5 Oct. 1727, c. 250 words, 3 pp.
9. Original letter from Fontenelle to Conduitt, in French, reporting on the favourable reception of his Eloge at its public reading three days earlier, Paris, 15 Nov. 1721 New Style, c. 200 words, 2 pp.
10. Draft of a letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle, in Conduitt's hand, in French, acknowledging no. 9 and declaring an intention to have the Eloge translated into English, 23 Nov. 1727, c. 150 words, 1 p.
11. Draft of a letter from Conduitt to Fontenelle, in Conduitt's hand, in French, acknowledging receipt of a copy of the Eloge, 1 Jan. 1727/8, c. 150 words, 2 pp.
Related Material
See Cohen and Schofield, Papers and Letters and Hall, Eighteenth century perspectives.
