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Authorised form of nameBoyle; Robert (1627 - 1691); natural philosopher and chemist
Dates1627 - 1691
NationalityBritish
Place of birthLismore Castle, Munster, Ireland, Europe
Date of birth25 January 1627
Place of deathLondon, England, Europe
Date of death30 December 1691
DatesAndPlacesBurial:
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London, England, Europe (7 January 1692)
Research fieldNatural philosophy
Physics
Chemistry
ActivityEducation:
Eton College (1635-1638)
Career:
Travelled to Geneva with his tutor Marcombes, and his brother Francis (1638-1640), and to Italy (1641-1642); returned to Geneva; moved back to London (1644), then to the manor of Stallbridge, Dorset (1645) inherited on the death of his father; worked on 'Aretology' (1645-46); took part in the 'Invisible College' (1646-47); set up a laboratory at Stalbridge (1649); published 'Some Considerations Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures' (1661); visited his Irish estates (1652-1653), where with the help of Sir William Petty FRS he engaged in anatomical dissection; published 'Certain Physiological Essays' (1661); 'The Sceptical Chymist' (1661); while at Oxford wrote the bulk of 'Some Considerations Touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy (1663, 1671); member of the Council of Foreign Plantations (1661-1664); Governor of the Corporation for the Spread of the Gospel in new England (1662-1689); governor of the New England Company; paid for the translation of the Bible into Arabic and several other languages (1685-1686); Director of the Honorable East India Company
Honours:
Doctor of Physic (Oxford, 1665)
Lectures:
Boyle Lectures
Membership categoryFounder Fellow
Date of election28/11/1660
Age at election33
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
Council: 1660; declined Presidency of the Royal Society (1680)
Committee and panels:
Committee to consider of Mr Buckland's proposition to plant potatoes through all the parts of England (1662); Committee for Agriculture (c. 1664)
RelationshipsParents: Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork, and Catherine Fenton
Siblings: thirteen surviving, incl. Richard Boyle, first Earl of Burlington and second Earl of Cork; Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh; Roger Boyle, first Earl of Orrery; Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick
Additional relatives: nephews Richard Boyle (FRS 1663); Charles Boyle (FRS 1685); Viscount Dungarvan (FRS 1664); Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh (FRS 1663)
OtherInfoOne of the most well-known elements of Boyle's legacy stems from a conflict with Thomas Hobbes, who had written critical works on his book 'New Experiments ... Touching the Spring of the Air'. Boyle's detailed elaboration on his views in 'A Defence of the Doctrine, Touching the Spring and Weight in the Air, later became known as Boyle's law, which states the inverse nature of the quantitative relationship between the volume and pressure of a gas. Throughout his life time, Boyle published a variety of both philosophical and theological writings and treatises, some of which were deemed controversial due to their attacking contemporary writers and philosophers.

Much of the Boyle family wealth originated from the Irish plantations of the Tudor period - the seizure of property from Irish landwoners and its resettlement with English colonisers - in which Robert Boyle's father, Richard Boyle, had an instrumental administrative, practical and political role, supressing uprisings in protest to the colonisation and amassing enormous personal wealth and personal landholdings in Ireland, which he settled with English labourers. Richard Boyle was raised to the Irish peerage and eventually attained the position of Lord Treasurer of Ireland. The inheritance of part of his father's estates allowed Boyle to practice natural philosophy as a wealthy gentleman.

Robert Boyle was an investor in the East India Company and the Hudson Bay Company. The Honorable East India Company (HEIC) was an English and later British company formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region. The company ended up seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent (and briefly Afghanistan) and colonised parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies, by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, the East India Company rose to account for half of the world's trade, thereby amassing vast wealth, influence and private armies. The East India company enslaved people and exploited them for labour across their territories from 1621 until abolition of slavery in India in 1843. The company ruled large areas of India with its private armies, exercising military power and seizing administrative functions from local rulers from around 1757 until the British Raj which replaced HEIC control with direct colonial rule of India by the British Government in 1858. Under the HEIC and later colonial governance the British systematically oppressed indigenous people and exploited natural resources of colonised regions for commercial gain. The Company was dissolved in 1874. The Royal Society owned shares in the HEIC from 1682-1699 and many of its Fellows, such as Boyle had positions or financial interests in the Company.

Charles II granted the charter establishing the Hudson's Bay Company, officially "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay," on May 2, 1670. The charter aimed to establish a trade monopoly on the Eastern coast of what is now Canada and claimed 1.5 million square kilometres of land inhabited by Inuit and First Nations communities (everything in the Hudson river network of waterways), this grew to eight million square kilometres which was dubbed Rupert's Land. The 'adventurers' and traders employed by the HBC did the work of colonizing and nation-building, such as mapping British Columbia's interior and charting the Arctic coast, almost always with the help of Indigenous guides. The Company's aim was territorial expansion and geographical knowledge as well as resource extraction. The company depended on Indigenous hunters to bring them the furs they sold in Europe and made the Company shareholders very wealthy. This trading relationship was often cordial and mutually beneficial but introduced and advanced the spread of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis, to which Indigenous Peoples had no immunity. Attitudes toward Indigenous Peoples grew more disdainful by the mid-1800s, as HBC officials became more comfortable in the region and relied less on Indigenous knowledge. In 1868, the Rupert's Land Act was passed, an agreement to transfer the region from the HBC to the recently confederated states of Canada disregarding the Indigenous Nations' ownership of the land and their resistance to its transfer to a colonial power. The HBC continued to operate as a commercial company and operated some 100 stores in Indigenous communities into the 20th century, setting low prices for furs and high prices for their goods, a process that kept Indigenous consumers in a perpetual state of debt. The HBC remains a transnational company.

As a member of the Council for Foreign Plantations, within the Board of Trade government body, Boyle worked to further the government's colonial interest. In his post, he made £500 quarterly. The Council's orders and tasks fell within a broad remit and included finding ways in which to take and enslave people to bring to the colonies, mediating between the Royal African Company and the colonies, as well as enforcing the 'reeducation' of Native Americans and enslaved people in the colonised regions.
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SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Foster; Aubrey
References:
W H G Armytage, 'The Royal Society and the Apothecaries' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 22-37
Sir Irvine Masson and A J Youngson, 'Sir William Petty, FRS (1623-1687)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 79-90
Robert Birley, 'Robert Boyle's Head Master at Eton' in NR 1958 vol 13 pp 104-114
Robert Birley, 'Robert Boyle at Eton' in NR 1959 vol 14 p 191
Richard A Hunter and Ida Macalpine, 'William Harvey and Robert Boyle' in NR 1958 vol 13 pp 115-127
R K Bluhm, 'A Guide to the Archives of the Royal Society and to other Manuscripts in its Possession' in NR 1956-57 vol 12 pp 21-39
R E W Maddison, 'Studies in the Life of Robert Boyle, FRS. Part V. Boyle's Operator: Ambrose Godfrey Hanckwitz, FRS' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 159-188
R E W Maddison, 'Studies in the Life of Robert Boyle, FRS. Part IV. Robert Boyle and Some of his Foreign Visitors' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 38-53
R E W Maddison, 'Studies in the Life of Robert Boyle, FRS. Part III. The Charitable Disposal of Robert Boyle's Residuary Estate' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 15-27
R E W Maddison, 'A Tentative Index of the Correspondence of the Honourable Robert Boyle, FRS' in NR 1958 vol 13 pp 128-201
R K Bluhm, 'Henry Oldenburg, FRS (c. 1615-1677)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 183-197
R E W Maddison, 'Studies in the Life of Robert Boyle, FRS. Part VII. The Grand Tour' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 51-77
R E W Maddison, 'Studies in the Life of Robert Boyle, FRS. Part VI. The Stalbridge Period, 1645-1655, and the Invisible College' in NR 1963 vol 18 pp 104-124
Marie Boas Hall, 'What Happened to the Latin Edition of Boyle's History of Cold?' in NR 1962 vol 17 pp 32-35
Marie Boas Hall, 'Henry Miles, FRS (1698-1763) and Thomas Birch, FRS (1705-66)' in NR 1963 vol 18 pp 39-44
Margaret Deacon, 'Founders of Marine Science in Britain: the Work of the Early Fellows of the Royal Society' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 28-50
L M Payne, Leonard G Wilson and Sir Harold Hartley, 'William Croone, FRS (1633-1684)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 211-219
Kenneth Dewhurst, 'Locke's Contribution to Boyle's Researches on the Air and on Human Blood' in NR 1962 vol 17 pp 198-206
John F Fulton, 'The Honourable Robert Boyle, FRS (1627-1692)' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 119-135, plate
J A Lohne, 'Isaac Newton: the Rise of a Scientist 1661-1671' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 125-139
H A Feisenberger, 'The Libraries of Newton, Hooke and Boyle' in NR 1966 vol 21 pp 42-55
G H Turnbull, 'Samuel Hartlib's Influence on the Early History of the Royal Society' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 101-130
E N da C Andrade, 'The Birth and Early Days of the Philosophical Transactions' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 9-27
Douglas McKie, 'The Origins and Foundation of the Royal Society of London' in NR 1960 vol 15 pp 1-37
A D Atkinson, 'The Royal Society and English Vocabulary' in NR 1956-57 vol 12 pp 40-43
A Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 'Some Hitherto Unknown Facts about the Private Career of Henry Oldenburg
A Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall, 'Further Notes on Henry Oldenburg' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 33-42
C S S, 'The Society's Library' in NR 1938 vol 1 pp 21-27
A C S, 'Notes on the Foundation and History of the Royal Society' in NR 1938 vol 1 pp 32-36
John Hedley Brooke, 'Wise men nowadays think otherwise': John Ray, natural theology and the meanings of anthropocentrism' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 199-213
Marco Beretta, 'At the source of Western science: the organization of experimentalism at the Accadmeia del Cimento (1657-1667)' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 131-151
Quentin Bone, 'Favourite or Outsider?', review of George Bartle, An Old Radical and his Brood and Joyce Youings, ed, Sir John Bowring, 1792-1872: Aspects of his Life and Career in NR 1996 vol 50 pp 142-144, plate
Colin A Russell, 'The Secret Alchemist', review of L M Principe, The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and his Alchemical Quest in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 371-372
Guy Meynell, 'Locke, Boyle and Peter Stahl' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 185-192
Iordan Avramov, 'An Apprenticeship in Scientific Communication: the Early Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg (1656-63)' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 187-201
Lawrence M Principe, 'Newly Discovered Boyle Documents in the Royal Society Archive: Alchemical Tracts and his Student Notebook' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 57-70
Marie Boas Hall, 'Boyle Anatomized', review of Michael Hunter, ed, Robert Boyle by Himself and his Friends with a Fragment of William Wotton's Lost "Life of Boyle" in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 334-335, plate
Sir Alan Cook, 'Ladies in the Scientific Revolution' in NR 1997 vol 51 pp 1-12
Marie Boas Hall, 'Frederick Slare, FRS (1648-1727)' in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 23-41
Simon Schaffer, 'The Glorious Revolution and Medicine in Britain and the Netherlands' in NR 1989 vol 43 pp 167-190
Stephen F Mason, 'A Theosophical Boyle?', review of Michael Hunter, ed, Robert Boyle Reconsidered in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 317-319, plate
Kathleen H Ochs, 'The Royal Society of London's History of Trades Programme: An Early Episode in Applied Science' in NR 1984-85 vol 39 pp 129-158
Marie Boas Hall, 'Boyle's Method of Work: Promoting His Corpuscular Philosophy' in NR 1986-87 vol 41 pp 111-143
Michael Hunter, 'The Social Bias and Changing Fortunes of an Early Scientific Institution: An Analysis of the Membership of the Royal Society, 1660-1685' in NR 1976-7 vol 31 pp 9-114
P M Rattansi, 'The Intellectual Origins of the Royal Society' in NR 1968 vol 23 pp 129-143
Penelope M Gouk, 'Acoustics in the Early Royal Society 1660-1680' in NR 1981-82 vol 36 pp 155-175
Robert G Frank, Jr, 'John Aubrey, FRS, John Lydall, and Science at Commonwealth Oxford' in NR 1972-3 vol 27 pp 193-217
W E Knowles Middleton, 'Some Italian Visitors to the Early Royal Society' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 157-173
R Lewis, 'The publication of John Wilkins's Essay (1668): some contextual considerations' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp133-146
S Mandelbrote, 'From Bremen to Pall Mall. Henry Oldenburg. Shaping The Royal Society, by M B Hall' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 389-390
A Cook, '1703 and other anniversaries' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 1-2
N J W Thrower, 'Samuel Pepys FRS (1633-1733) and The Royal Society' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 3-13
W Hayes, 'Physics as well as poetry. Physicists of Ireland, edited by M McCartney and A Whitaker' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 245-246
J H Appleby, 'The founding of St Petersburg in the context of the Royal Society's relationship with Russia' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 273-284
A Cook, 'Rome and the Royal Society, 1660-1740' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 3-19
L Jardine, 'The 2003 Wilkins Lecture: Dr Wilkins's boy wonders' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 107-129
J S Rowlinson, 'Displacing Phlogiston. Robert Siegfried, From elements to atoms: a history of chemical composition' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 242-243
M Hunter, 'Report. Robert Boyle for the 21st Century' in NR 2005 vol 59 pp 87-90
J Gribbin, 'The Fellowship', 2005, pp141-147
A M Roos 'Hunting Robert Boyle: Michael Hunter and Boyle's life and letters ' - Essay review of 'Boyle: etween God and science' 2009, Yale University Press. In NR 2011 vol 65 pp 311-315
D T Burns ' Previously unrecorded Dutch citations and versions of some of the scientific publications of Robert Boyle FRS' NR 2011 vol 65 pp 295-300
Notes:
See also: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/boyle
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/51698379
CodeNA8137
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/000505Boyle, Robert2001
RBC/1/25'An Experimentall Account of the Compression of Aire Made by Mr Boyle'2 October 1661
IM/000497Boyle, Robert2001
RB/2/27Boyle SermonsLate 1640s
EL/B1/23Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle23 February 1663
MM/1/15Letter from Francis Boyle, Viscount Shannon, Shannon Park, to Robert Boyle 23 March 1692
RBO/6/119'Account of great haile fallen in France' by Robert Boylend
IM/000495Boyle, Robert2002
RBC/1/1'Questions Propounded by Lord Brouncker and Mr Boyle and agreed upon to be sent to Tenariffe'2 January 1660
RBC/2/85'Tryals proposed by Robert Boyle to Dr Lower to be made by him, for the Improvement of the Experiment of Transfusing blood out of one live Animal into another'1666
RB/2/26/4Notes on fortification1645
IM/005463Boyle, RobertMarch 2000
RB/2/30/32Notes on barometric observation and on amalgamating goldc 1680
RB/2/30/35Note on ordering of ensuing textc 1680
RB/2/30/21Note on weight of 'oculus mundi' (incomplete)c 1680
RB/2/30/27List of Heads concerning the Gallc 1680
RB/2/30/28MS version of part of 'Final Causes'c 1680
RB/2/30/13MS version of a section of 'Medica Praescripta Commicata R.B.'c 1680
RB/2/30/22Fragment of 'Dialogue on the Generation and Transmutation of Metals'c 1680
RB/2/30/41MS version of part of 'Notion of Nature'c 1680
RB/2/30/14MS version of part of 'Porosity'c 1680
RBO/2ii/61'To prevent the Rott in Sheep' by Robert Boyle14 October 1663
RBC/2/34Observations of Mr Clayton's Diamond by Robert Boyle1663
IM/005533Boyle, Robertnd
RBC/2/31'To Prevent the Rott in Sheep' by Robert Boyle14 October 1663
RBO/4/35'The Phaenomena of an Experiment about Freezing' brought in by Robert Boyle1671
RBO/4/54'Experimental Notes of the Mechanical Origine or Production of Fixtness' by Robert Boyle1674
IM/005359Boyle, Robertnd
RBO/4/43'Some Observations about Shining Flesh' by Robert Boyle1672
DM/5/73E'Experiments and Matters recommended to Mr William Balle'1664
MS/25Medical Notebooks of Robert Boyle17th century
IM/005403Boyle, Robert1992
RB/2/30/24MS versions of parts of 'Final Causes' and 'High Veneration'.c 1680
IM/005354Boyle, Robert1994
IM/000501Boyle, Robert1991
IM/000502Boyle, Robertnd
IM/000496Boyle, Robert2001
IM/000500Boyle, Robert2000
IM/005534Boyle, Robertnd
IM/000499Boyle, Robertnd
RB/2/30/29Letter concerning the loss, by 'Chance (or which is more likely) Fraud', of 'the Manuscript about the Examen & Improvement of the Materia Medica'c 1680
IM/000504Robert Boyle's School, Yetminster, wall plaque1989
NLB/1/488Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Mr Dyer, 8 Orchard Street, Portman Square30 June 1887
NLB/6/539Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland, Fellow of the Royal Society30 May 1892
EL/OB/123Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset7 May 1666
EL/OB/122Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle28 August 1666
CLP/13/2/4Drawing, ventral view of autopsy of conjoined twins by [William Hann][1664]
MS/390/21Bond of Robert Boyle to the Treasurer of the Royal Society25 November 1674
NLB/57/723Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Messrs Constable & Co Ltd; 10 Orange Street, WC 228 January 1920
MS/366/3/3Mr Boyle's experiments (with air pump)1660s
EL/O1/27aNote on experiments with lodestones by Henry Oldenburg24 April 1666
NLB/62/311Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to C. J. Thompson Esquire; 54A Wigmore Street, W.l.20 January 1922
NLB/67/605Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [John Farquhar] Fulton Esq.; Bradmore Road, Oxford26 January 1925
NLB/70/189Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Reverend the Vicar of St Martins in the Fields, W.C.2.27 January 1927
EL/B1/83Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg14 June 1665
CLP/21/10Paper, Account of two of Robert Boyle's books on nature by Edmund Halley1686
CLP/9i/11Paper, observations of Mr Clayton's diamond by Robert Boyle1663
CLP/24/70Account, 'An account of Mr. [Robert] Boyle's experiments on air' by Henry Oldenburg30 April 1669
CLP/4i/48/2Drawing, great hail fallen in France communicated by Robert Boyle1686
RBO/3/38'General Heads for making the Natural History of a Country' by Robert Boyle9 May 1666
CLP/11i/30Paper, 'The qualifications necessary to make a body volatile taken out of Mr [Robert] Boyle's mechanical origine of volatility' by Dr [Frederick] Slare[1680s]
EL/OB/128Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at London31 October 1666
EL/B1/91Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg24 September 1665
RBC/2/79'A New Frigorifick Experiment shewing How a considerable Degree of Cold may be suddenly produced without the help of Snow, Ice, Haile Wind or Nitre; And that at any time of the year brought in by Mr Boyle'1666
DM/5/60Minute of a meeting of a Committee to be appointed 'to consider of Mr Buckland's proposition to plant potatoes through all the parts of England' 20 March 1662
DM/5/101A list of benefactors to the Museum, to the value of £5 or upwards at one time c.1737
EL/OB/119Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle6 February 1665
EL/OB/97Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle4 October 1661
IM/005313Boyle, Robert2000
IM/000493Boyle, Robertnd
RB/2/30/33Notes on miracles and the natural orderc 1680
RB/2/30/39List of characters in `Dialogue on the Generation and Transmutation of Metals'.c 1680
RB/2/30/38Report by Duke of York concerning ague in Scotlandc 1680
RB/2/30/10Superseded version of part of 'Salubrity of Air' ('Languid Motion')c 1680
RB/2/30/42Prescription for writing history of a disease, and notec 1680
RB/2/30/23Characteristics of mineral watersc 1680
RB/2/30/25Notes on miracles and the natural orderc 1680
RB/2/30/19MS version of part of 'General History of Air'c 1680
RB/2/30/7Unpublished account of an experiment with a baroscopec 1680
RB/2/30/36Note on strange change of colour in New England pondc 1680
RB/2/30/18Fragment of 'Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals'c 1680
RB/2/30/16MS version of part of 'Porosity'c 1680
RB/2/30/37Further notes on miraclesc 1680
RB/2/30/31MS version of part of 'General History of Air'c 1680
RBC/2/77'Generall heads For making the Naturall History of a Country' by Robert Boylend
DM/5/100A list of benefactors to the Library, to the value of £5 or upwards at one time c.1737
IM/000498Boyle, Robert1892
NLB/6/479Copy letter from Michael Foster, to the Honorable Secretary, Oxford University Junior Scientific Club19 May 1892
EL/OB/117Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle9 November 1665
EL/OB/93Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 July 1674
EL/B1/97Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg4 November 1665
DM/5/64Minutes of meetings of the Committee for Agriculture (endorsed as 'Transactions of the Georgicall Committee')October 1664-February 1665
RBO/3/68'Some New Experiments about Light and Air: Tryed by Robert Boyle'29 October 1667
EL/OB/27Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London26 November 1664
RB/2/30/30MS version of part of 'Final Causes'c 1680
RB/2/30/26MS version of part of 'Human Blood'c 1680
RB/2/30/40MS version of part of 'Notion of Nature'c 1680
RBC/2/81'A Description of a method of Transfusing the blood of one Animal into another contriv'd and used by Dr Lower of Oxon as it was communicated in his letter to Mr Boyle'1666
EL/OB/129Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle7 January 1666
EL/OB/144Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset1 July 1682
IM/000494Boyle, Robert2002
IM/005355Boyle, Robert1994
EL/OB/85Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 March 1667
CLP/15i/27Paper, 'A conjecture concerning bladders of air that are found in fishes' by A I May 1675
P/0011Portrait of Robert Boylec.1689
CLP/13/2/3Drawing, dorsal view of conjoined twins by [William Hann][1664]
CLP/20/69Paper, Abstract of Mr. [Robert] Boyle's treatise of languid motions by Robert Hooke17 February 1686
CLP/11i/31Paper, 'An historical account of a strangely self-moving liquor' by [Robert] Boyle[1685]
RBO/3/40'A New Frigorifick Experiments shewing How a considerable degree of Cold may be suddenly produced without the help of Snow, Ice, Haile, Wind or Nitre: And that at any time of the year' by Robert Boyle1666
EL/OB/126Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle10 August 1666
EL/OB/145Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset8 July 1682
EL/OB/131Letter, from John Beale to Robert BoyleJanuary 1666
EL/OB/75Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London31 December 1667
EL/OB/133Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset12 October 1670
EL/B1/79Extract of a letter, from unknown author, to Robert Boyle1663
EL/OB/101Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset28 September 1663
EL/A/13Translated extract of a letter, from Adrian Auzout to Henry Oldenburg1666
EL/OB/102Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle29 September 1663
CLP/13/2Paper, 'Descriptio monstri nati apud Fisherton October 26 1664' by Mr Hand [William Hann] and Roger Baskett7 November 1664
EL/OB/116Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle11 October 1665
EL/OB/138Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset31 December 1673
EL/OB/125Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle30 July 1666
EL/B1/84Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg20 June 1665
EL/OB/113Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset25 April 1664
CLP/15i/9Paper, 'How to prevent rot in sheep' by Robert Boyle14 October 1663
CLP/13/2/2Drawing, ventral view of conjoined twins by [William Hann][1664]
EL/OB/100Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle25 February 1663
EL/OB/105Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset9 November 1663
EL/OB/132Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle28 January 1666
EL/OB/118Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle6 February 1665
EL/B1/90Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg18 September 1665
EL/B1/88Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg12 August 1665
EL/OB/143Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset26 June 1682
EL/A/33Minutes of the Dublin Philosophical Society, sent by St George Ashe, dated at Trinity College Dublin24 November 1685
CLP/4i/15Paper, 'A new frigorificke experiment by Robert Boyle showing how a considerable degree of cold may be suddainly produced with out the help of snow, ice, haile, wind, or nitre, and that at any time of the year' by M Boyle1666
CLP/4i/20Paper, 'Some new experiments about light and aire' by Robert Boyle1667
CLP/12i/7Paper, ['The method observed in transfusing the bloud out of one live animal into another'] by [Richard Lower][1666]
EL/B1/40Copy of a letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle25 April 1664
EL/OB/107Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle21 November 1663
EL/OB/124Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset13 July 1666
EL/B1/99Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg18 November 1665
EL/T/7Letter, from David Thomas to Robert Boyle, dated at St Mary Blandford30 January 1664
EL/B1/96Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg28 October 1665
EL/B1/94Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg20 October 1665
EL/OB/91Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle14 April 1668
EL/OB/61Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London3 September 1667
EL/OB/135Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset13 November 1671
EL/B1/101Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg23 December 1665
EL/B1/24Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle25 February 1663
EL/OB/42Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London5 December 1665
EL/OB/30Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert BoyleJune 1665
EL/OB/54Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 September 1666
EL/OB/52Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at LondonMarch 1666
EL/OB/139Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset29 November 1676
EL/OB/2Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Saumur8 September 1657
EL/OB/72Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 December 1667
EL/OB/62Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London12 September 1667
EL/OB/35Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London18 September 1665
EL/OB/68Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 October 1665
EL/OB/1Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Oxford15 April 1657
EL/OB/9Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London2 July 1663
EL/OB/60Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London15 November 1666
EL/OB/25Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London19 November 1664
EL/OB/29Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 December 1664
EL/OB/37Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London5 October 1665
EL/OB/110Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset11 January 1663
EL/B1/89Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg27 August 1665
EL/B1/55Copy of a letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle12 October 1670
EL/OB/109Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset14 December 1663
EC/1851/15Thomson, William, Baron Kelvin of Largs: certificate of election to the Royal Society05/06/1851
EL/OB/22Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London5 November 1664
EL/OB/33Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 August 1665
EL/OB/28Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London3 December 1664
EL/B1/81Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg29 October 1663
EL/OB/64Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 September 1667
EL/OB/32Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 August 1665
EL/OB/69Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London12 November 1667
EL/OB/79Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London4 February 1668
EL/OB/39Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 October 1665
EL/O1/4Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg , dated at London29 October 1663
EL/OB/80Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London11 February 1667
EL/OB/92Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London27 July 1668
EL/OB/142Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle2 March 1680
CLP/4i/48Paper, 'Account of great haile fallen in France' by Robert Boyle1686
EL/OB/136Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle27 November 1671
EL/OB/20Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London27 October 1664
EL/OB/50Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 March 1666
EL/OB/17Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London13 October 1664
EL/OB/59Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London23 October 1666
EL/OB/49Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London13 March 1666
EL/OB/23Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 November 1664
EL/OB/18Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London20 October 1664
EL/OB/55Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London18 September 1666
EL/OB/56Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London25 September 1666
EL/OB/7Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 June 1663
EL/OB/82Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London25 February 1668
RBO/2i/77'Observations made 27th October 1663 about Mr Clayton's Diamond' by Robert Boyle1663
CLP/13/2/1Manuscript, 'Descriptio monstri nati apud Fisherton October 26 1664' by Mr Hand [William Hann] and Roger Baskett7 November 1664
CLP/4i/21Paper, 'A new experiment on the effect of the varying weight of the atmosphere on some bodies in the water' by Robert Boyle1671
CLP/22i/38Paper, Account of 'Medicina hydrostatica or hydrostaticks applied to the materia medica shewing how by the weight that divers dodies used in physick have in water, one may discover whether they be genuine or adulterate' by Robert Boyle4 February 1690
CLP/15i/27/1Manuscript, 'A conjecture concerning bladders of air that are found in fishes' by A I May 1675
CLP/4i/48/1Manuscript, 'Account of great haile fallen in France' by Robert Boyle1686
CLP/6/51Paper, 'An account of R Boyle's way of examining waters as to freshnes and saltnes' by Robert Boyle30 October 1683
EL/OB/104Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset2 November 1663
EL/OB/141Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset16 February 1680
EL/OB/83Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle3 March 1667
EL/B1/92Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg30 September 1665
EL/OB/81Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London18 February 1668
EL/OB/41Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London21 November 1665
EL/OB/84Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 March 1668
EL/OB/73Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 December 1667
EL/OB/89Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London30 March 1668
EL/OB/40Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London31 October 1665
EL/OB/12Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 September 1664
EL/OB/70Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London25 November 1667
EL/OB/13Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London22 September 1664
EL/C1/105Letter, from Israel Conradt to Robert Boyle1672
EL/OB/130Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset24 January 1666
EL/OB/44Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London30 December 1665
EL/OB/47Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 February 1666
CLP/15i/26Paper, 'Some observations about shining flesh' by Robert Boyle15 March 1672
CLP/11i/21Paper, 'A paper of the honourable Robt [Robert] Boyle deposited with the secretarys [sic] of the Royal Society and opened since his death being an account of his way of making the phosphorus etc.' by Robert Boyle30 September 1680
CLP/17/9Paper, 'Observations and tryalls about the resemblances and differences between a burning coale and shineing wood' by Robert Boyle[1667-1668]
RBO/1/22'An Experimentall Account of the Compression of Aire Made by Mr Boyle'2 October 1661
RBO/2i/72'To prevent the Rott in Sheep' by Robert Boyle14 October 1663
RBO/2ii/64'Observations made by Mr Boyle on 27 of October 1663 about Mr Claytons Diamond'1663
EL/B1/82Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry OldenburgNovember 1664
EL/B1/85Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg8 July 1665
EL/B1/86Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg23 July 1665
EL/B1/87Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg6 August 1665
EL/OB/106Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset9 November 1663
EL/OB/137Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset26 October 1672
EL/OB/120Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset31 March 1666
EL/OB/57Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London2 October 1666
EL/OB/76Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London7 January 1667
EL/OB/66Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London8 October 1667
EL/OB/78Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London28 January 1667
EL/OB/11Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London1 September 1664
EL/OB/14Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London29 September 1664
EL/OB/15Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London6 October 1664
EL/OB/21Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London3 November 1664
EL/OB/71Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London3 December 1667
EL/OB/74Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 December 1667
CLP/18i/24Paper, regarding burning in vacuo and preserving fruit by Denis PapinJune 1686
RBO/1/1'Questions Propounded and agreed uppon to be sent to Tenariff' devised by Lord Brouncker and Mr Boyle 2 January 1661
RBO/3/46'Tryals proposed by Robert Boyle Esq to Dr Lower to be made by him for the Improvement of the Experiment of Transfusing Bloud out of one live Animal into another'1666
EL/S1/103Letter, from unknown to Robert Boyle, dated at Danzig (Gdansk)18 August 1668
EL/OB/111Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle18 January 1663
EL/OB/121Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle18 April 1666
EL/OB/108Letter, from John Beale to Robert BoyleDecember 1663
EL/OB/114Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle27 May 1665
RB/2/26The Arethology or Ethicall Elements1645
EL/OB/95Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Crayfort in Kent19 September 1676
EL/OB/103Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset2 October 1663
EL/OB/98Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle23 February 1662
RB/2/26/2Early version of Book 1, chapters 1-3 and Book 2, chapters 1-2 of 'The Aretology or Ethicall Elements'1645
RB/2/30/34MS version of part of `Insalubrity and Salubrity of Air' ('Languid Motion').c 1680
EL/OB/134Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle2 September 1671
EL/OB/99Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle25 February 1663
EL/OB/115Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle, dated at Yeovil, Somerset7 September 1665
EL/OB/112Letter, from John Beale to Robert Boyle21 January 1663
EL/OB/4Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Saumur29 March 1658
EL/OB/16Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boylend
EL/OB/88Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boylend
EL/OB/6Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Paris20 March 1660
EL/OB/51Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle24 March 1666
EL/B1/80Paper, 'Imperfect paper of Mr Boyle' by Robert Boylend
MS/41A commonplace book of medical or pharmaceutical recipes17th century
MS/40A commonplace book of theology
MS/44Commonplace book mainly of arithmetic17th Century
EL/OB/48Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle6 March 1666
EL/OB/90Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London7 April 1668
RB/2/26/3Complete text of 'The Aretology or Ethicall Elements'1645
MS/23A catalogue of books in the library of Robert Boyle and some theological notes17th century
EL/B1/93Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg14 October 1665
EL/B1/98Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg11 November 1665
EL/B1/100Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg, dated at Stanton9 December 1665
RB/2/30/5Unpublished account of several experiments with a baroscope and syphonc 1680
IM/007277Boyle, Robert1833
EL/OB/3Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boylend
EL/OB/19Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London22 October 1664
P/0010Portrait of Robert Boyle1689
EL/OB/53Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London8 June 1666
EL/OB/67Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London15 October 1667
EL/OB/43Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London19 December 1665
EL/OB/8Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London22 June 1663
EL/OB/87Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 March 1667
EL/OB/34Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London29 August 1665
EL/OB/46Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London27 January 1666
EL/OB/36Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London28 September 1665
EL/OB/63Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 September 1667
EL/OB/65Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London1 October 1667
EL/OB/58Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London16 October 1666
EL/OB/5Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at Paris17 May 1659
EL/OB/31Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London4 July 1665
EL/OB/45Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London16 January 1666
EL/OB/77Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London14 January 1667
EL/OB/10Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London25 August 1664
EL/OB/24Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London17 November 1664
EL/OB/26Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London24 November 1664
EL/OB/38Letter, from Henry Oldenburg to Robert Boyle, dated at London10 October 1665
RB/2/31Catalogue of Robert Boyle's Mineralsc 1692
EL/B1/95Letter, from Robert Boyle to Henry Oldenburg, dated at Oxford22 October 1665
RB/2/30/2Passage concerning efficacy of receiptsc 1680
RB/2/26/1Title-page of 'The Aretology or Ethicall Elements'1645
RB/2/30/3Material relating to 'Hydrostatical Paradoxes'c 1680
RB/2/30/1Discarded version of preface to 'Salubrity of Air' ('Languid Motion')c 1680
RB/2/30/4Material relating to 'Hydrostatical Paradoxes'c 1680
RB/2/30/8Notes on precipitations, mineral preparations, etcc 1680
RB/2/30/6MS version of part of 'Final Causes'c 1680
RB/2/30/9Unpublished account of ways audibly to manifest force of the air's springc 1680
RB/2/30/11Fragment of 'Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals'c 1680
RB/2/30/12MS version of part of 'Human Blood'c 1680
RB/2/30/15MS version of part of 'Porosity'c 1680
RB/2/30/17'The summary of my opinion about the receiv'd method and practise of Phisick'c 1680
RB/2/30/20Section of text from Boyle's 'Considerations & Doubts Touching the Vulgar Method of Physick'c 1680
RB/2/30Commonplace Book of Robert Boyle 1c 1680
RBThe Robert Boyle Collection17th century
RB/2/31/1Alphabetical list of minerals in Robert Boyle's collectionc 1692
IM/000503Quartet engravingc.1740
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    Botanical paintings by Jacob van Huysum and William Sartorius
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