NEWTON, Isaac (1643-1727) - photo 1
NEWTON, Isaac (1643-1727) - photo 2

NEWTON, Isaac (1643-1727)

Lot 50
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 35 280
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 870904
Lot 50 | NEWTON, Isaac (1643-1727)
Estimate value
£ 12 000 – 18 000
NEWTON, Isaac (1643-1727)

Autograph draft letter initialled (‘I.N.’) [to ?John Conduitt], n.p., n.d. [after 1717].

In English and Latin. One page fragment, c.60 x c.150mm, the recto with 8 lines of text and terminal subscription in English, a draft for a letter, the verso with c.18 words in Latin, apparently notes for a work on religion, (written on a fragment of a larger leaf, uneven edges affecting the initialled signature, creases and spotting). Framed (345 x 335mm). [With:] Envelope containing ownership records.



Provenance: Isaac Newton – Catherine Barton (1679–1739) – her daughter, Catherine (b.1721), m. John, 1st Viscount Lymington – Earls of Portsmouth – Henry Fellowes (1799-1847), son of the 4th Earl of Portsmouth – Lady Louisa Fortescue (1813-1899); annotated in pencil on the verso ‘Sir Isaac Newton given me by Harry Fellowes his kinsman’, by descent to her grandson – C. Wyld; his ownership notes, May 1924, on an envelope – Alan G. Thomas (1911-1992), bookseller; typed letter of authentication addressed to him, 10 January 1955, sold to – Stanley Scott; his ownership note dated July 1959.



Newton drafts a letter to a family member on a living in the Church of England sought by his ‘young profligate’ half-nephew Benjamin Smith. No autograph letter by Newton has sold at international auction since 2005; the present draft, which is unpublished, has autograph notes for a work on religion on the verso. ‘Sr I shewed Mr Wortley your Letter & he wondered that Mr Smith should not acquaint him with his sons being an undergraduate & not yet capable of the Living. However I return you my hearty thanks for your readiness to have so favoured me in this matter had the youth been capable. I hope this Letter will find you in better health than you we [cancelled] fully recove[r]d of yo[u]r feaver & your Lady is also in good health. And wishing health & happiness to you both I remain yo[u]r very affectionate Unkle & humble Servant I.N.’



The mathematician and biographer of Newton, Augustus de Morgan, described Newton’s nephew Benjamin Smith (b.c. 1700, rector of Linton-in-Craven, 1743-1776) in Newton: His Friend: and his Niece (1885) as ‘one of the most marked specimens of a profligate clergyman at a time when such specimens were more frequent than now’, so notorious in early youth that Newton was moved to write a frank letter to his young relative in such ‘unpresentable language’ that it was destroyed by the clergyman into whose hands it later fell for the sake of Newton’s reputation. It is presumably this nephew to whom Newton refers in the present draft, son of his half-brother Benjamin Smith senior. The intended recipient of the letter may have been the politician John Conduitt (1688-1737), a cousin by marriage of the notorious Benjamin Smith by virtue of his 1717 union with Newton’s adored half-niece and heiress Catherine Barton.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.12.2022 – 13.12.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)]
[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)]
£70 000
La methode des fluxions
La methode des fluxions
$100
NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)
NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)
€1 500
Newton , I,
Newton , I,
€600
[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)].
[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)].
£25 000
[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)] – Nathaniel HAWES (d. 1700)
[NEWTON, Isaac (1642-1727)] – Nathaniel HAWES (d. 1700)
£5 000
NEWTON, Sir Isaac (1642-1727)
NEWTON, Sir Isaac (1642-1727)
£350 000
Newton,I.
Newton,I.
€4 500

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.