Item 72: Letter from John Stuart Mill to “Madam,”, 1866 January 15
Item — Box: 2, Folder: 72
Dates
- Created: 1866 January 15
Creator
- Mill, John Stuart, 1806-1873 (Person)
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Letter
Condition Note:
Fair; two horizontal folds; tear in bottom corner; yellowing; slight staining
Measurements:
6 ⅝ in. x 4 ⅜ in.
Description:
The following is a personal letter from John Stuart Mill to “Madam,” written in Avignon [France] on January 15th, 1866. John Stuart Mill was a famous philosopher, economist, and politician who was a Member of Parliament for the City of Westminster, helped develop the Scientific Method, and wrote A System of Logic. He advocated for freedom of speech and women’s suffrage, as well as abolitionism and colonialism. In this letter, Mill states that the letter the “Madam” had written to him 9 days prior was forwarded to where he was staying in Avignon. The “Madam” had recommended that he read the writings of [Johannes] Von Gumpach, an exiled astronomist/mathematician who claimed that Sir Isaac Newton’s idea that the earth was an oblate spheroid, rather than a perfect sphere, was the cause of all disasters at sea. Mill responds by stating that he was familiar with Von Gumpach but that he would not have the time to properly examine his “speculations.” There exists a collection of other letters from John Stuart Mill.
Location:
Avignon, France
Transcription:
[Front]
Avignon
Jan. 15. 1866
Madam
Your letter dated Jan. 6 has been forwarded to me here. I am much acquainted with Mr. Von Gumpach’s writings, but it would be entirely wasting the copies you offer, were you to send them to me, as I could not possibly find time to read
[Back]
them in any way which could be satisfactory to the writer or to yourself. Though I take great interest in astronomy, it is not one of my special pursuits, and it would be impossible for me to put aside other important occupations for the purpose of examining Mr. Von Gumpach’s speculations.
I am Madam
Yours very faithfully
J. S. Mill [Signature]
John Stuart Mill [in pencil; possible archivist’s notes]
Creator
- Mill, John Stuart, 1806-1873 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu