Description: Locke’s epitaph for the first Earl of Shaftesbury was written on the final leaf of sheet A of the draft of the Memoirs. It was written vertically (i.e., parallel to the long side of the sheet).

The date of the epitaph is unknown, but is unlikely to have been written at the time of Shaftesbury’s death in 1683. Because this manuscript version was written as an addition to the draft of the Memoirs (see above), it must date from after the draft. However, this appears to be a fair copy, and therefore may be a copy of a (now lost) original composed earlier.

The epitaph was first printed in The Posthumous works of Mr. John Locke (London, 1706), p. 307.

There is an English translation of a different version of the epitaph in NA, PRO 30/24/6B no. 385.

Publications:

Literary and historical writings / John Locke ; edited by J. R. Milton. – Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2019. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke). – Pages 358-359.

Discussions: Milton, publication #1 above, pages 141, 174.

Passages copied from Edmund Ludlow’s Memoirs

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke b. 4, ff. 1-2

Description: Passages relating to Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (later first Earl of Shaftesbury) copied from the manuscript of Edmund Ludlow’s Memoirs by an unknown hand. The passages were not included when the Memoirs were first published in 1698, and are generally critical of Ashley Cooper’s conduct during the Civil War and Commonwealth period. There is no evidence that Locke was responsible for selecting the passages or causing them to be copied, and Philip Milton concludes that it is more likely that he was sent the document by someone else, probably the third Earl of Shaftesbury and probably for Locke’s use in compiling his Memoirs of the first Earl.

The document is written on a single sheet of paper, folded to make two leaves. The text is written on the first two pages, the third page is blank, and the fourth page is endorsed “Ludloe” by Locke.

Publications:

Memoires, letters and speeches of Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Chancellor : with other papers illustrating his life from his birth to the Restoration / edited by William Dougal Christie. – London : J. Murray, 1859. – pp. 108-130.
A life of Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl of Shaftesbury, 1621-1683 / by W.D. Christie. –; London ; New York : Macmillan, 1871. – vol. 1:lvi-lxii
[reprinting Christie’s text] The memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, edited by C. H. Firth. – Oxford, 1894. – vol. i:xii ff.

Discussions: P. Milton, “Locke and the Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow” (2006), pp. 186-187; and earlier sources cited there.

Notes on 1 Corinthians XV.17-24

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 27, f. 278.

Description: A single leaf, 277 × 167 mm, containing brief notes by Locke on 1 Corintians XV.17-24, with neither title nor date.

Publications:

A paraphrase and notes on the Epistles of St Paul to the Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians / John Locke ; edited by Arthur W. Wainwright. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1987. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke). – vol. 2:685. [Locke #720]

Discussions: Wainwright, publication #2 above, p. 685.

Notes on Hebrews

Location: Bodleian Library, Locke’s Library, H&L 2864, at p. 249.

Description: A paper containing notes by Locke on the book of Hebrews. It consists of two quarto sheets folded, sewn, and inserted at page 249 of Locke’s interleaved polyglot New Testament [H&L 2864] The notes have neither title nor date; Nuovo gives them the title “On the priesthood of Christ: analysis of Hebrews”.

Publications:

Writings on religion / John Locke ; edited by Victor Nuovo. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 2002. – pp. 238-241. [Locke 867+]

Discussions: Nuovo, publication #1 above, pp. lv-lvi.

Prophetia

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 33, f. 38^r.

Description: Notes on “Prophetia”, in a set of papers on which Locke made notes on his reading, probably during the late 1680s.

Publications:

Theological manuscripts / John Locke ; edited by Victor Nuovo. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, to be published. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke) [Locke #961]

Some general reflections upon the beginning of St John’s Gospel

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke e. 17, pp. [175]-[223].

Description: A paper in the hand of Sylvester Brounower, probably written in the 1690s. It is titled “Some General Reflections upon The beginning of S^t John’s Gospel”. There are no corrections in Locke’s hand, indeed no evidence of authorship.

Publications: None

Thus I thinke [c. 1686-88?]

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 28, ff. 143-144^v.

Description: A paper in Locke’s hand, titled “Thus I thinke”. The date is uncertain. Goldie suggests c. 1686-1688, probably based on a supposed relationship with “Of Ethick in General”. However, Schuurman argues that this manuscript was wrapped around the quire containing “Of Ethick” at a later date and is not evidence of any relationship between the two pieces.

The manuscript is written on two sheets of paper folded once to form a quire of 8 pages, each measuring approximately 164 × 100 mm; the text is written on p. 1-4 (numbered by Locke); the conjugate leaves (ff. 153-154) are blank. Currently wrapped around the quire containing the paper “Of ethick in general”.

Publications:

The life of John Locke : with extracts from his correspondence, journals and common-place books / by Lord King. – London : H. Colburn, 1829. – pp. 304-305; London : H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1830. – vol. 2:120-122.
“Biographical department – John Locke.” // IN: Monthly repository and library of entertaining knowledge. – 3 (1832/33):414-420. – Reprinted from King.
The life of John Locke / by H.R. Fox Bourne. – London : H.S. King ; New York : Harper, 1876. – vol. 1:164-165.
John Locke, a biography / by Maurice Cranston. – London ; New York : Longmans, Green, 1957. – p. 123-124.
Political essays / Locke ; edited by Mark Goldie. – Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997. – pp. 296-297. [Locke #867+]
The Digital Locke Project / Dr. Paul Schuurman, project director. – Amsterdam : Digital Production Centre of the University Library of the University of Amsterdam, 2006- . – Normalized and diplomatic texts available.
Of the conduct of the understanding and other writings on philosophy, 1690–1704 / John Locke ; edited by Paul Schuurman and J. C. Walmsley. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, in preparation. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke)

Discussions: Von Leyden, Introduction to Essays on the law of nature (1954), pp. 69-73; Cranston, publication #4 above, p. 124; Goldie, publication #5 above, p. 296; Schuurman, Digital Locke project, text descriptions [viewed 2008/07/26]

Volkelii Hypothesis lib. De vera religione

Location: Bodleian Library, MS. Locke c. 27, ff. 238-245.

Description: Notes by Locke on Johannes Volkelius, De vera religione (1630), headed “Volkelii Hypothesis lib. de vera Religione”. The manuscript is a small quire of 8 leaves; ff. 239^v-245 are blank. The notes are undated, but probably date from 1697 or later.

A quire of eight leaves, 157 × 100 mm; ff. 239^v-245 are blank.

Publications:

“Testi teologico-filosofici lockiani dal MS. Locke c.27 della Lovelace Collection” / a cura di Mario Sina. // IN: Rivista di filosofia neo-scolastic. – 64 (1972):424-427.
Theological manuscripts / John Locke ; edited by Victor Nuovo. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, to be published. – (The Clarendon edition of the works of John Locke) [Locke #961]

Discussions: Sina, publication #1 above, pp. 424-425.

Contents

Name Index

Title Index


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