joseph moxon, f.r.s., and the royal society

Joseph Moxon, F.R.S., and the Royal SocietyAuthor(s): Graham JaggerSource: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Jul., 1995), pp. 193-208Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/532010 .

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Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 49 (2),193-208 (1995)

JOSEPH MOXON, F.R.S., AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY

by

GRAHAM JAGGER

15 Heythrop Close, Oadby, Leicester LE2 4SL

Joseph Moxon (1627-1691), printer, publisher, author, and maker of globes, maps and mathematical instruments, was appointed Hydrographer to the King by Charles II in 1662 and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1678. Much of Moxon's output was mathematical, and he either published or printed works for many of the leading mathematicians of the day. The signatures on his petition to the King in support of his appointment as Royal Hydrographer reveal that Moxon was well connected both professionally and politically. His election as a Fellow of the Royal Society was remarkable: Moxon was a tradesman, and perhaps the only tradesman to be elected during the first 40 years of the Society's existence.

INTRODUCTION

Joseph Moxon, the scion of an old Yorkshire family,' was born at Wakefield on Thursday 8 August 1627 and baptized eight days later at the parish church.2 He was educated at the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth at Wakefield where his uncle, Peter Moxon, was a governor.3

James Moxon, Joseph's father, was a Puritan vigorously opposed to Archbishop Laud's policy for Church and State. In 1637 he left England and until 1643 was working as a printer in Holland, first at Delft and then at Rotterdam.4 He was reputed to be the printer of libels on the English government by John Bastwick.5 By the end of 1638 James Moxon's press for printing Bibles had been installed in the Rederijkers' Theatre, let to the English Puritans as a place of worship, in Rotterdam.6

It is clear from his later work that Joseph Moxon had an intimate knowledge of both the Dutch language and Dutch printing practices, and it is reasonable to suppose that he spent most of his teenage years in Holland with his father, although of course, he would have been too young to have taken a responsible part in James's subversive activities.

In 1641 Laud was impeached by the Long Parliament and imprisoned in the Tower. By the mid 1640s the political climate had become decidedly more favourable to the Puritan cause, and by 1647 James and Joseph Moxon were living 'at the upper end of Hounsditch, neer Bishopsgate' where in the next three years they produced at least ten books bearing their joint imprint.7 These volumes all bear

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© 1995 The Royal Society



Graham Jagger

the hallmarks of the extreme Puritanism which characterized James Moxon's activities in Holland in the period 1637 to 1643.8

Perhaps by 1649 Joseph Moxon's Puritan sympathies were waning, for it was in this year that the last volume bearing the joint imprint of father and son seems to have appeared.9 During the period 1650 to 1655 his father issued some 15 further volumes, still of a Puritanical kind, from the same address, with the imprint of James Moxon alone. Never again was Joseph Moxon to be associated with works so typical of his father.

It is from around 1649 that Moxon dates the beginning of the special training which was to make him a globe- and map-maker and hydrographer, for in his preface to Mathematicks made Easie in 1679 he says that it was 'about thirty years ago when I first began to apply myself to Mathematical Learning'.'° He must have spent several years learning to make the globes, spheres, maps, and mathematical instruments which were to form a major part of his business for the rest of his working life.

Moxon may have spent some time in Holland learning globe-making. It is certain that during the Summer of 1652 he was in Amsterdam where he met a Dutch sea- captain who told him of the north-east polar passage to Japan." Perhaps during this visit he obtained a copy of the Latin edition of Blaeu's Institutio Astronomica'2, for it was with the publication of an anonymous English translation of this work in 1654 that Moxon marked his appearance as a publisher in his own right.'3 Moxon closes the preface to this work with the following request to the reader:

In the mean time, I desire thee to judge civilly of my first Undertakings; So shall I be obliged to gratifie thee with other things of this Nature, and encouraged to press forward, for the Honour of our English Nation.'4

Moxon's subsequent career did indeed produce 'other things of this Nature' and

by the time the last volume attributable to him appeared in 1686 he had been associated with more than 60 works as printer, publisher, translator or author.

HYDROGRAPHER TO THE KING

By the time of the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 Moxon was well established in London as a globe- and map-maker. He had also gained a reputation among the mathematical community for his printing, particularly of tabular material. In 1656 he had printed a book of his own astronomical tables'5 and in the following year John Newton's A Help to Calculation'6 and Oughtred's Trignometria.'7

So successful was he that by the early 1660s he could number among his friends and acquaintances many of the most eminent mathematicians of his day. Possibly at their suggestion, and certainly with their support, he petitioned Charles II, asking to be made Hydrographer to the King. The petition, undated and unsigned, is in the following terms:18

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Joseph Moxon and the Royal Society

To the Kings most Excellent Majesty The humble Petition of Joseph Moxon Sheweth That your Petitioner with great Industry, Travell, and Expence hath found out ye perfect way of makeing Globes, Sphears, Mapps, and Sea-Platts, and hath excercised the makeing the same for about 9 years last past: And by his faculty therein hath attained the approbation of most of our ablest Mathematitians in England as by ye Certificate annexed may appeare. Now, so it is, (May it please yor Majesty) That for ye desire yor Petitioner hath to benefit his Native Country wth ye most exact and perfect Waggoner in the English Tongue that is yet extant in any Language whatsoever, and that his only feare is that so great and chargeable a work, and so much necessary for our English Seamen, may not when finished answer his pains and cost therein, unlesse yor Majesties Royall approbation should further it. Yor Petitioner therefore humbly prays yor Majesty to admit him into your Royal service as Hydrographer for makeing Globes, Maps, and Sea-Platts; that so his Endeavours being countenanced, he may wth yr greater Incouragement use his abilities for ye accommodation of yor Maties Seafaring, and other Ingenuous Subjects. And yor Petitioner (as in duty bound) shall ever Pray &c.

On the reverse of the petition, again undated but in the same hand, is the

following certificate:'9

We yor Majesties Loyal Subjects whose names are hereunto subscribed being most of us Professors of the Mathematicks doe testifie that the Petitioner Joseph Moxon hath for severall yeares made good Globes, Maps, Sea-Platts &c. And that we know of none other in England that makes Globes but himselfe or hath done almost these 20 years last past. And therefore humbly conceive yor Maies indulgence towards the Petitioner will be very advantagious to Navigation and other Mathematicall studies.

J. Newton D.D. Henry Bonde L. Rooke Jonas Moore Walter Pope John Leeke John Collins John Collins W. Chiffinch Thomas Harvie E. Ashmole Will Mar G. Wharton Euclid Speidell

This document is perhaps the first which gives any insight into the circle to which Moxon belonged. It dates from late 1661, and by that time Rooke, Pope and Ashmole were already Fellows of the nascent Royal Society. The signatories describe themselves as 'being most of us Professors of the Mathematicks' (i.e. one who makes a profession of mathematics). Only two of the signatories held a chair in any mathematical discipline: Rooke was appointed professor of astronomy at Gresham College in 1652, a post which he exchanged for the chair of geometry in 1657,20 and later, in 1660, Pope also became professor of astronomy there in succession to Wren.21

The signatures themselves are of considerable intrinsic interest, and a photograph of the certificate is shown in figure 1. The signature of John Collins appears twice

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196 Graham Jagger

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and the two signatures, although, they are by no means identical. The signature in the left-hand column is virtually identical to those on acknowledged letters of Collins dating from the period 1675-76 and is undoubtedly genuine.22 It may be that the second signature is also genuine and that Collins signed the petition twice, probably on two separate occasions, in error.

Of the 13 signatories, Moxon had professional dealings with at least four of them: he printed Newton's A Help to Calculation in 1657,23 Leek's Water-Works in 1659,24 Moore's Short Introduction Into the Art of Species in 166025 and Bond's Two Tables of Ranges, according to the Degree of Mounture at an unknown date.26 Moore's own reputation was in the ascendant at this time: he had successfully completed his first major project as a practical mathematician, the surveying of the Fens.27

The presence of prominent members of the Oxford circle in the list of signatories is of interest: Newton, Rooke, Pope and Collins were all linked together by their mutual friendship with Ward and Wilkins, and this group had preserved their Royalist sympathies throughout the Protectorate. This was clearly important from Moxon's point of view since he must have seen the printing of Puritan material by his father as something of a handicap to his own career. The presence of these signatures says as much about Moxon's political rehabilitation as it does about his skill as a printer and map-maker.

The final seal of Royalist approval is indicated by the presence of the signatures of William Chiffinch, Elias Ashmole and George Wharton. Those of Chiffinch and Ashmole have political rather than mathematical significance. Wharton and Moore had been acquainted for many years since they had both been pupils of the mathematics teacher William Milburne.28 In 1642 Ashmole met Wharton at Oxford and they became close friends. Wharton procured for Ashmole a commission in the ordnance and introduced him to astrology and alchemy.29 At the Restoration Ashmole was introduced to the King by Chiffinch's brother, Thomas, Keeper of His Majesty's Closet, and was rewarded for his loyalty to the Royalist cause by being appointed Windsor Herald. Ashmole's connection with the Chiffinch family was sufficiently close to enable him to secure the support of William Chiffinch, and thus by inference that of Thomas, for Moxon's petition.

Moxon's petition found royal favour. It had been supported by those of acknowledged mathematical expertise and by those whose support was necessary to ensure his political orthodoxy. On 10 January 1661/2 a warrant was issued by the King 'To our Right Trusty and Right well beloved Cousin and Councillor Edw: Earle of Manchester our Chamberlane of our household' in the following terms:30

Our Will and Pleasure is that you give present order for the Swearing of Joseph Moxon our Servant in the quality of Hydrographer unto us for the making of Gloebes Mapps and Sea plats and that he be admitted thereunto as our servant in ordinary and have and receive all Rights and Proffits Priviledges and advantages thereby in as ample manner as any our servants in that or the like quality have doe or ought to enjoy and for so doeing this shall be your warrant.

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Graham Jagger

Moxon was not the first Royal Hydrographer, although the post seems to have been in abeyance since the death of Jean Rotz who became one of Henry VIII's hydrographers in 1542.31 Nor was he the last: he shared the post with John Seller, who was appointed in 1671,32 although Seller's tenure of office does not seem to have been particularly successful.33

It is clear that Moxon's appointment as Hydrographer to the King resulted in an increased demand for his globes and maps which left no time for his publishing activities: his next volume did not appear until 1665,34 the first since 1660. Pepys records that on 8 September 1663 he went 'to Moxon's and there bought a payre of globes cost me £3 10s., with which I am well pleased, I buying them principally for my wife, who has a mind to understand them, and I shall take pleasure to teach her. But here I saw his great window in his dining room, where there is the two Terrestrial Hemispheres, so painted as I never saw in my life, and nobly done and to good purpose, done by his own hand'. In 1664 Pepys ordered globes for the Admiralty and records in his diary for 14 March 1663/4 that he went 'to Moxon's, and there saw our office globes in doing, which will be very handsome but cost money'. On 29 April 1664 Pepys 'paid Mr. Moxon for the work he has done for the office upon the King's Globes'.35

MOXON AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 1662-78

The two decades which followed Moxon's appointment as Hydrographer to the King were the most productive years of his life. During this period he was involved in the production of almost 40 volumes, as printer, publisher, translator, or author. Although Moxon did not himself become a Fellow of the Royal Society until 1678, he was closely associated with its Fellows from its foundation. At the time of Moxon's petition to the King, his supporters Ashmole, Pope and Rooke were already Fellows; Collins and Moore were elected later.36 The minutes of the Royal Society37 show a continuing involvement with the Society from at least as early as 1664.

On 30 March 1664 the Council ordered 'that the Society's tube be lent to Mr. Moxon to make observations with'.38 Later in the same year it was ordered 'that the treasurer should pay for a globe ... which Dr. Wren should choose at Mr. Moxon's'.39 The Royal Society was evidently a good customer, for the minutes record that on 14 March 1666/7 'the operator was ordered to bespeak a quadrant like that of Dr. Goddard, to be sent to Lisbon; as also one of the largest globes that Mr. Moxon useth to make'.40

Further insight into Moxon's activities during the 1670s can be gained from Hooke's Diaries.4' Hooke recorded many meetings with Moxon and his circle. On 28 November 1672, for example, Hooke 'read lecture to Gunton, Moxon, and 3 others about the new phenomena of light'.42 Again, on 7 March 1673/4, he 'discoursed with Moxon ... about mixing mettalls'.43

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It is clear that Moxon was in the habit of discussing his latest publications with Hooke, for on Friday 29 May 1674, Hooke records that he had 'from Moxon a description of north east passage', a reference to A Brief Discourse of a Passage by the North-Pole to Japan, China, &c.44 On Saturday 3 October 1674, Hooke recorded that he 'Met Moxon. The new way of Neipiers bones in a little book made up of 8 10 12. 16 20 bookes bound in one, each book hath 9 pages by which all operations in multiplication and Division are performed. Moxon shewd a book made up of nothing but Nepiers bones. Very foolish.'45 The reference here is unclear since as far as is known Moxon produced no book on Napier's bones at about this time. It is possible that this entry refers to Dansie's A mathematical Manual published by Moxon some 20 years earlier.46 On Thursday 1 March 1676/7, Hooke records that he 'Bought cards of Moxon'.47 Moxon published three sets of scientific cards which he advertised as follows:48

The Astronomical Playing Cards. Price 6d. The Astronomical Cards. Price Plain Is. Coloured 2s. best Coloured, and the Stars Guilt, 5s. Geographical Playing Cards, wherein is exactly described all the Kingdoms of the Earth, curiously engraved. Price plain Is. best coloured and Gilt 5s. the Pack.

Throughout his life Moxon maintained a professional interest in astronomy and on Tuesday 24 April 1677, he met Aubrey and a few others at Hooke's house 'to see comet but missed it. drank 2 bottles claret'.49

On Monday 31 December 1677, Hooke 'Calld on Moxon, he read me his first

monthly exercise of smithery ...'.50 Hooke is referring here to the Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy Works51 which has the distinction of being the first book to be published in England in serial form and was clearly aimed at the

practical man. It was issued in 14 parts and covered such subjects as smithing, joinery, carpentry, turning and bricklaying. On 2 January 1677/8 Hooke 'Bought of Moxon his 1st monthly exercise, 6d.'52

In July 1678 Moxon presented the first six numbers of the Mechanick Exercises to Sir Joseph Williamson, then President of the Royal Society, to whom John Evelyn, a Fellow and a commissioner for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, had given him a letter of introduction, which runs as follows:53

The Bearer hereof Mr Moxon, having begun a Laudable Worke (of which he will make you acquainted) and has already publish'd Specimens, had desired me to bespeake yr favourable incouragement by not only permitting that the Notice of his undertaking may be inserted into the Weekly Gazett, but that yr Ldp will (as President of the Royal Society) give him Y' Imprimater, which I assure him you will readily do, and whatever else may promote his industry on this worke.

There is no evidence that Williamson's 'Imprimater' was ever given.54

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Graham Jagger

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 1678-82

Until September 1677 Royal Society elections were conducted by a show of hands, and phrases such as 'elected unanimously' and 'elected nemine contradicente' occur regularly throughout the minutes. The minutes of the Council meeting held on 24 September 1677 record that 'The statute for taking votes at the council by ballot propounded at the last meeting was passed as a statute'.55 Although applying strictly only to meetings of Council, it is clear that this statute was applied to all meetings of the Society for, from that time until August 1682, when the procedure for elections was again modified, the absence of negative votes is regularly recorded.56

The first and indeed only occurrence of negative voting occurred at the Anniversary meeting held on 30 November 1678 at which Moxon was elected with 27 votes for, and four against.57 At the same meeting a further seven candidates were elected, the only other instance of negative voting being the one cast against Dr John Mayow, an Oxford physician and natural philosopher (who was never admitted to the Society and died within a year of his election).58

What is remarkable about Moxon's election is not the four votes cast against him but the fact that he was elected at all: with the possible exception of Flower, whose identification is doubtful, he was the first tradesman to be elected Fellow.59 During the early decades of its existence the Royal Society's clear status-hierarchy reflected the form and function of Restoration society at large.60 It has been pointed out that the statistics of elections support the view that the Royal Society was more of a high-class intellectual social club than a scientific body.61 Sprat drew a distinction between tradesmen who '... chiefly labour for present livelihood, and therefore cannot defer their Expectations so long, as is commonly requisit for the ripening of any new Contrivance ...' and '... men of freer lives [who] have all the

contrary advantages. They do not approach those Trades, as their dull, and unavoidable, and perpetual employments, but as their Diversions.'62 Sprat's argument that those who 'laboured for present livelihood' were excluded from participation in the advancement of learning accurately reflected the prejudices of the English virtuosi, and if the Royal Society had freely elected them, the very concept of the virtuoso would have been threatened.63

It is possible that the votes cast against Moxon were a reflection of his early Puritan sympathies, but his 16 years of service as Royal Hydrographer make this unlikely. It is perhaps more likely that the Fellows were using their new-found power of expression in the secret ballot to register their disinclination to elect a mere tradesman to their ranks.

Although some 13 merchants had become Fellows prior to Moxon's election, no less than nine of these were knights and the remainder held various public offices:64 they all belonged to what Everitt has called the 'pseudo-gentry'.65 During the remainder of the century such candidates continued to be elected but there is not a

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single further instance of the election of one whom Sprat would have unambiguously identified as a tradesman.66

Moxon's election was late: he was by then 51 years old and had been associated with the Society and its Fellows for almost 20 years. The median age of the 100 Fellows elected immediately before him was about 37.67 It was, perhaps, because of his tradesman status that no Fellow was willing to propose Moxon when he was at the height of his career, just after his appointment as Hydrographer to the King. Hooke, or one of the Fellows who had supported Moxon in his petition to the King, might have been expected to propose him for election but this task was left to George Ent, an undistinguished lawyer and author, who himself had only been elected a Fellow 12 months before. Hooke did not even mention Moxon's election in his diary.

During the first two years of his Fellowship Moxon appears to have been an active member of the Royal Society. The minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 1679 record that he 'presented to the Society one of his English globes, together with a book,68 containing the explication and use thereof, with a desire, that it might stand in the meeting-room, to be seen at the meetings of the Society. And Mr. Hunt was directed to get a wooden case made for it to stand in the meeting- room'.6 On 18 March 1679/80 Moxon 'presented his fourteen Mechanical exercises, bound in a volume; and was encouraged to proceed in his undertaking'.70

In the following year the possibility seemed to arise that Moxon might be appointed the Society's printer. Under the terms of its Charter the Royal Society was authorized to appoint printers, and James Allestry and John Martyn were appointed by the Council on 2 November 1663.71 For the first three years of their appointment, Allestry seems to have been the more active but he became less prominent after the Great Fire and died in 1670.72 On 2 November 1671 Spencer Hickman, a former apprentice to Allestry, 'was sworn as one of the printers of the Royal Society...'.73 In 1672 he published, under the Society's Imprimatur, Grew's The Anatomy of Vegetables.74 No further books seem to have been published by him after 1672 and it is possible that he died about this time. Apart from the short involvement of Hickman, John Martyn continued alone as printer to the Royal Society for the decade following Allestry's death.

Martyn's relationship with the Society was not always a happy one and on at least one occasion, in 1676, he had been in danger of losing his position after publishing remarks which reflected on Oldenburg.75 In addition, there had been a long-running dispute about the printing of the Transactions. The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 September 1679 record that 'Upon debate about printing the next Transactions it was thought first, that if Mr Martyn should refuse to print the same as usually the council should be acquainted with it at the next meeting, to consider some other means of doing it'.76

The position of printer to the Society became vacant on Martyn's death on 3 May 1680.77 Undoubtedly Moxon considered himself to be eminently qualified to

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Graham Jagger

succeed to the post, for on Thursday 8 July 1680, Hooke recorded 'Moxon desirous of the printers place'.78

But after the unfortunate experiences with Martyn, the Society was not to be rushed into appointing a successor. There was some discussion as to whether the Society needed a printer at all and it was not until 23 March 1680/1, some 11 months after his death, that it was decided to replace Martyn. The matter was discussed by the Council, the minutes recording that 'The question being put, whether a printer should be chosen for the Society, and divers objecting that it was rather prejudicial than otherwise to the Society, it was carried in the affirmative; but so that the debate might be resumed, if new reason should offer to the contrary. The consideration of the person was deferred to the next Council.'79

The minutes of the next meeting of the Council held on 13 April 1681 record that 'Upon resuming the debate, whether a printer should be chosen for the Society, it was resolved in the affirmative; and Mr Richard Chiswell was unanimously chosen,80 and at the meeting held on 29 June 1681 'The patent to Mr. Chiswell to be printer to the Society being fairly engrossed, was read and approved'.81 In many ways Chiswell was an ideal candidate. Twelve years Moxon's junior, he had a thriving publishing business at the sign of the 'Rose and Crown' in St Paul's churchyard. In 1680, under the authority of Speaker Williams, Chiswell published the Votes of the House of Commons and, by the time of his appointment as printer to the Royal Society, official publishing had become one of the main strands of his business.82

It may be inferred that Chiswell's appointment was a bitter disappointment to Moxon; certainly, from that time he took no further part in the activities of the Society. But what Moxon perhaps did not realize was that his Fellowship effectively barred him from an office of profit under the Society. In the Society's hierarchy the office of Printer was near the bottom, and certainly below that of Clerk.83 At the meeting of the Council held on 27 January 1685/6, a discussion took place regarding the qualifications necessary for the Society's clerks and it was resolved inter alia '... that if a fellow of the Society be chosen into the office of clerk, he shall before his admission to his office resign his fellowship.'84 At a meeting of the Society held the same day, Edmond Halley, elected Fellow at the same time as Moxon, was elected to this office and had to resign his Fellowship.85 It would surely have been unthinkable to allow a Fellow to become the Society's Printer.

THE FINAL YEARS, 1682-91

The late 1670s and early 1680s saw the Royal Society in a state of financial crisis due in large measure to arrears in Fellows' subscriptions. Numerous informal attempts to collect these arrears had been unsuccessful, so it was decided to take sterner action. The minutes of the Council meeting held on 25 January 1681/2 record that 'It was ordered, That the secretaries make trial of some persons for

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writing between this and the next meeting of the council, and give an account thereof to the next meeting'.86 At the Council meeting on 8 March 1681/2 'Mr. Houghton brought in answer from Mr. Moxon in writing, which was read, but the debate of it was respited to the next meeting, it being late'.87 There is no record in the minutes of any later discussion of Moxon's letter, and as it has not been preserved in the archives of the Royal Society its contents must remain a matter of speculation. Moxon appears to have been the only one to reply; so he must have felt particularly strongly, perhaps about the way he had been treated over the affair of the Society's printer.

The accounts of the Royal Society show that since his election in November 1678, Moxon had only paid his admission money of £2. His subscription of one shilling per week, amounting to £2 12s. Od. per annum, was never paid.88

At the meeting of the Council held on 9 August 1682,

It was considered, whether the following persons should not be left out of the lists to be printed, which was agreed to, with reservation to make amendments at the next meetings. [There follows a list of 23 Fellows, which includes Moxon.] These twenty three were ordered to be left out of the lists to be printed for the election on the 30th of November next; and also to be left out of the treasurer's book for the future'.89

On 1 November 1682 'It was again debated, whether the 23 members mentioned in the list to be left out of that to be printed against St Andrew's Day, should also be left out of the treasurer's book for the future; and it was agreed on and ordered to be done accordingly'.90 So these 23 Fellows, Moxon among them, were effectively expelled from the Royal Society. Not that Moxon took much notice of his expulsion: on the title page of his Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing91 published in the summer of 1683, some eight or nine months later, Moxon was still describing himself as a 'Member of the Royal Society'. A photograph of this title page is shown in figure 2.

Moxon's Fellowship had lasted just four years. By 1682 his working life had almost come to an end. In addition to the Mechanick Exercises of 1683, his Enneades Arithmeticae92 was published in 1684, followed in 1686 by a new edition of his A Tutor to Astronomy and Geography.93 No publication after 1686 can be attributed to him.

The date of Moxon's death is not precisely known. However, in the Epistle Dedicatory of a new and enlarged edition of his Mathematicks made Easie94 published in 1692, his son James, as publisher, wrote: 'It was above twelve years since the book was first Compos'd by my Father, and then dedicated to a Noble Patron of this Nation [Sir George Wharton, a signatory on his petition to Charles II]; who are both deceased.' It is probable that James's father is the Joseph Moxon whose burial in St Paul's churchyard on 15 February 1690/1 is recorded in the Register of Burials for the parish of St Faith's under St Paul's.95

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Graham Jagger

FIGURE 2. The title page of Moxon's Mechanick Exercises published in the summer of 1683.

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Joseph Moxon and the Royal Society 205

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks are due to John Fauvel for his unstinting advice and encouragement during the preparation of this paper. Figure 1 is a photograph of a document in the custody of the Public Record Office.'9 Figure 2 is reproduced by permission of the British Library.9'

NOTES

1 A full, if not always accurate, discussion of the early history of the Moxon family can be found in J. Moxon (ed.) The Moxons of Yorkshire (Ludlow: Moxon Paperbacks, 1987).

2 Wakefield Parish Registers, West Yorkshire Archive Service, D3; 'Josephus filius Jacobi Moxon xvi die August 1627'.

3 M.H. Peacock, History of The Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth at Wakefield, p. 205 (Wakefield, 1892).

4 T.B. Reed, History of the Old English Letter Foundries, revised by A.F. Johnson, p. 168n (Faber, 1952).

5 PRO State Papers (Dom.), Chas. I, vol.387, no. 79. 6 H. Davis & H. Carter (eds) Moxon's Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing, p. xx

(London: Oxford University Press, 1958). 7 See, for example, the title page of To all that love Peace and Truth. The Declaration of the Well-

affected Non-Subscribers...to the Citie Narrative concerning the Personal Treaty... Wherein is set forth several reasons for non-subscription. Printed by James and Joseph Moxon, at the upper end of Hounsditch, neer Bishopsgate (London, 1648).

8 See, for example, the list of works jointly printed by James and Joseph Moxon in Davis & Carter, op. cit. (note 6), pp. 409-413.

9 W. Potter, Truths Right-Side turned upwards: or, The Armies Vindication Against an Aspersion of Rebellion and Tyrannie... Printed by James and Joseph Moxon, for William Larer, at the Signe of the Black-moor, neer Bishopsgate, MDCXLIX.

10 J. Moxon, Mathematicks made Easie; or a Mathematical Dictionary...with An appendix. By Joseph Moxon, a Member of the Royal Society and Hydrographer to [&c.]. Printed for Joseph Moxon, at the Sign of Atlas on Ludgate-Hill. M.DC.LXXIX.

11 J. Moxon, A Brief Discourse of a passage by the North-Pole to Japan, China, &c., .... 1674. The foreword tells how the book was prompted by a conversation with a sea-captain in a tavern at Amsterdam 22 years earlier.

12 W. Blaeu, Institutio astronomica de usu globorum & sphaerarum caelestum ac terrestrium... (Amsterdam, 1634).

13 J. Moxon, A Tutor to Astronomy and Geography; or, An Easie and Speedy way to Understand the Use of both the Globes, Celestial and Terrestrial. Printed for Joseph Moxon, and are to be sold at his Shop, at the signe of Atlas, in Corhill; where you may also have Globes of all sizes (London, 1654).

14 Quoted in C.S. Bliss, Some Aspects of Seventeenth Century English Printing with Special Reference to Joseph Moxon, p. 16 (Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, 1965).

15 J. Moxon, Primum Mobile: or Tables shewing the Declinations, Right Ascentions, Ascentional Differences, Oblique Ascentions of the Sun, and other Planets. With other Tables, For the more speedy erection of a figure, and finding the Arke of Direction (London, 1656).

16 J. Newton, A Help to Calculation or Two Tables: the one of Decimal Numbers, and the other of



Graham Jagger

their Logarithmes, for the ready converting of Sexagenary Tables into Decimal, and the contrary (London, 1657). The introduction on the use of logarithms makes ten pages and the rest is tables. The book, with all its solid tabular work, is a creditable piece of typesetting; and there are no errata.

17 W. Oughtred, Trignometria; Hoc est, Modus computandi Triangulorum Latera et Angulos ex Canone Mathematico traditus et demonstratus... (title page of the second part:) Canones Sinuum, Tangentium, Secantium: et Logarithmorum pro Sinubus et Tangentibus. Londini, Excudebat Josephus Moxon, impensis Thomae Johnson, .... (London, 1657). The part printed by Moxon is a

large and intricate piece of tabular setting. It is evidence of his standing as a printer of mathematics that he should have been entrusted with it by so eminent a scholar.

18 Public Record Office SP 29/49 f. 66 recto. 19 PRO SP 29/49 f. 66 verso. The certificate is written on the reverse of the petition and is in the

same hand. It is undated but bears the date '62 Jan 10' in a nineteenth century hand. 20 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XLIX, p. 209. 21 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XLVI, p. 139. 22 See for example a letter from Collins to Henry Oldenburg dated 25 May 1675 (British Library

Add. MSS 4432, f. 25) and a letter to David Gregory dated 11 August 1676 (Royal Society Library, MS 81, f. 32).

23 See note 16. 24 I. De Caus, New and Rare Inventions of Water-Works.... First written in French by Isaak de Caus

a late Famous Enginier: And new Translated into English by John Leek. Printed by Joseph Moxon: and Sold at his Shop in Corn-hill, at the Signe of Atlas (London, 1659).

25 J. Moore, Short Introduction Into the Art of Species (London 1660). 26 H. Bond, Two Tables of Ranges, according to the degree of Mounture. This volume is advertised

in Moxon's Mechanic Dyalling of 1679 but no date is given and no copies have been traced. 27 F. Willmoth, Sir Jonas Moore: Practical Mathematics and Restoration Science, p. 115

(Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993). 28 F. Willmoth, op.cit. (note 27), p. 147. 29 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. II, p. 172. 30 PRO SP44/5 p. 116. This entry is prefaced by the marginal note: 'Mr Moxon to be Hydrographer

to the King'. 31 H. Wallis & S. Tyacke (eds), My Head is a Map, p. 8 (London: Francis Edwards and Carta Press,

1973). 32 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, January to November 1671, p. 144, entry for 24

March 1671 (London, 1895). 33 For a useful introduction to the life and work of John Seller, see C. Verer, 'John Seller and the

Chart Trade in Seventeenth-Century England', In N.J.W. Thrower (ed.) The Compleat Plattmaker, pp. 127-157 (University of California Press, 1978).

34 G. Barozzi, Vignola. or the Compleat Architect... printed by W. Leybourne for Joseph Moxon (London, 1665).

35 Pepys's Diary, (ed. Wheatley), vol. iii, pp.257, 296; vol. iv, p. 69 (London, 1924). 36 M. Hunter, The Royal Society and its Fellows 1660-1700, pp. 160-214 (Chalfont St Giles, 1982).

Hereafter, Hunter, Royal Society. 37 References to minutes of the Royal Society are to T. Birch, The History of the Royal Society of

London, 4 vols (London, 1756-57). Hereafter, Birch, History. 38 Birch, History, vol. 1, p. 403. 39 Birch, History, vol. 1, p. 469. 40 Journal Book of the Royal Society, Vol. III, p. 71 (Royal Society Library, JBO 1666-1668). Note

that Birch, History, vol. 2, p. 156, transcribes 'useth' as 'uses'. 41 H.W. Robinson & W. Adams (eds), The Diaries of Robert Hooke. (London: Taylor and Francis,

206




1935). Hereafter, Hooke, Diaries. 42 Hooke, Diaries, p. 14. 43 Hooke, Diaries, p. 90. 44 See note 11. 45 Hooke, Diaries, p. 124. 46 J. Dansie, A mathematical Manual: wherein is handled Arithmetic, Planimetry, Stereometry, and

the Embattelling of Armies. Whereby any man that can but Add and Subtract, may learn to Multiply and Divide in two hours by Radologie, without any trouble at all to the memory .... Printed for Joseph Moxon, and sold at his Shop in Corhill. at the sign of Atlas (London, 1654). This book explains how calculations can be made with Napier's bones.

47 Hooke, Diaries, p. 276. 48 See, for example, the advertisements in J. Moxon, The Genteel House-keepers Pastime: or the

Mode of Carving at the Table. Represented in a Pack of Playing Cards. Printed for J. Moxon, and sold at his Shop at the Atlas in Warwick Lane; and at the three Bells in Ludgate Street (London, 1693).

49 Hooke, Diaries, p. 287. 50 Hooke, Diaries, p. 338. 51 J. Moxon, Mechanic Exercises, or the Doctrin of Handy-works. Begun Jan. 1., and intended to

be Monthly continued (London, 1677). 52 Hooke, Diaries, p.339. 53 PRO SP 29/405, no. 82. 54 No work by Moxon appears in the list given in Record of the Royal Society, pp. 36-38 (4th edn,

London, 1940), or in the expanded list given by C. A. Rivington, 'Early printers to the Royal Society 1663-1708', Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 39 (1985).

55 Birch, History, vol. 3, p. 343. 56 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 158. 57 Birch, History, vol. 3, p. 442. 58 Hunter, Royal Society, p. 221. 59 Hunter, Royal Society, p. 70. 60 S. Pumfrey, 'Ideas above his station: a social study of Hooke's curatorship of experiments', Hist.

Sci. 29 (1991). See particularly p. 2. 61 Hunter, Royal Society, p. 25. 62 T. Sprat, The History of the Royal Society of London, For the Improving of Natural Knowledge,

pp. 391-2, 404 (London, 1667; reprint edn, London, 1959). 63 S. Pumfrey, op. cit. (note 60), p. 18. 64 Hunter, Royal Society, p. 115 and pp. 160-220. 65 A. Everitt, Changes in the provinces: The seventeenth century, p. 43 (Occasional Papers of the

Department of Local History, 2nd series, no. 1; Leicester, 1970). 66 Hunter, Royal Society, pp. 220-252. 67 In the years following Moxon's election the age of Fellows at election fell slightly. The median

age of the 100 elected immediately after Moxon was about 32 years. 68 The book referred to is probably Roger Palmer, Earl of Castlemaine, The English Globe...And

now publish't by Joseph Moxon, Member of the Royal Society, and Hydrographer to His most Excellent Majesty (London, 1679).

69 Birch, History, vol. 3, p. 519. 70 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 26. 71 Birch, History, vol. 1, p. 521. 72 C. A. Rivington, op. cit. (note 54) p. 4. 73 Birch, History, vol. 2, p. 480. 74 Nehemiah Grew, The Anatomy of Vegetables (London, 1672).

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75 Birch, History, vol. 3, p. 320, 321, 324. 76 Birch, History, vol. 3, p. 504. 77 C. A. Rivington, op. cit. (note 54), on p. 7, gives the date of Martyn's death as July 1680, but the

date of 3 May 1680 is clearly visible on the photograph of Martyn's monument in St Paul's Cathedral shown on p. 8.

78 Hooke, Diaries, p. 448. 79 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 75. 80 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 79. 81 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 91. 82 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. X, p. 265. 83 S. Pumfrey, op. cit. (note 60), p. 13. 84 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 453. 85 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 454. 86 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 121. 87 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 133. 88 Hunter, Royal Society, p. 221. 89 Birch, History, vol. 4, pp. 159-160. The 23 Fellows listed are Lord Annesley, Dr Aglionby, Sir

Thomas Clutterbuck, Lord Dursley, Viscount Fitzharding, Sir Francis Vane, Sir Henry Ford, Sir William Le Hunt, Sir Anthony Lowther, Dr Jaques Du Moulin, Mr Jenkes, Mr Oliver Hill, Mr Joseph Moxon, Henry Earl of Peterborough, Richard Earl of Ranelagh, Sir Nicholas Slaning, Mr Francis Borthwick, Dr Samuel Woodford, Dr Benjamin Woodroofe, Robert Earl of Yarmouth, Archibald Earl of Argyle, Charles Earl of Carlisle and John, Earl of Crawford and Lindsay.

90 Birch, History, vol. 4, p. 163. 91 J. Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: or, the Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the Art of Printing

... By Joseph Moxon, Member of the Royal Society and Hydrographer to ... (London, 1683). The copy from which figure 2 is reproduced is in the British Library, shelfmark 538.i.4.

92 J. Moxon, Enneades Arithmeticae, the Numbring Nines: or Pythagoras's Table extended to all Numbers under 10,000... (London, 1684).

93 J. Moxon, A Tutor to Astronomy and Geography, or the Use of both the Globes, Coelestial and Terrestrial ... The Fourth Edition, Enlarged (London, 1686).

94 J. Moxon, Mathematicks made Easie ... Second edition ... enlarged by H. Coley ... (London, 1692).

95 Parish Registers of St Faith under St Paul's, Guildhall MS 8884, p. 187.

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