Thomas Salusbury’s Lesser Half: The First Volume of Mathematical Collections and Translations

Until now, little has been known about Thomas Salusbury’s Mathematical Collections and Translations (1661, 1665), and much of what has been assumed does not stand up to scrutiny. The work is best known for the mystique that surrounds the sole surviving copy of the second part of the second volume, which includes fragments of the first full-length biography of Galileo. Overshadowed by that prized rarity, the book as a whole has been neglected. Now, the discovery of two subscription campaigns spaced several years apart establishes the Mathematical Collections as a work of intellectual heft and consequence. Intended for gentle readers, the two-volume work presents foundational works of mathematical physics in an uncomplicated progression from Archimedes through Galileo to contemporary English natural philosophers. The first subscription campaign, in about 1660, attracted John Wallis, Seth Ward, Christopher Wren, and other eminent mathematicians who founded or shaped the Royal Society. The second campaign, launched soon after the Great Fire, was endorsed by the Society itself. This essay presents the Mathematical Collections as contemporaries experienced it, exposing the translator’s purpose and practice, the identities of those who supported the project, and the frustrations of a collaborative publishing project that persisted for nearly a decade. It argues that the Mathematical Collections is essential to our understanding of the Royal Society and vice-versa. The long-overlooked book offers a unique vantage point to explore organized efforts to advance the new physics during the Society’s formative years.