Sydenham and the development of locke's natural philosophy

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Notes

²The contacts between Locke and Boyle have been catalogued in detail by M. A. Stewart, ‘Locke's Professional Contacts with Robert Boyle’, The Locke Newsletter, 12 (1981) 19–44.

³R. I. Aaron, John Locke (Oxford, 1965) 122.

⁴E. McCann, ‘Locke's Philosophy of Body’, The Cambridge Companion to Locke, edited by V. Chappell (Cambridge, 1994) 56–88.

⁵For Locke's time in Oxford, see J. R. Milton, ‘Locke at Oxford’, in Locke's Philosophy: Content and Context, edited by G. A. J. Rogers (Oxford, 1994) 29–47. For Locke's medical research at this time, see J. C. Walmsley, ‘Locke's Natural Philosophy in Draft A of the Essay,’Journal of the History of Ideas, 65 (2004) 15–36, at 15–17.

⁶J. C. Walmsley, ‘Morbus – Locke's Early Essay on Disease’, Early Science and Medicine, 5 (2000) 367–93.

⁷National Archives (henceforth NA) PRO 30/24/47/2 ff. 71–4 cf. K. Dewhurst, ‘Locke's Essay on Respiration’, The Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 34 (1960) 257–73. Dewhurst's transcription is inaccurate – see Milton, ‘Locke at Oxford’, n33. A new transcription and translation of this text is presented in J. C. Walmsley, ‘John Locke's ‘“Respirationis usus”: Text and Translation' (unpublished manuscript, 2007). Locke's work on respiration has been discussed in detail by J. C. Walmsley, ‘John Locke on Respiration', Medical History, 51 (2007) 453–76.

⁸R. Boyle, New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, touching the Spring of the Air, and its effects (Oxford, 1660) 362–3.

⁹NA PRO 30/24/47/2 f. 72r.

¹⁰Boyle, New Experiments, 351–2, 354.

¹¹PRO 30/24/47/2 f. 73v.

¹⁹Op cit., 101.

¹²M. Cranston, John Locke: A Biography (London, 1957) 103–4.

¹³T. Sydenham, Methodus curandi febres, propriis observationibus superstructura, edited by G. G. Meynell (Folkestone, 1987).

¹⁴Bodleian Library (henceforth Bodl.) MS Locke d.11 ff. 79v and 268r–267v rev.

¹⁵Sydenham, Methodus, 59.

¹⁶Op cit., 103.

¹⁷Op cit., 55.

¹⁸Op cit., 103.

²⁰Sydenham, Methodus, 9.

²¹ The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, edited by M. Hunter, A. Clericuzio and L. M. Principe (London, 2001) IV, 55.

²⁴Op cit., 228.

²²Sydenham, Methodus, 12–14, 227–8.

²³Op cit., 227.

²⁵Op cit., 227.

²⁶Ibid.

²⁷Ibid.

²⁸G. G. Meynell, ‘Sydenham, Locke and Sydenham's De Peste Sive Febre Pestilentiali’, Medical History, 37 (1993) 330–2.

²⁹British Library (henceforth BL) Additional MS. 5714. Discussed by E. T. Withington, ‘John Locke as a Medical Practitioner’, Janus, 4 (1899) 393–8. Transcribed in op cit. 457–63, 527–32 and 579–87 and J. Dempster, ‘John Locke: Physician and Philosopher’, Annals of Medical History, 4 (1932) 172–86.

³⁰NA PRO 30/24/47/2 ff. 1–30 and 81–2. These notes are discussed in W. Osler, ‘John Locke as a physician’, The Lancet, 2 (20 October 1900) 1153–23, reprinted in A Locke miscellany edited by Jean Yolton (Bristol, 1990) 103–7.

³⁴Op cit., f. 35v.

³¹See Appendix.

³²On authorship, see G. G. Meynell, ‘Locke as the Author of Anatomia and De Arte Medica’, The Locke Newsletter, 25 (1994) 65–73. See appendix for an additional argument concerning ‘De Arte Medica’.

³³NA PRO 30/24/72/2 ff. 31–38 and ff. 47–56, respectively. Transcribed in K. Dewhurst, Dr. Thomas Sydenham (1624–89): His Life and Original Writings (London 1966) 85–93 and 79–84, respectively. More accurate transcriptions are presented in J. C. Walmsley, ‘John Locke's Natural Philosophy (1632–1671)’, (University of London, Ph.D. Thesis, 1998), 272–85 and 286–95, respectively.

³⁶Op cit., f. 31v.

³⁵Op cit., ff. 36v–37r.

³⁸Op cit., f. 52r.

³⁷Op cit., ff. 50r, 51r and 52r.

³⁹Op cit., f. 53r.

⁴⁰Ibid.

⁴¹Op cit., f. 55r.

⁴²Op cit., f. 56r.

⁴³Op cit., f .33v.

⁴⁴Several pieces from 1669 relate to smallpox; an Epistolary Dedication to Shaftesbury (NA PRO 30/24/47/2 ff. 60–3) and a Preface (op. cit., ff. 64–9) cf. Dewhurst, Thomas Sydenham, 101–2 and 102–9, respectively. Both are in Locke's hand, but both are the work of Sydenham. A note ‘Smallpox Preface: 70’ (NA PRO 30/24/47/2 f. 57) in Locke's hand and possibly by him, may also be associated with this project, cf. P. Romanell, John Locke and Medicine (Buffalo, NY, 1984) 70–2.

⁴⁵D. Bates, ‘Thomas Sydenham: The Development of his Thought 1666–76’ (Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. Thesis 1975) 61–140; ‘Part II: The Development of his Theory of Constitutions’.

⁴⁶Royal College of Physicians (henceforth RCP) MS 572. Transcribed and collated with other sources in G. G. Meynell, Thomas Sydenham's ‘Observationes Medicae’ and his ‘Medical Observations’ With new transcripts of related Locke MSS, in the Bodleian Library (Folkstone, 1991).

⁴⁷RCP MS 572 ff. 20r–26r, cf. Meynell, Sydenham's ‘Observationes Medicae’, 68–98.

⁴⁸Meynell, Sydenham's ‘Observationes Medicae’, 8–9.

⁴⁹‘Epidemicall diseases of the year 1670’, RCP MS 572 ff. 42v–46v cf. Locke's own copy Bodl. MS Locke f. 21, pp. 17, 42–5, 50–6, 58, 60 and 151. See also Meynell, Sydenham's ‘Observationes Medicae’, 150–60.

⁵⁰On 14 February 1673 Locke wrote to a mutual friend John Mapletoft: ‘Dr Sydenham & I mention you some times, for we doe not now meet often, my businesse now allowing me but litle leisure for visits: but I hope I shall in a short space bring it to better terms’ (The Correspondence of John Locke, edited by E. S. de Beer (Oxford, 1976) (henceforth Locke, Corr.) (Letter 269, I. 378).

⁵¹Locke's Journal notes are presented in K. Dewhurst, John Locke, Physician and Philosopher (London 1960) 93–98. See also K. Dewhurst, ‘A Symposium on Trigeminal Neuralgia: With Contributions by Locke, Sydenham and other Eminent Seventeenth Century Physicians’, Journal of the History of Medicine, 12 (1957) 21–36.

⁵²Locke, Corr., Letters 360–2, I. 525–30.

⁵³Locke, Corr., Letter 363, I. 530–7.

⁵⁴Op cit., 536–7.

⁵⁵Locke, Corr., Letter 364, I. 538.

⁵⁶Another example of Locke's recourse to Sydenham is furnished by Locke's treatment of his pupil Caleb Banks. Journal notes concerning this incident from 18 August to 22 September 1679 are transcribed in Dewhurst, John Locke, 167–74.

⁶⁰T. Sydenham, The Works of Thomas Sydenham, edited by R. G. Latham (London 1848–50) I. 6.

⁵⁷Locke, Corr., Letter 309, I. 438–9: ‘Doctor Sydenham presents his service to you and is now Printing his booke.’

⁵⁸Locke, Corr., Letter 312, I. 446–7: ‘I long sinc sent you 3 of Doctor Sydenhams books and directed them just as you directed, which I presume before this are come to your hands.’

⁵⁹G. G. Meynell, ‘Locke's Collaboration with Sydenham: The Significance of Locke's Indexes’, The Locke Newsletter, 27 (1996) 65–74.

⁶¹Locke here uses his pseudonym for Sydenham: ‘Æ’, short for ‘Asclepius’ a reference to the Greek physician raised to the status of demigod whose powers reputedly extended to raising the dead. See R. Graves, The Greek Myths (London 1955) §50, 173–8.

⁶²Dewhurst, John Locke, 92 and 115.

⁶³Locke, Corr., Letter 398, I. 601. In August of 1680 Locke also referred one ‘Mrs. Cox’ to Sydenham, cf. Dewhurst, John Locke, 192.

⁶⁴Op cit., 179.

⁶⁵Op cit., 177–80 (October–December 1679) 193–7 (September–November 1680) 205–7 (September–October 1681) and 214 (22 December 1682).

⁶⁷Sydenham, Works, II. 84.

⁶⁶J. Harrison and P. Laslett, The Library of John Locke (Oxford 1965) item 2810.

⁶⁸Op cit., 172.

⁶⁹Sydenham, Works, II, 172.

⁷⁴Op cit., 480. Locke used the phrase ‘in the air’ to reference speculative theories in both the Essay (I. iv. 25) and correspondence with Molyneux regarding Sydenham's opposition to such practices (Locke, Corr., Letter 1593, IV. 629).

⁷⁰Locke, Corr., Letter 773, II. 606.

⁷¹Locke, Corr., Letter 889, III. 92.

⁷²Locke, Corr., Letter 926, III. 169.

⁷³ Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique De l'Annee M. D. C. LXXXVII – Tome Sixieme (Amsterdam, 1720) 476–82 (copy examined BL 884.b.6). Note that this is not identical to Yolton, A Descriptive Bibliography, item 264. A cursory review of online library catalogues indicates that there were at least three different editions of the Bibliothèque Universelle. Both the second and third editions were subtitled ‘revuë et corrigée’. If these later editions were of the entire run of the journal, this would imply that there were later publications of both the ‘Methode Nouvelle de dresser des recueilles’ and the ‘Extrait’ of the Essay, and that these publications may have been reviewed and corrected.

⁷⁷III. vi. 9.

⁷⁵Locke, Corr., Letter 1063, III. 481.

⁷⁶Bodl. MS Locke c.25 f. 50 is a list of intended recipients, with Sydenham's name included, then deleted. See Jean Yolton, John Locke: A Descriptive Bibliography (Bristol, 1998) 70–1 and 522, and Locke, Corr. VIII, Appendix II, 450 and 457.

⁷⁸II. xxiii. 11.

⁷⁹Ibid.

⁸¹II. xxiii. 12.

⁸⁰Ibid.

⁸²Ibid.

⁸³Ibid.

⁸⁴Ibid.

⁸⁵II. xxiii. 13.

⁸⁶IV. xii. 12.

⁸⁷I. i. 2.

⁸⁸I. iv. 25.

⁸⁹See Walmsley, ‘Draft A of the Essay’, 31–3.

⁹⁰II. xxi. 73.

⁹¹See J. C. Walmsley, ‘The Development of Locke's Mechanism in the Drafts of the Essay’, The British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 11 (2003) 417–49.

⁹²II. viii. 22.

⁹³See Walmsley, ‘John Locke on Respiration', 467.

⁹⁴Folger Shakespeare Library (henceforth FL) MS V.a. 284–99. References to the original MSS in the Folger Library have been kindly provided to me by Heather Wolfe, Curator of Manuscripts at the Library.

⁹⁵J. Ward, Diary of the Rev. John Ward, A.M. Vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon, Extending From 1648 to 1679, edited by Charles Severn (London, 1839). See 241–2 for the quotation under consideration. Severn did not reference his extracts to the original MSS, nor did he present them in chronological order (see, for example, a dated entry for ‘14^th Feb 1661’ in op cit., 235, followed swiftly by an entry from ‘Sep. 14 1660’ in op cit., 237).

⁹⁶R. G. Frank, ‘The John Ward Diaries: Mirror of Seventeenth Century Science and Medicine’, Journal of the History of Medicine, 29 (1974) 147–79.

⁹⁷These transcripts are presented in several volumes (Wellcome Library (henceforth WL) MS 6170–4) and form a continuous sequence of 1359 pp. There are also two sets of Power's hand-written notes (WL MS 6175–6).

⁹⁸Frank, ‘The John Ward Diaries’, 174–9.

⁹⁹FL MS V. a. 295; Frank, ‘The John Ward Diaries’, 178 cf. G. G. Meynell, Materials for A Biography of Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) A new survey of public and private archives (Folkstone, 1988) 68: ‘Transcript p. 957, suggesting 1668–9, which could refer either to the MS. ‘Anatomie’ … or to Observationes Medicae, 1676.’

¹⁰¹Power added an explanation of who Sydenham was at this point – Severn presented the quotation as contiguous. The text is contiguous in the manuscript.

¹⁰²WL MS 6173 p. 957 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 143v.

¹⁰⁰‘The dog-days in ye yeer 1668’ (WL MS 6172 p. 785 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 ff. 37r-v); ‘Towards August in ye yeer 1668’ (WL MS 6172 pp. 790–91 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 40r); ‘ye last of October Ann: 1668’ (WL MS 6173 p. 855 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 79v); ‘December ye 27th 1668’ (WL MS 6173 p. 944 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 135v).

¹⁰³WL MS 6173 p. 968 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 150r.

¹⁰⁴WL MS 6173 p. 984 cf. FL MS V.a. 295 f. 161v.

¹⁰⁵WL MS 6173 p. 984. Power's annotations are taken from the Dictionary of National Biography, edited by L. Stephen and S. Lee (London 1908) VI, 123.

¹⁰⁶NA PRO 30/24/47/2 f. 55r.

¹⁰⁷Op cit., f. 56r.

¹⁰⁸For example, ‘that heigth it is at present [at]arrived to’ (op cit., f. 55r) – both the deletion and insertion are in the lighter ink.

¹⁰⁹For example, ‘wherein he can [most commonly upon]at first sight’ (op cit., f. 55r) – the initial phrase is in the lighter ink, the strike-through and the new word in a darker ink; ‘some stubborne & irregular cases his well [established]constituted method should faile him’ (op cit., f. 56r) – the initial phrase is in the lighter ink, the strike-through and the new word in a darker ink.

¹¹⁰Op cit., f. 56r.