This section of the website gives details of the published editions of Boyle's Correspondence and of Robert Boyle by Himself and his Friends, both printed and electronic, together with ancillary aids which are available for download in PDF format.
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The Correspondence of Robert Boyle (2001)
Edited by Michael Hunter, Antonio Clericuzio and Lawrence M Principe
- A set of corrections and emendations to the printed edition of the Correspondence as inserted in the electronic edition.
- A supplement of letters that have come to light since the printed edition was published (updated for 2017).
- A concordance between the letters in The Correspondence of Robert Boyle and Thomas Birch's edition of letters to and from Boyle in his edition of Boyle's Works (1744 and 1772).
Original hardcopy 6 vols., part of 'The Pickering Masters' series, published by Routledge
- First complete edition of Boyle's correspondence, presenting all letters to and from him in a single chronological sequence.
- Provides new information on many facets of Boyle's life and activities, particularly his links with alchemists and his evangelical concerns.
- Itemises all letters that are known once to have existed but are now lost.
- All texts taken from original manuscripts or from the earliest printed exemplars.
- Translations of letters in languages other than English included on the same page as the original.
- Fully annotated and comprehensively indexed.
- Appendices provide information on ancillary sources, including various texts related to the Correspondence although neither written to or from Boyle.
Volume 1
- Introduction
- Letters from 1636 to 1661
Volume 2
- Letters from 1662 to 1665
Volume 3
- Letters from 1666 and 1667
Volume 4
- Letters from 1668 to 1677
Volume 5
- Letters from 1678 to 1683
Volume 6
- Letters from 1684 to 1691
- Appendix 1: Documents connected with the circulation of the Bible and other religious texts in the Highlands, 1687-91
- Appendix 2: Prefatory statements by Boyle in epistolary form
- Appendix 3: Undated letters
- Appendix 4: William Wotton's inventory of Boyle letters
- Appendix 5: Material in the Boyle Letters excluded from this edition
- Appendix 6: Texts of selected letters neither to nor from Boyle
- Index of Letters
- General Index
Note: an electronic version of this edition is available from InteLex as part of its '1000 Years of English Letters' series. See www.nlx.com/collections/25
Robert Boyle by Himself and His Friends (1994)
Edited by Michael Hunter
The electronic version of the Correspondence of Robert Boyle referred to above includes an electronic version of Robert Boyle by Himself and his Friends (London: Pickering & Chatto, 1994). The contents of this are as follows:
- Introductory essay, describing the texts published in this volume and assessing their significance
- Robert Boyle, An Account of Philaretus during his Minority
- Biographical notes dictated by Boyle to his amanuensis, Robin Bacon
- The 'Burnet Memorandum': notes by Bishop Burnet on an interview by Boyle in which he reflected on episodes in his life
- Gilbert Burnet, A Sermon preached at the Funeral of the Honourable Robert Boyle (1692)
- Sir Peter Pett's notes on Boyle
- John Evelyn's letters to William Wotton, 30 March 1696 and 12 September 1703
- Thomas Dent's letter to William Wotton, 20 May 1699
- James Kirkwood's letter to William Wotton, 22 June 1702
- Chapter from William Wotton's Life of Boyle