Description: The manuscript consists of two sets of notes in Locke’s hand, with the title “Reasons for tolerateing Papists equally with others.” and the endorsement “Toleration 67”. The two sets of notes give reasons for and against the toleration of Catholics. Each note is preceded by a page number, referring to the text of Sir Charles Wolseley’s Liberty of conscience, the magistrates interest (1667). Locke’s notes respond to or expand upon Wolseley’s arguments. The manuscript apparently dates from 1667 – although this might be as late as 25 March 1667/8.

The manuscript is related to that of Locke’s Essay concerning toleration (1667). It is written on paper similar to that used for quire D of the Essay and the first draft that accompanies it. Text from Reasons appears in recognizable, but modified form in quire D. The relationship is such that the Reasons certainly predated quire D and very probably the first draft.

Thus Reasons contains Locke’s starting point in his 1667 thoughts on toleration, which he later developed in An essay concerning toleration. This manuscript provides confirmation for two points: (a) Locke’s Essay concerning toleration was written in conversation with contemporary writings dealing with toleration, and (b) the question of the toleration of Catholics was central to that conversation. Locke’s thinking began with the question of tolerating Catholics, and was generally sympathetic; the sticking point was the question of Catholics’ loyalty to a foreign power (the Pope). Having reached that conclusion in Reasons, he then drafted the Essay, generalizing the arguments for tolerating Catholics but denying toleration to Catholics as long as they professed allegiance to the Pope.

At some time after the manuscript of Reasons was completed, Locke sent it to his friend Edward Clarke, possibly one of “many papers” sent to Clarke in August 1683 before Locke’s departure for Holland. It remained among Clarke’s papers until 1922, when it was sold (together with two manuscripts of An essay concerning toleration). Eventually it was given to the Greenfield Library by Mr. Henry MacDonald of New York. It was discovered there by J. C. Walmsley in 2015. For the full provenance, see publication #1 below, pages 3-4.

The manuscript consists of a quire of two folded half-sheets, 212 × 159 mm, wrapped in another folded sheet (a letter cover blank except for the address of Edward Clarke). The text is written on folios 1^r, 2^r, 2^v, and 3^r; folio 4^v bears Locke’s endorsement. The remaining leaves are blank. The wrapper contains a further endorsement in an unidentified hand: “Mr. Locke | of Toleration”.

Publications:

“John Locke and the toleration of catholics : a new manuscript” / Jonathan Walmsley and Felix Waldmann. // IN: Historical journal. – Published online, 15 August 2019. – Pages 19-23.

Discussions: Walmsley & Waldmann, publication #1.

An essay concerning toleration [begun in 1667]

Locations:

Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, MS. HM 584
Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 28, ff. 21-32.
Adversaria 1661, pp. 106-125.
National Archives, PRO 30/24/47/1

Description: A paper titled “Essay concerning toleration 1667”, dating from 1667. Four manuscript versions exist. The relationships among them has been worked out by J. R. Milton in “Locke’s Essay on toleration : text and context” / J.R. Milton. // IN: British journal for the history of philosophy. — 1:no. 2 (Sept. 1993):45-63; and in Milton & Milton, #8 below, pages 177-188.

Huntington MS. HM 584 is Locke’s autograph, the oldest and most complex, containing “a heavily amended version of the whole Essay, a fair copy of the first few pages of this, and several draft fragments.” At the end Locke wrote “Sic cogitavit Atticus 1667.”. This date, which appears on all versions, covers 1 January 1667-25 March 1668; most likely begun sometime in the autumn of 1667.

The manuscript consists of two separate papers: (a) 21 folded half-sheets gathered into 5 quires, A⁸B¹⁰C-E⁸, the largest sheet (A) measuring 208 × 147 mm and the smallest 199 × 144 mm; and (b) a single half-sheet, 318 × 213 mm. The five quires bear the endorsement “Toleration 67” on the last page of each quire. Locke numbered the leaves from $B2 to $E5, folios 1-30; he also numbered $A2 as folio 1; other leaves are unnumbered. The single sheet is written on the same type of paper as quire D of the main text; it bears the caption “Toleration” in the left margin.

The text shows evidence for several stages of composition:

Walmsley and Waldmann argue that the paper Reasons for tolerateing papists equally with others predated quire D and very probably the first draft.
The first draft (the single sheet) which is written on paper similar to that of Reasons.
Quire D (possibly next; written on the same type of paper as the first draft).
A first version of a further rough draft begins on $B2^r.
A second version of the rough draft begins on $B1^v (a new folded sheet wrapped around quire B) and continues in the margin of that page, on $B1^r and in the margins of $B2^r. It is headed “The Question of toleration stated”.
Finally, Locke began a fair copy in quire A of the disordered text of the second rough draft.

From this outline, it is clear that the signatures were added to the gatherings at the end of the process of composition.

The copy in Bodleian MS. Locke c. 28 bears the title “An Essay Concerning Toleracon | 1667.” The manuscript consists of five single sheets, each folded to form two leaves measuring 327 × 210 mm, signed A-E; all but the first quire consist of a single sheet of paper folded once; the first quire has an extra sheet inserted, containing only two additions to the text; a third addition is written on f. 28^v ($C2^v). Each quire is endorsed “Toleration | 67.” Locke numbered the original text pp. 1-17; ff. 22-23 inserted into quire A are not numbered. The manuscript is not in Locke’s hand and cannot be dated, although Milton argues that it derives from the Huntington MS., and is earlier than the version in Adversaria 1661.

The version in the notebook known as Adversaria 1661 consists of three successsive entries in the notebook. From its position in the notebook, it can be dated to 1672. The manuscript is not in Locke’s hand, but is captioned by him “Toleration 67” At the end Locke wrote “Sic Cogitavit JL 1667”. It contains two additions to the text (page 125), the second in Locke’s hand (page 125, continued on pages 270-271), which Milton argues were written in ca. 1675. The text is derived from the Huntington MS.

The version in the Shaftesbury papers (NA, PRO 30/24/47/1) is a fair copy with no corrections, based (according to Milton) on the Bodleian MS. It is not in Locke’s hand. It bears the title “An Essay Concerning Toleracion 1667.”
Folio. 242 × 184 mm. [A]-[B]¹⁰. The text is written on the recto pages only; ff. 35-40 blank.

The versions originally among Locke’s papers (the Bodleian and Adversaria 1661 versions) were not widely available until the 1950s, although Lord King used them in his Life of Locke. The earliest accessible version was that in the Shaftesbury papers, which was used by Fox Bourne and others.

Microfilm copies of the Huntington MS. [MS. Film 151] and “Adversaria 1661” [MS. Film 77] are available in the Bodleian Library.

Publications:

[Extract from the PRO MS:] The life of John Locke : with extracts from his correspondence, journals and common-place books / by Lord King. – London : H. Colburn, 1829. – Page 156; London : H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1830. – 1:289-291. – Also includes the second addition from the Adversaria 1661 version.
[From the PRO MS:] The life of John Locke / by H.R. Fox Bourne. – London : H.S. King ; New York : Harper, 1876. – 1:174-195.
[Additions to the Bodleian MS:] John Locke’s political philosophy : eight studies / by J. W. Gough. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1950. – Pages 197-199.
[From the Bodleian MS:] Scritti editi e inediti sulla tolleranza / John Locke ; a cura di Carlo Augusto Viano. – Torino : Taylor, 1961. – Pages 81-107. [Locke #949]. – Includes some draft material from the Huntington MS. – Also includes an Italian translation (pages 158-198)
[From the Bodleian MS:] An essay concerning toleration ; and Toleratio / John Locke ; collated, with an introduction and notes, by Kimimasa Inoue. – Nara, Japan : The Society for the Study of Locke’s Political Philosophy, 1974. [Locke #951]
[From the Bodleian MS:] Political writings / John Locke ; edited and with an introduction by David Wootton. – London ; New York : Penguin Books, 1993. – Pages 186-210. [Locke #867+]
[From the Bodleian MS:] Political essays / Locke ; edited by Mark Goldie. – Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997. – Pages 134-159. [Locke #867+]
An essay concerning toleration and other writings on law and politics, 1667-1683 / John Locke ; edited with an introduction, critical apparatus, notes and transcription of ancillary manuscripts by J.R. Milton and Philip Milton. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 2006. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke). – Pages 265-315. – This critical edition is based on the Huntington MS, and includes the additions in the Bodleian and “Adversaria 1661” MSS.
A letter concerning toleration and other writings / John Locke ; edited and with an introduction by Mark Goldie. – Indianapolis : Liberty Fund, ©2010. – Pages 105-139 [Locke #67B]. A modernized text based on #8 above; and includes the additions in the Bodleian and Adversaria 1661 versions.
[French translation:] Lettre sur la tolérance / John Locke … ; (précédé de) Essai sur la tolérance (1667) … ; traduction par Jean-Fabien Spitz … – Paris : GF-Flammarion, c1992. – 269 pages. – (GF ; 686) [Locke #74+]
[Spanish translation:] Ensayo y carta sobre la tolerancia / John Locke ; traducción y prólogo de Carlos Mellizo. – Madrid : Alianza, 1999. [Locke #84A]

Discussions: Milton 1993 (see Description above); Milton & Milton, publication #8, pages 162-192; Goldie, publication #9, pages xxxiii-xxxiv.

Salivatio Q [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 30.

Description: Queries in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Salivatio Q”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Coryza Q [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 53.

Description: Queries in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Coryza Q”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, possibly written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Colica Q [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 53.

Description: Queries in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Colica Q”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, possibly written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Palpitatio [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 54.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Palpitatio”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Vitri coloratio [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 64.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Vitri coloratio”. The note is not initialed by Locke and is undated, but was arguably written by him, probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Catarrhus [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 80.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Catarrhus”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Catarrhus [ca. 1667 or 1668]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 81.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Catarrhus”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated; it is later than the previous note, but earlier than the note “Calculus”; it was probably written ca. 1667 or 1668.

Publications: None

Vapor [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 84.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Vapor”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Sudor [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 94.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Sudor”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Purgatio Q [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 110.

Description: Queries in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Colica Q”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, possibly written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Mania [ca. 1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 112.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Mania”, and intialed by Locke. The note is undated, but was probably written ca. 1667.

Publications: None

Fodina [1667]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke d. 9, p. 144.

Description: A note in Locke’s hand, with the marginal caption “Fodina”. The note is not initialed or dated, but was probably written by Locke in 1667.

Publications: None

Medical case notes [1667 September to 1670 September]

Location: British Library, Add. MS. 5714.

Description: Medical case notes in Latin in Locke’s hand, made at various dates between September 1667 and September 1670. The twenty-one patients whose histories are described include Locke’s cousin, Peter Locke; William Sydenham, son of Thomas Sydenham; Lady Dorothy Ashley, the wife of the future second Earl of Shaftesbury; and Thomas Grigg, Rector of St Andrew Undershaft.

Withington and Dempster refer to the notes as “Observationes medicae.”

17 leaves. 231 × 178 mm. Most leaves are double (folded once), but some single leaves. Mounted in guardbook. Presented by William Seward, Esq., 1834.

Publications:

[Latin text:] “Locke as a medical practitioner” / by E.T. Withington. // IN: Janus. – 4 (1899):393-398, 457-463, 527-532, 579-587.
[English translation:] “John Locke’s Medical observations” / by the foreign editor [E.T. Withington]. // IN: Medical magazine (London). – 7 (1898):47-50, 375-387, 573-579.
[Latin text:] “John Locke, physician and philosopher” / by James Herbert Dempster. // IN: Annals of medical history. – New series:4 (1932):12-60, 172-186. – Reprinted from publication #1 above.

Discussions: Withington and Dempster, publications above.

Contents

Name Index

Title Index


John Locke Manuscripts
John Locke Bibliography	John Locke Chronology	John Locke Resources