Catalogue Entry: ALCH00002
Three lists of alchemical writers and works, partly on the reverse of Mint-related material
Custodial History
Bought at the Sotheby sale for £9.10s. by Bernard Quaritch, who presumably sold it to Heffers. Keynes took it from them on approval on 17 August 1936 for £16 and must have bought it by 11 September, when Quaritch told Yahuda that the lot had already been sold.
Sotheby Lot
SL2Contents
pp. 1-3 A list of writers and works on alchemy, variously classified according to antiquity, nationality and degree of usefulness.
p. 4 Draft of 'An account of Gold & Silver moneys coyned since Christmas'.
pp. 5-6 Another list of writers, with their dates, signed 'Ieova sanctvs vnvs' [an anagram of Isaacvs Nevvtonvs].
p. 7 'Authores optimi': another list.
p. 8 Extract from 'An Act for encouraging Coynage' (18 Charles II cap. 5).
Notes
The Mint material is obviously no earlier than 1696 (when Newton joined the Mint) and some of the rest of the manuscript is written in an identical hand; other sections appear to be earlier, and the last internal date is 1684.
Related Material
See Figala et al., 'De Scriptoribus', passim, and Dobbs, Foundations, 174, n.100.
