MS 291: William Derham, Lectures on Ethics

Archive Unit
  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 473 MS291
  • Dates of Creation
      Oxford, 18th c.; ca. 1728-57?
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English
  • Physical Description
      Support (paper) ca. 197 x 158 mm. Text area: typically 190 x 140 mm. 4 exercise books (1. 22 leaves; 2. 20 leaves; 3. 22 leaves; 4. 26 leaves. Later pencil sequences of foliation in top right of each recto). Brown/grey paper covers (210 x 167 mm). + 19th/20th c. torn envelope with ink inscription “... in handw ... William Derham (President 1748-1757)” and late 20th c. pencil classmark.

Scope and Content

Four 18th century exercise books containing notes for lectures on ethics by William Derham (1702-1757, President of St John's).

1. Pamphlets 1-4: Derham, William, Ethical lectures (from covers). English. Single 18th c. hand in black ink. Written in long lines (occasionally double columns) with ca. 40 lines to a page, although this can vary considerably. Occasional blank pages amidst text. Several slips tipped into notebooks in vols 2 and 3. Numerous deletions and crossings through.

  • a. Notebook 1: Cover inscription & on fol. 1r, "Ethical Lectures. No. 1." [fols 1v-4r blank.] Fol. 4v inscription, "Prolegomena. Rapin's Comparison of the Ethicks of Plato, & those of Aristotle." [fols 5-7r blank.] Fols 7v-21v, Chapters 1-[7?]. [fol. 22 blank.]
  • b. Notebook 2: Cover inscription & on fol. 1r, "No. 2." [fols 1v-2v blank.] Fols 3r-19v, Chapters [8?]-XVI. [fol. 20 blank.]
  • c. Notebook 3: Cover inscription & on fol. 1r, "No. 3." [fol. 1v blank.] Fols 2r-11r, Chapter XVII. [fols 11v-22v blank.]
  • d. Notebook 4: Cover inscription, "Ethical Lectures. No. 4." On fol. 1r, "No. 4." [fols 1v blank.] Fols 2r-13v, Chapter XVIII. [fols 14r-26v blank except 18v which has some notes on "Private revenge" crossed through.]

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Other Finding Aids

This catalogue entry derives from Stewart Tiley's unpublished descriptive catalogue of the post-1500 western manuscripts at St John's College, Oxford (2018). This entry was uploaded to ArchivesHub in April 2023 as part of the St John's College Library digitization project. To learn more about the project and to find digital resources, please visit the Digital Library