Notes on the Printing History of the Early "Philosophical Transactions"

Henry Oldenburg, one of the first secretaries of the Royal Society of London, established a new medium of scientific communication when he began the first scientific journal, the Philosophical Transactions, in 1665 in London. It has been characterized as one of the most important contributions to the scientific revolution of that period. A study of its early printing history, relationship with the Royal Society, distribution mechanisms, editorial policies, and procedures provides some insights not only into the history of science of that period, but also into the evolution of the scientific journal as the most important medium of scientific communication in the modern world. The checklist of editions, translations, and abridgments appended is one indication of the impact it had in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.