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The seventeenth century in Western Europe remains the key time and
place for the development of modern science; the basic theme of
this book is what the nature of seventeenth-century archives can
tell us about this development, through a series of case studies
(Boyle, Galileo, Huygens, Newton included). Manuscript collections
created by the individuals and institutions who were responsible
for the scientific revolution offer valuable evidence of the
intellectual aspirations and working practices of the principal
protagonists. This volume is the first to explore such archives,
focusing on the ways in which ideas were formulated, stored and
disseminated, and opening up understanding of the process of
intellectual change. It analyses the characteristics andhistory of
the archives of such leading intellectuals as Robert Boyle, Galileo
Galilei, G.W. Leibniz, Isaac Newton and William Petty; also
considered are the new scientific institutions founded at the time,
the Royal Society andthe Academie des Sciences. In each case,
significant broader findings emerge concerning the nature and role
of such holdings; an introductory essay discusses the
interpretation and exploitation of archives. MICHAEL HUNTERis
Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Contributors: MICHAEL HUNTER, MASSIMO BUCCIANTINI, MARK GREENGRASS,
ROBERT A. HATCH, FRANCES HARRIS, JOELLA YODER, DOMENICO BERTOLONI
MELI, ROB ILIFFE, JAMES G.O'HARA, MORDECHAI FEINGOLD, CHRISTIANE
DEMEULENAERE-DOUYRE, DAVID STURDY
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, was a woman with a `passion for
government': a compulsion to wield power not only in her own family
but in public affairs as well. She was the favourite of Queen Anne,
the devoted wife and political associate of the Queen's most
powerful subject, the passionate ally or bitter enemy of most of
the leading public figures of her day, and in her widowhood the
effective head of one of England's great families. Despite her
stormy relationship with the architect Vanbrugh, she played a major
role in the building of Blenheim Palace, one of England's most
splendid houses. Born in 1660, she succeeded during the course of
her long life in overcoming many of the contemporary constraints on
her sex. Her sheer force of personality made her one of the most
influential, as well as one of the most loved and hated, of
Augustan women. This is the first complete scholarly biography of
the Duchess of Marlborough. Frances Harris makes full use of
recently available manuscript sources to tell the colourful story
of a woman at the centre of power, whose life spanned more than
eighty years from the Restoration to the fall of Walpole. Dr Harris
sets Sarah's life and personal relationships in the context of her
time, drawing a vivid portrait of a woman whose character and life
are as fascinating and contentious today as they were to her
contemporaries.
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