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  1669

Memorandum book for 1669  

Location:   British Library, Add. MS. 46,470.

Description:   Small memorandum book in which Locke recorded his activities during 1669. Bound with Goldsmith 1669. An almanack for the year of our Lord God 1669. Being the first after bissextile or leap-year: and from the Creation, 5618. Wherein is contained many observations, and tables, pleasant, necessary and useful. With a description of the highways, marts, and fairs. The like not extant by any other. Compiled by John Goldsmith. London, printed by Tho. Ratcliffe and Tho. Daniel, for the Company of Stationers, 1669. 24^o A-B¹². (f. 3-26). The memoranda are on ff. 27-51; there is a blank leaf following f. 47 and 19 blank leaves following f. 48; f. 51 is the back paste-down. Pages numbered 1-36 by Locke (ff. 27-45; p. 35 used twice).

On the front pastedown is Locke’s pressmark “R.R.21” and impressions in red sealing wax of three engraved gems and of a signet with the arms of Locke. At some point, Locke turned the book and began at the back; ff. 50^v-49^v (pages numbered 1-3) contain a list of books and other notes, some in shorthand.

The bulk of the book consists of accounts, the earliest dated Nov. 2, 1668. Most crossed through to indicate that they had been transferred to another account book, Bodleian Library, MS. Locke f. 12, pp. 242-240 (rev.)

The book was bequeathed by Locke to Peter King and passed through him into the collection of the Earls of Lovelace. William King, the first Earl, give the book to Henry Lawes Long, who passed it to Charles Edward Long, the antiquary. It subsequently passed to Miss Catherine Beatrice Long, and to her great-nephew Major Philip John Randolph Currie, O.B.E., M.C., who presented it to the British Museum in August 1956.

Publications:   None

Drafts for The fundamental constitutions of Carolina   [1669 before July?]

Location:   In the possession of Peter Laslett;
typescript in Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 39, f. 3.

Description:   A stray sheet of paper containing draft sections for The fundamental consitutions of Carolina in Locke’s hand; endorsed “Carolina A draught of some laws.” Milton argues that these drafts predate the 1669 draft [see next item].

Publications:

1. “John Locke and the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina” / J.R. Milton. // IN: Locke newsletter. – 21 (1990):122.

Discussions:   Milton, publication #1 above, p. 121.

The fundamental constitutions of Carolina   (1669 July 21)

Location:   Public Record Office, London, PRO 30/24/47/3.

Description:   The earliest extant draft of The fundamental constitutions of Carolina, dated 21 July 1669. The manuscript is in a notebook bound in vellum, containing 74 leaves, 150 × 90 mm; pp. 1 (f. 2)-97 (f. 55); the rest bear no pagination; f. 74 is blank.

The text of the draft is written on the recto pages of ff. 2-73 (except for f. 56 which is blank) in an unknown hand; the first two paragraphs, the beginning of the third, and numerous additions and corrections are in Locke’s hand (there are other corrections in a third hand). Milton believes it likely that Locke’s additions and corrections were made after a fair copy of the document was sealed on 21 July 1669, but before a revised version was sealed on 1 March 1670.

The revised version was printed in 1670; there were further revisions printed in 1682 and 1698.

Publications:

For printed editions, see the section on this work in the John Locke Bibliography; the following are publications of the manuscript.
1. “Report on the Shaftesbury Papers” / W. Noel Sainsbury. // IN: Annual report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. – 33 (1872):258-269.
2. “Fundamental constitutions of Carolina.” // IN: North Carolina charters and constitutions, 1578-1698 / Mattie Erma Edwards Parker, editor. – Raleigh, N.C. : Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission, 1963. – (The colonial records of North Carolina). – p. 132-185. [Locke #14]
3. Political essays / Locke ; edited by Mark Goldie. – Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997. – p. 161-181. [Locke #867+]

Discussions:   Parker, publication #2 above, p. 128-131; K.H.D. Haley, The first Earl of Shaftesbury (1968), p. 242-248; J. Farr, ‘So vile and miserable an estate’ ” (1986); C. McGuinness, “The Fundamental constitutions of Carolina as a tool for Lockean scholarship” (1989); W. Glausser, “Three approaches to Locke and the slave trade” (1990); J.R. Milton, “John Locke and the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina” (1990) [the best description of the manuscript and discussion of authorship]; J. Tully, “Rediscovering America” (1994); Goldie, publication #3 above, p. 160-161.

De arte medica   (1669)

Location:   Public Record Office, London, PRO 30/24/47/2, ff. 47-56.

Description:   The manuscript is written in Locke’s hand. Fol. 47 bears the captions “De arte med{...} 1669” and “Ars. medica 1669”. It is constructed by folding five sheets of paper in two, forming double leaves; these are stacked (rather than being inserted inside each other). Fols. 47-48 is larger than the other sheets and the pages are blank except for the caption; it was probably used as a wrapper. Fols. 49-56 measure 190 × 155 mm or larger and are numbered (pp. 1-16) by Locke. The text is written on the recto pages, leaving the versos for insertions. The point for insertion in the text is not always indicated.

As was the case with the similar paper “Anatomia” (1668), the authorship is in dispute. Dewhurst considers that the work was “written in collaboration with Sydenham,” whereas Guy Meynell and Jonathan Walmsley argue that Locke was the author. Meynell suggests that the two papers were drafts for a preface to Sydenham’s “Medical observations” [Royal College of Physicians of London, MS. 572].

Publications:

1. [modernized version:] The life of John Locke / by H.R. Fox Bourne. – London : H.S. King ; New York : Harper, 1876. – v. 1:222-227.
2. The physician’s art : an attempt to expand John Locke’s fragment “De arte medica” / by Alexander George Gibson. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1933. – p. 13-26. – Incomplete; does not include materials from the verso pages.
3. Dr. Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), his life and original writings / Kenneth Dewhurst. – London : Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1966. – p. 79-84. – The transcription is neither complete nor accurate.
4. John Locke’s natural philosophy (1632-1671) / Jonathan Craig Walmsley. – Thesis (Ph.D.)–King’s College London, 1998. – leaves 291-300.

Discussions:   General: Gibson (publication #2 above); Dewhurst (publication #3 above); Walmsley (publication #4 above); Authorship: Guy Meynell, “Locke as author of Anatomia and De arte medica.”

Sydenham’s Tractatus de variolis   (1669)

Location:   Bodleian Library, MS. Locke f. 21, pp. 3-17.

Description:   A fair copy in Locke’s hand of a treatise on smallpox by Dr. Thomas Sydenham, with the title “Sagacissimi viri, et practici fælicissimi Dⁿⁱ D^ris Thomæ Sydenham amici sui plurimum Colendi tractatus de Variolis, an[no] 1669,” and the running title “Variolæ.” The final paragraph (p. 17) is crossed through with a vertical line.

Publications:

1. “Sydenham’s original treatise on smallpox with a preface, and dedication to the Earl of Shaftesbury, by John Locke” / by Kenneth Dewhurst. // IN: Medical history. – 3 (1959):290-300. – Includes a photographic reproduction of p. 3 of the manuscript (p. 279)
2. Dr. Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), his life and original writings / Kenneth Dewhurst. – London : Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1966. – p. 109-122.

Discussions:   Dewhurst, publications above.

Qs on S.P.’s [Samuel Parker’s] discourse of toleration   (late 1669 [or early 1670])

Location:   Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 39, ff. 5-10.

Description:   Notes in Locke’s hand, on Samuel Parker’s Discourse of Ecclesiastical Polity. The queries are endorsed (f. 8^v) “Qs on S.P.’s discourse of toleration 69.” Goldie gives it the title “On Samuel Parker”; Milton & Milton, “Notes on Samuel Parker’s Discourse of Ecclesiastical Politie.

The manuscript consists of three sheets of paper, each folded once; each sheet is a different size, and the text is arranged differently: on ff. 5-6, 300 × 195 mm, the leaves are divided into two columns, with text in the left columns and f. 6 blank; on ff. 7-8, 230 × 170 mm, the notes occupy most of the page, with page references to Parker’s book in the left margin (f. 8 is blank); on ff. 9-10, 335 × 235 mm, the page (text appears on f. 9^r only) is divided into two columns, with quotations from Parker on the left and Q[ueries] on the right.

Parker’s book is dated 1670, but was published late in 1669. Locke’s date may be old style and therefore his notes may date from Jan.-Mar. 1670.

Publications:

1. [incomplete]: John Locke, a biography / by Maurice Cranston. – London ; New York : Longmans, Green, 1957. – p. 131-133.
2. [ff. 7-9 only]: Political essays / Locke ; edited by Mark Goldie. – Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997. – p. 211-215. [Locke #867+]. – Includes the relevant texts from Parker’s book.
3. An essay concerning toleration and other writings on law and politics, 1667-1683 / John Locke ; edited with an introduction, critical apparatus, notes and transcription of ancillary manuscripts by J.R. Milton and Philip Milton. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 2006. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke). – p. 322-326.

Discussions:   Goldie, publication #2 above, p. 211; Milton & Milton, Introduction to publication #1 above, p. 57-70, 192-194.