The Digital Index Chemicus: Creating a Reference Work on the Web from Isaac Newton s Index Chemicus

Transcription

1 The : Creating a Reference Work on the Web from Isaac Newton s Index Chemicus Cesare Pastorino Indiana University, Bloomington Tamara L. Lopez King s College, University of London John A. Walsh - Indiana University, Bloomington -1-

2 This project proposes the creation of a web-based reference work out of Isaac Newton s Index Chemicus, an alchemical manuscript recently transcribed and published for the first time by the digital humanities project the Chymistry of Isaac Newton. The Index Chemicus constitutes an outstanding and invaluable source for the study of Isaac Newton's alchemical interests, as well as for the literature of alchemy. The fully cross-referenced digital version will feature easy-to-use navigation for browsing, searching and study of the bibliographic sources indicated within it, and will serve as a powerful access point to the documents comprising the larger Chymistry of Isaac Newton collection. The heading 'Index Chemicus' was assigned by Newton to various texts, three of which are collected under the shelf mark Keynes MS. 30, and housed at the King's College Library, Cambridge. Among these, the longest and most complete version is referred to as Keynes MS 30/1. Consisting of more than 30,000 words, and including almost 900 entries, Keynes MS 30/1 extends on 93 folios and comprises an elaborate alphabetical index and reference guide to the literature of alchemy. Newton composed the main alphabetical listing on the rectos of the manuscript reserving versos for the annotation of subsequent insertions (see Figure 2). If the entries on the versos are included, Keynes MS 30/1 occupies one hundred and twenty-six pages. The way in which the different entries are organized is of particular interest: the definition of a particular alchemical concept, compound, procedure, or mythological term is usually followed by a list of authors and texts that refer to it; frequently, the initial definition is integrated with a list of synonyms or similar concepts. The length of the entries varies considerably, from the simple annotation of a term, to that of a short essay, as for instance in the case of the entries "Atramentum" (Keynes 30/1, folio 13r), "Fermentum" (Keynes 30/1, folio 37r), or "Metalla" (Keynes 30/1, folio 61r). According to Richard Westfall, a Newton historian who analyzed the 46 longer entries of the manuscript (about forty percent of the total content), Newton cited "at least 100 different authors, including several anonymous ones", referring to "at least 144 separate works by these authors". These entries also included "1975 separate references" and page citations (Westafall 1975; 178). Overall, the number of authors and works cited in Keynes MS 30/1 runs in the hundreds, and Newton refers to thousands of different pages and passages of alchemical texts. Figure 1: Keynes MS. 30/1, King's College Library, Cambridge -2-

3 Figure 2. Verso and Recto entries. Newton composed the main alphabetical listing of entries on the rectos of the manuscript, reserving versos for the annotation of subsequent insertions. Here, the entry Pluto has been written on the verso of folio 65. Alphabetically, it falls between entries Plumbum album and Plutonis. Building upon work completed for the Chymistry of Isaac Newton (see Figure 3) and utilizing its technical infrastructure, the initial goal of the is to further increase the utility of the Index s transcription, by creating a dynamic, interactive environment in which to study and understand individual entries. A second goal is to improve access to and understanding of early modern alchemical literature used by Newton and his contemporaries. Finally, the Digital Index will serve as an access and reference point for Newton s other alchemical manuscripts collected within the Chymistry of Isaac Newton project itself. Figure 3: Normalized transcription. As a part of the Chymistry of Isaac Newton, the Index Chemicus has been transcribed and normalized, and, following Newton s intentions, entries written on versos have been placed in the correct alphabetical order on main recto folios. To facilitate analysis of individual entries, the will build upon and extend functionality found in print- and web-based reference works like indices, bibliographies, encyclopedias, and dictionaries (see Figure 4). Access will be provided -3-

4 through several means. In addition to an alphabetical index, facets that group items into meaningful scientific categories (e.g. by process, by substance) will provide entry points for users unfamiliar with the language of 17 th century alchemy. Further access will be supplied through full-text and entry word search. To create a bibliography of the works referenced in the Index, a comprehensive citation analysis will be performed. This bibliographical study will be valuable for a fuller understanding of Isaac Newton s alchemical sources, a complex and still open issue in Newtonian scholarship. Within the Index, specific entries will include hypertext links to manuscripts in the Chymistry of Isaac Newton collection. Translation and subject analysis of the terms used in the Index will also facilitate development of a controlled vocabulary that can be used to enhance descriptive metadata for the collection. Figure 4: The Digital Index. In the, the work of the Chymistry of Isaac Newton will be extended to include the translation of entries into English, the development of full bibliographic references for the sources Newton cites, as well as the creation of extensive hyperlink references between entries and to manuscripts in the larger collection. As commonly implemented, digital transcriptions improve access to the intellectual content of manuscripts, but are unable to fully reveal the intellectual breadth and depth of texts as complex as the Index Chemicus. In producing the as a web-based reference work, and by including cross references and detailed information about the sources it contains, we will realize the full potential of the Index as a research tool; Newton s text will be transformed into a lively and dynamic resource for scholars of early modern science. Though it is not known to what ultimate purpose Newton created the Index, there is some evidence to suggest that he may have intended it to be used by students new to the discipline of alchemy (Westfall, 1975). We hope that in digital form, Newton s work will prove to be similarly useful to its modern readers. -4-

5 References Iliffe, R., Spargo, P. and Young, J. (2001). A Catalogue of the Theological, Alchemical and Administrative Manuscripts of Isaac Newton, Retrieved May 17, Jones, P. [ed.]. (1991). Sir Isaac Newton : a catalogue of manuscripts and papers collected and published on microfilm by Chadwyck-Healey. Chadwyck-Healey, Cambridge, Newton, Issac. "Keynes MS. 30/1, King's College Library, Cambridge University: Index Chemicus". The Chymistry of Isaac Newton. Ed. Newman, W.R. May 17, Westfall, R. (1975). Isaac Newton s Index Chemicus. Ambix, vol. 22, part 3. November 1975; pp prototype website: Acknowledgements This proposal was developed to fulfill requirements for two courses within the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University: L597: Digital Humanities, taken by Cesare Pastorino in Fall, 2004, and; L566: Digital Libraries taken by Tamara Lopez in Fall, Special thanks to Bill Newman of Indiana University for their support in developing ideas expressed in this proposal, and to Lawrence Principe of John Hopkins University. Cesare Pastorino is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, and an editorial assistant for the digital project the Chymistry of Isaac Newton. Recently, he was awarded the 2006 Neville Fellowship by the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. Cesare researches the history of science and medicine in the early modern period, with a particular focus on 17th Century Natural Philosophy. Tamara Lopez is a member of the XML Team at the Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London. Holding dual Master degrees from the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, Tamara's research interests include the design and use of mixed-content model XML languages, web standards development, and the design of information systems to support digital scholarship. John A. Walsh is an assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University. -5-