Letter 0477

Molyneux begins his letter by referring to the enclosed, a thank-you gift for Sloane from Molyneux’s brother. He inquires as to whether a tract of his brother’s on an Irish insect, passed through Mr Locke, ever made it into Sloane’s hands. Molyneux reminds Sloane about his desire to have a copy of Newton’s ‘Phil. Nat. Prin. Math.’, which he hopes Sloane can provide for him. Molyneux was a philosopher and constitutional writer who became deeply involved in Irish affairs (James G. O’Hara, Molyneux, William (16561698), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18929, accessed 4 July 2011]).