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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Paris

Reference number: EL/OB/5

Date: 17 May 1659

Description

Concerning the travels of Robert Southwell who asks for Oldenburg's advice - believes that Southwell might be of use to the Royal Society particularly if he were to visit Italy; sends a sample of oil and wishes Boyle to examine it for its possible medicinal effects; he also sends seeds of a sensitive plant and the grains of 'Bama muscata' from the West Indies [Caribbean] with details of its preparation; postscript (in Latin) has the method for making vitriolated oil

Reference number
EL/OB/5
Earliest possible date
17 May 1659
Page extent
3 pages
Format
Manuscript
Also available on Early Modern Letters Online
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Creator names

Henry Oldenburg

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Henry Oldenburg

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Citation

Henry Oldenburg, Henry Oldenburg, Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Paris, 17 May 1659, EL/OB/5, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_ob_5/letter-from-henry-oldenburg-to-robert-boyle-dated-at-paris, accessed on 13 July 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el_ob_5/letter-from-henry-oldenburg-to-robert-boyle-dated-at-paris

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  • Early Letters

    The archival collection known as 'Early Letters' is composed of original manuscript letters sent to, or collected by, the Royal Society from English and foreign correspondents.

    Dates: 1613 - 1740

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