Houyhnhnm LandEarly Modern Thought for Rational Animals

Well, I have many updates to make, now that I am back home from a lengthy research and conference trip to the UK.

My first stretch was at the Wren library in cambridge. It was a wonderful place to work, although it was very intimidating having multiple busts of newton glowering at me as i leafed through his bible. he dogeared a lot of the naughty parts of the bible, including that section about lying with whomever being wickedness. At first I wanted this to mean that he was either titillated or naughty himself.

Then I started thinking about the kinds of sermons I’d choose if I were preaching to Cambridge university students during the 1660s, and realized that all of the parts about not sleeping around might be exactly what I’d choose. so the marking up of dirty parts might just have meant he was a good churchgoing boy.

More clear-cut is Newton’s love for the book of revelation, thumbed and annotated like crazy. But who can blame him?

I also looked at his copy of the Principia, possibly the most expensive/priceless thing i have ever touched, his copies of literary texts (whose pristine condition implies that most of them were less fascinating to newton than the bible), and lots of other random things.

I also saw his death mask — newton had a hell of a nose.

i think my favorite part of the library was that stained glass window above the work table. when the sun would shift, little patches of red and blue would sometimes slide across the table. my least favorite part? when tourists would come to see the library and stare at me like i was some kind of nerd exhibit.

coming up: adventures at the british library, conference experiences in manchester and oxford, our trip to the cotswolds, and more love and adventures in london.