leibniz, autograph (4 Ergebnisse)

8vo (157 x 95 mm). 4 pp. on a bifolium. In French. A characteristically witty and wide-ranging letter to the Scottish lawyer Thomas Burnett (1656-1729), confirming that Burnett's letters have been read to the Electress by her secretary M. Gargan and gossiping about the impeachment of Henry Sacheverell ("Dr Sacheverel is said to be a well-made man, whose person appeals to women - and so he has already half of Great Britain on his side"). Leibniz is amazed that England has time for such things "while she has the burden of such an onerous war on her hands", but trusts that the Queen, "who has already worked miracles in subduing France and uniting the Kingdoms, will surely achieve at last the fulfilment of her hopes in reconciling their hearts"; he includes an epigram of his: "Henrico junxisse rosas et regna Jacobo / Fas fuit: una animos Anna Perenna ligat" ("Henry did well to unite the Roses; James / the Kingdoms; Ageless Anna alone unites the hearts"). Leibniz is vexed that "Whiston declares himself a Socinian, and wishes to exercise his mathematics on the mystery of the Trinity. The Socinians have or had pulpits in Transylvania, but it is assuredly right to take a stand against the libertine and atheist literature which is more dangerous than the Socinians." Further, he regrets that the Irish theologian Henry Dodwell has gone mad ("one could learn from his excellent wisdom if he was in a condition or the mood to concentrate on it still") and reports that the Leipzig theologian Thomas Ittig is dead and has left a fine library to the university. Leibniz hopes that Queen Anne's Act for the Encouragement of Letters has been passed: "if not, I hope it will be successful another time - I wish something could be done for the Royal Society of London. That of Berlin is to publish some Miscellanea as an experiment". - This letter forms part of the significant, 18-year-long correspondence between Leibniz and Thomas Burnett of Kemnay in Aberdeenshire, occasioned by their meeting at the court of Hanover in 1695. The most recent Akademie edition of Leibniz's correspondence includes some 29 letters from Leibniz to Burnett and 51 from Burnett to Leibniz written during the period 1695-1707, with more still to be published. Burnett kept Leibniz abreast of English matters: here, the great scholar is well aware of the impeachment of Henry Sacheverell, a high church Tory Anglican who had preached anti-Whig sermons. Riots had broken out in London after Anne tried to punish Sacheverell for questioning the Glorious Revolution, but she eventually prevailed, much to the approval of Leibniz, who demonstrates throughout his admiration for the Queen. - Prompted by the writings of his fellow mathematician William Whiston (1667-1752), Leibniz speaks of the Socinians, an anti-trinitarian movement professing belief in God and the Scriptures but denying the divinity of Christ and therefore the Trinity (though by the 18th century, the name was a catch-all term for any kind of dissenting belief). Whiston was a leading figure in popularising the ideas of Newton and had embraced the tenets of anti-trinitarian theology, publishing his heretical work, "Sermons and Essays", in 1709. Locke himself had come to be identified as a member of the Socinian party with the publication of his "Reasonableness of Christianity", published anonymously in 1695, and was thence drawn into his well-known controversy with Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester. Leibniz may have refrained from discussing this particular issue with Burnett, fearing that any critical opinion of Locke expressed to Burnett might get back to Locke himself and thus jeopardise any chance of entering into future dialogue. - Some light dust-staining at folds. Provenance: Thomas Burnett, 2nd Laird of Kemnay (1656-1729), and thence by descent. - Published in part in C. J. Gerhardt, Die philosophischen Schriften von G. W. Leibniz, vol. 3 (1887), p. 319, no. XXXVII. Not yet available in G. W. Leibniz, Allgemeiner politischer und historischer Briefwechsel (Berlin, Akademie Verlag).

10 pp. (including postscript) on 2 bifolia and one single leaf, 8vo (167 x 110 mm) and 4to (206 x 160 mm). In French, with amendments and hurried deletions throughout. A long, wide-ranging letter to the Scottish lawyer Thomas Burnett (1656-1729) in which Leibniz explains that he intends to write about books received from Burnett and mentions the controversy between John Locke and the Bishop of Worcester, but has no time to do so at present. He encloses some verses from Paris by M. Cresset ("God save the King of Spain, otherwise everything will go completely haywire, and England will not feel at all happy about having being disarmed"), confirms he has received a book on the Council of Trent from the Bishop of Salisbury (Thomas's kinsman Gilbert Burnet), and discusses the literary tastes of the Electress of Brunswick, whose books must "show spirit, and have at the same time something cheerful about them" owing to the recent loss of her husband Ernst August, Elector of Brunswick, from which she is struggling to recover ("the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"). Leibniz adds a lengthy postscript advising that he is enclosing an extract from a letter he recently sent to the Bishop of Salisbury "in confidence" in which he talks "about matters of religion and the state, both of which are in the competence of the illustrious Bishop", fearing "'black practices' against the King, and that it is right to take every imaginable precaution for the preservation of his person" and hoping that "France will finally resolve herself for good and all to peace. Perhaps she flatters herself that peace will break up the Grand Alliance [.] we in Germany are taking steps to help in assuring the public order [.] to prevent our being taken by surprise". He concludes by describing how he resolved a dispute about coinage of England and muses as to how the King should be designated: "C'est ce que j'ay exprim� par ce distique: Tertius, an primus Guilielmus sit ve secundus, / Desinite o critici quaerere; Magnus erit" ("William First, Or Second, Or Third? / Ask Not, Critics, Great's The Word"). - Includes, on a separate quarto leaf, a fair copy of Leibniz's letter to Gilbert Burnet, headed "P.S.": "I have frequently the honour of attending the Electress of Brunswick, which great Princess sometimes will suffer my conversation. We fall often into religion, and I have long been interested in studying controversies [.]". Leibniz is curious about the "separation of communions which one sees among the Protestants", and thinks the differences with Rome "infinitely more important". He is troubled by news that the House of Lords wavered in excluding "Romanists" from the Crown and wonders why Burnet did not support this exclusion, voicing his concern that a future monarch who had the appearance of Protestantism could be working to destroy it. He asks for Burnet's opinion and urges the matter be brought again before parliament. - This letter forms part of the significant, 18-year-long correspondence between Leibniz and Thomas Burnett of Kemnay in Aberdeenshire, occasioned by their meeting at the court of Hanover in 1695. The most recent Akademie edition of Leibniz's correspondence includes some 29 letters from Leibniz to Burnett and 51 from Burnett to Leibniz written during the period 1695-1707, with more still to be published. When Leibniz met Burnett, he was already corresponding on matters religious and political with his cousin Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury. Leibniz also found in Burnett a useful conduit to fellow philosopher John Locke, with whom he was keen to correspond, and a source of intellectual and political news and gossip from England and elsewhere. Our letter shows he was also the means for Leibniz to obtain the latest writings published in English ("I saw some issues of an English journal or newspaper which was half-way between a scholarly journal and a society newspaper, but I do not know whether it is carried on"). - Also shown here is Leibniz's close relationship with the Electress Sophia, a friendship that lasted for 40 years. Leibniz is clearly preoccupied with English politics and the issue of the Protestant (Hanoverian) succession, demonstrating a great admiration for the English monarchy. At the time of writing, the Electress Sophia was the next Protestant in line to the throne, but it was not until the 1701 Act of Settlement that she was formally named heiress presumptive and, while she did not survive long enough to take up the crown, that position was to be secured by her son George. In the present letter Leibniz fears "black practices" against King William in a precarious political situation and speaks of the readiness of Germany and the Empire to have troops mobilised against France despite negotiations towards peace. - Slight splitting and small holes at folds professionally repaired. Provenance: Thomas Burnett, 2nd Laird of Kemnay (1656-1729), and thence by descent; held in the archive at Kemnay House, Aberdeenshire, until now. The correspondence collected by the Berlin Akademie includes a letter from Leibniz to Gilbert Burnet written three days before ours (no. 311, p. 478), the contents of which, however, bears little resemblance to our "postscript", and it may be, therefore, that our copy is the only surviving record of another letter. - Published in Leibniz, Allgemeiner politischer und historischer Briefwechsel (Berlin, 1998) no. 316, L2, pp. 492f., without the postscript to Thomas Burnett or the copy postscript to Gilbert Burnet. Another longer letter to Burnett, written on the same day, is also included in the correspondence (no. 316, L1, pp. 486-491). It is also published Susan Burnett, Without Fanfare: The Story of my Family (Kemnay, 1994), pp .11f., and elsewhere, but not in Gerhardt, Die philosophischen Schriften von G. W. Leibniz.

The opening letter of Leibniz's correspondence with William Wotton, marking the beginning of the long-standing relationship between the two great polymaths. The letter draws attention towards a relatively understudied side of Leibniz, his engagement with historiography, and presents his reflections on the role of history as a "mirror for princes". Leibniz's letters are uncommon on the market. Wotton (1666-1727) was an English theologian who wrote chiefly on history and theology. Among his major works are Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1694) and The History of Rome from the Death of Antoninus Pius, to the Death of Severus Alexander (1701) the latter later used by Gibbon. These caught Leibniz's attention, prompting him to open correspondence. Leibniz thanks Wotton for gifting him a copy of his Roman history, praising the work as "accurately elaborate" and presented in "an elegant book". He then compliments the breadth of Wotton's knowledge, admitting that: "I almost couldn't believe that the author [of the History] was the same as he who produced that famous work comparing the learning of the ancients and moderns [Reflections]. For such different forms of erudition are unlikely to coexist in the same person. I can't thank you without also expressing my admiration". Leibniz had read the Reflections, a contribution to the ongoing controversy concerning the merits of ancient and modern learning, and sided with the moderns, as did Wotton. Leibniz first heard of Wotton's works a few years before from his friend Thomas Burnett, who acted as a source of English intellectual news for him and had previously introduced him to Locke. In the first part of the letter, Leibniz also mentions Wotton's "extraordinary envoy" who delivered the book; this was James Cresset, English ambassador for several north-German states and a friend of Leibniz. Leibniz reveals that, soon after receiving the book, he immediately brought it to court and showed it to Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover and the future King George I of England. The prince, who Leibniz notes was "fond of English literature", was already reading a copy with pleasure; Leibniz regrets that the recently deceased William III could not do the same. This occasion prompts the philosopher to reflect on the educational role of history as a mirror for princes: "It is an old saying that History is the school of princes, but hardly another history could be a better teacher than yours, in which the Caesars. are depicted almost as if to be admired on a canvas". The letter also exemplifies Leibniz's fluid and creative Latin style: "with this taste you have wonderfully stimulated my appetite, which you can satisfy, if anyone can". Wotton replied in July and their correspondence continued until Leibniz's death, the two typically exchanging cultural news. Leibniz's fascination with history began very early and was concentrated on Germany. Work on the critical edition of his historical contributions started in 2019 and is ongoing. Around the time of this letter, he was publishing collections of Medieval documents: Mantissa Codicis Juris Gentium Diplomatici (1700) and Accessiones historicae (1700). These were part of a wider project to collect materials for the publication of a history of Germany which was never realized. The letter is a witness to Leibniz's curiosity towards the works of English historians at a time when he was actively reflecting on these topics; it also testifies to the popularity of Wotton, whose achievements are often overlooked by modern scholarship. The transcription of the letter is published in Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, S�mtliche Schrifte und Briefen,Reihe I, Band 21, 2012, no. 137. Single sheet of laid paper (199 x 158 mm), legibly written on both sides in brown ink, attached to a later blank of wove paper. Lightly toned and foxed, creased from folding, Leibniz's hand clear and the ink unfaded. Overall in very good condition.

3 SS. auf Doppelblatt. 8vo. An den namentlich nicht genannten Theologen Johann Andreas Schmidt in Helmstedt bei �bersendung eines Briefes des d�nischen Astronomen Ole R�mer (1644-1710) zur Berechnung des Ostertermins. Mit Schmidt - der auch mathematische Vorlesungen hielt - tauschte sich Leibniz in dieser Zeit �ber Fragen der Kalenderreform aus. Besonders aktuell war das Thema wegen der am Vortag erfolgten Einf�hrung des gregorianischen Kalenders in den protestantischen L�ndern; ein f�r Leibniz etwas �bereiltes Unterfangen, da unter den Gelehrten noch keine Einigkeit �ber die astronomisch korrekte Bestimmung des Ostertermins herrsche. - Eingangs �ber die von Leibniz begr��te Absicht Schmidts, die "Magdeburgischen Centurien" neu zu bearbeiten; in diesem Zusammenhang erinnert er an Arbeiten des Helmstedter Theologen Gebhard Theodor Meier (1635-1693). "[.] Continuandorum Centuriatorum cogitationem scis � Dn. Meiero p. m. apud vos fuisse susceptam; et ab amicis eius intelliges quibus subsidiis uti voluerit. Quorsum collectanea primorum autorum devenerint non intellexi. An ad ipsas eorum centurias aliquid addes? Multa certe ipsis ignota prodiere postea, unde emendari possent. Methodus annalium Baronii mihi magis placet, quam ea quam ipsi sunt secuti. Habet tamen unaquaque Methodus suas utilitates. si quid obtigerit sese utile Tuo institu- to notabo [.] Ecce quid ad me scripserit Dn. R�merus Danus nulli Astronomorum nostri temporis secundus. Haec quaeso ut mihi remittas, et interim de dubiis eius non nominato vel ipso vel me cum Dnn. Hambergio et Junio agas, efficiasque ut responsiones eorum ad me veniant. Cogita etiam ipse quaeso de monitis eius. Ex tribus eius modis non puto ultimum Electum iri, nec facile devenietur ad primum. De medio ergo interim cogitandum dum aliter placeat; et interim explanandae erunt difficultates. Cur Dn. Wagnerum mecum adduxerim ad paucos dies, ipse rationem perscripserit [.]." Bei den �brigen Erw�hnten handelt es sich um die Mathematiker Georg Albrecht Hamberger (1662-1716), Ulrich Junius (1670-1726) und Rudolf Christian Wagner (1671-1741), damals Leibniz' Sekret�r, um dessen akademisches Fortkommen er sich bem�hte, sowie den Kardinal Cesare Baronio (1538-1607), Herausgeber der "Annales Ecceliastici". - Gebr�unt und etwas fleckig; mit zwei kl., unbed. Einrissen in der Bugfalte. - Abgedruckt in: Akademie-Ausgabe Band I, 18 Nr. 244 ("Verbleib nicht ermittelt"). Sprache: la.