Author Description

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.