John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in the Somerset village of Wrington. His parents came from provincial puritan trading families, and the young man grew up in the troubled times of the Civil War. His father was an attorney and clerk to the Justices of the Peace in Somerset. The Lockes were clients of Alexander Popham, a leading Justice in the county, member of the Long Parliament for Bath, and a colonel in the Parliamentary army. Through Popham’s influence, the young Locke was admitted to the Westminster School in 1647, where he studied the traditional curriculum of Latin, Greek and Hebrew grammar and rhetoric under the eye of the Royalist headmaster, Richard Busby. In 1652, Locke was elected to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating Master of Arts in 1658. Thereafter he remained at Christ Church as a “Student” (as the fellows of that college were called), acting as a tutor, a lecturer in Greek (1660), rhetoric (1662) and moral philosophy (1664), and actively studying medicine and natural science. At this point in his life, he seemed to be settling comfortably into an academic career.

Locke first appeared in print while still an Oxford undergraduate. His earliest published works were four poems written upon different occasions from 1654 to 1668. Two poems, one in Latin and the other in English, were included in a collection of Oxford verses celebrating the victory of the Protectorate in the first Anglo-Dutch War. Eight years and one Restoration later, Locke contributed to another collection commemorating the marriage of Charles II to Catharine of Braganza. The fourth poem, a commendation of Locke’s medical colleague Thomas Sydenham, was appended to successive editions of Sydenham’s treatise on fevers.

Although these poems were the only writings Locke published during his years at Oxford, he did write several works which were not published during his lifetime. In 1660-1661, he drafted two tracts, one in English and one in Latin, on the power of the magistrate in matters of religious practice (first published from Locke’s manuscript in 1961). This subject involved a consideration of the law of nature, a topic to which he devoted much attention for several years and which was the subject of his 1664 lectures on moral philosophy (published in 1954). In the meantime, his medical and scientific studies involved him in collaboration with such men as Robert Boyle and Thomas Sydenham. His work with Sydenham resulted in drafts of several medical treatises.

During his years in Shaftesbury’s household, Locke served in a number of administrative positions. During the Earl’s tenure as Lord Chancellor, Locke was made Secretary of Appointments and Presentations (1672-1675). In 1673-1674, he served as secretary to the Council of Trade and Plantations, and from 1671-1675, as secretary to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. In this latter capacity, he was involved in the drafting of the “Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina.” The extent of his involvement in not known, although some contemporaries later assigned him a major role. An early draft is in the Shaftesbury Papers at the Public Record Office [PRO 30/24/47/3; published in “Report on the Shaftesbury papers” / W. Noel Sainsbury. The fundamental constitutions of Carolina has been frequently attributed to him and has regularly appeared in editions of his works.

Like The fundamental constitutions of Carolina, A letter from a person of quality has often been attributed to Locke and frequently included in editions of his works. His authorship is a matter of dispute and it is most likely that this tract on the protest in the House of Lords against the Test Act was written largely by Shaftesbury himself, with the assistance of various colleagues and political advisors, possibly including Locke.

Locke’s activities during his years with Shaftesbury were not confined to politics and administration. While at Oxford, he had been involved in scientific studies with Robert Boyle and Richard Lower. In 1667 he began a fruitful collaboration with Dr. Thomas Sydenham. In 1668 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. He was active for several years thereafter as a member of the committee to organize experiments and demonstrations for the Society’s meetings. Throughout his life, he occasionally contributed to the Philosophical transactions – mostly scientific observations, either his own or extracted from his correspondence. On Locke’s scientific activities, his relationship with Boyle and his participation in the Royal Society, see M.A. Stewart, “Locke’s professional contacts with Robert Boyle” (1981)

In 1681, Shaftesbury and his followers saw the end of their influence. The Earl went underground and eventually fled to Holland, where he died in 1683. Locke’s life now entered a new phase. Successively an Oxford academic and the client of a noble lord, he was now, at age 50, thrown upon his own devices in particularly precarious times. As an associate of Shaftesbury, he was suspected by the government of Charles II. His health, always a matter of concern, was declining. He decided to follow his patron’s example and retire quietly to Holland.

In 1685, Locke included in a letter to his friend Nicolas Toinard (see Locke #847, vol. 2:710-711) an account of his technique for constructing and indexing a commonplace book. English and Latin drafts survive in Toinard’s papers, as well as a Latin draft in the Lovelace Collection. A French translation of this account was published by Le Clerc; it was subsequently translated into English and Dutch and was adapted several times by other authors.

Locke’s sojourn in Holland was extremely productive. He began to find his identity as an author, bringing to completion and preparing for publication several projects begun earlier. The principal fruit of this period was the great Essay concerning human understanding. The early drafts of the 1670’s had been taken up, expanded and refined. The new draft [Draft C] was completed in 1686 and was read by several of Locke’s friends in England. After he returned to England in 1689, he sent the manuscript to the printer, and it was published in December of that year [Locke #228]. Before he left Holland, however, he presented a preview of his work to the public in the form of a French epitome. This was based on an English epitome written by Locke in 1684 or 5; this version has been published from Locke’s manuscript [MS. Locke c. 28, ff. 52-82] by Lord King [in Locke #895]. This was the basis for a French version by Le Clerc and published in the Bibliothèque universelle. Ironically, it was subsequently translated back into English by the “Athenian Society” in 1692. For a description of these versions of the epitome and a discussion of its date, content, and significance, see Hill & Milton, “The epitome (Abrégé) of Locke’s Essay” (2003).