New Manuscript Fragments by John Locke

Abstract

In his will of 1704, John Locke (1632–1704) bequeathed his manuscripts to his relative Peter King (1669–1734), first Baron King. King’s descendants, the earls of Lovelace, preserved these manuscripts until 1947, when the collection was acquired by the Bodleian Library en bloc.1 This collection was catalogued by Philip Long in his Summary Catalogue of the Lovelace Collection of the Papers of John Locke in the Bodleian Library (1959).2 Scholars interested in consulting Locke’s manuscripts can refer to Long’s Summary Catalogue for a guide to the Lovelace Collection; however, a systematic catalogue of the smaller deposits of Locke’s manuscripts in several other repositories remains a desideratum. These repositories acquired Locke’s manuscripts from a variety of different sources, particularly the nineteenth-century autograph market and a small number of sales presided over by the descendants of Locke’s close friend Edward Clarke (1650–1710), the MP for Taunton (1690–1710).3 The online John Locke Bibliography, edited by John Attig, provides a provisional listing of many repositories which possess this material.4 The following Note reports on three unknown items which can be added either to Long’s Summary Catalogue (item 1) or to Attig’s Bibliography of non-Lovelace material (items 2 and 3), and the systematic catalogue which should supersede Long’s and Attig’s invaluable work. The Note also reports on two unknown manuscripts which can be refused entry to any current or future catalogue of authentic Lockeana (items 4 and 5) and two unusual manuscripts bearing an association with Locke (items 6 and 7).5