In 1872 a set of Issac Newton’s manuscripts was bequeated to ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ, Oxford by the Reverend Jeffrey Ekins. Although Newton scholars were well aware of this collection, its provenance is shrouded in mystery.

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library, Oxford, MS 361/2, f. 45v [detail]

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library and Archives, Oxford

One of ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library’s greatest treasures is its set of four volumes of research manuscripts from the desk of Sir Isaac Newton. While valuable objects in themselves, they are also highly significant for researchers hoping to piece together the complex research of Newton’s final decades, in which he sought to reset the timelines of ancient chronology.

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library, Oxford, MS 361/2, f. 77v

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library and Archives, Oxford

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ’s copy of the first edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica (London, 1687) was donated to the college library shortly after its publication by the otherwise obscure Bonfoy Trimnell (BA 1686, MA 1690).  Who was Bonfoy Trimnell and why is so very little known about him?  

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library, Oxford, BT1.128.26

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library and Archives, Oxford

Isaac Newton’s sketch of his experiment
with a camera obscura and two prisms

²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Library, MS 361/2