H. W. Turnball – författare

This second volume contains the first exchange of letters between Newton and Leibniz, which took place through the intermediacy of Oldenburg, as well as the beginning of Newton's correspondence of Flamsteed, which resulted from their common interest in the comet of 1680. Of prime interest is the correspondence with Halley, whose compelling zeal and energy played such a part in persuading Newton to write the Principia. This great work was published about midsummer 1687. As early as New Year 1684/5 it was known in some quarters that Newton was busying himself with applying his laws of motion to problems of celestial mechanics, for at that time Flamsteed wrote (Letter 275): 'if you will give me leave to guesse at your designe I beleive you are endeavoring to define ye curve yt ye comet in ye aether from your Theory of motion'.

This third volume covers the period from December 1688 to August 1694. In January 1688/9 Newton was elected one of the representatives of the University of Cambridge in the Convention Parliament, and much of his time was taken up in dealing with his new responsibilities, as may be gathered from his correspondence with Covel, Vice-Chancellor of the University. The letters in question, which were printed in collected form in 1848, provide a picture of the unsettled period which followed the flight of King James II to the court of Louis XIV, and the landing of William, Prince of Orange, on English soil on 5 November 1688. In 1689 there was a possibility of Newton being appointed to the Provostship of King's College, Cambridge, but the only reference in the Correspondence is to be found in Letter 377.