Samuel Hartlib and the Hartlib Circle

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stuff You Missed in History Class

Episode: Samuel Hartlib and the Hartlib Circle

Release Date: May 27, 2026
Hosts: Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson

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Overview

This episode explores the life, work, and enduring impact of Samuel Hartlib—a central but often overlooked figure in 17th-century intellectual history. The hosts, Holly and Tracy, delve into Hartlib’s role as a communicator, connector, and advocate for educational and religious reform, as well as his vast network (later dubbed the "Hartlib Circle"). They track Hartlib’s biographical mysteries, pivotal relationships (especially with John Durie and John Amos Comenius), ambitious projects, and his influence on the scientific and philosophical landscape of his era. The episode also highlights the rediscovery and digitization of the extensive "Hartlib Papers", which have provided modern historians with new perspectives on his influence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Samuel Hartlib? (02:31–04:46)

• Background: Born ~1600 in Elbing, Prussia (now Elbląg, Poland), to a German father and English mother. Many aspects of his early life, education, and even the spelling/pronunciation of his name remain unclear.
  • "His name is from the German side of his family... but because he did most of his work in Britain... most scholars... pronounce it Hartlib." — Holly Fry (02:48)
• Legacy: Although not a household name, he influenced and connected many more well-known figures in 17th-century Britain and Europe.

2. Hartlib’s Early Life and Education (04:46–07:07)

• Documentation Gaps: Very little is known about his early years; records are missing or inconclusive regarding schools and university attendance.
• Connections: Befriended John Durie (a Scottish Protestant minister) in Elbing in 1628, as their families navigated conflicts of the Thirty Years' War. Both later settled in England.

3. Personal Life (07:59–08:29)

• Married Mary Burningham (or Birmingham) in 1629; had at least six children. Most details about his family are known through mentions by Samuel Pepys.

4. Central Ideals: Church Reform, Education, and Universal Access (08:29–12:25)

• Religious Reform: Both Hartlib and Durie dreamed of unifying Protestant factions to benefit English society.
• Verbose Writing: Hartlib’s dense prose made his ideas difficult to access. Holly reads from his 1647 pamphlet Considerations Tending to the Happy Accomplishment to illustrate his style.
  • "Basically, if we're all happy, the whole country will be happy. But he has to put a lot of extra words in there." — Holly Fry (10:13)
• Education for All: Hartlib believed education was essential for everyone, attempting to found a school in Chichester in 1630 (which quickly failed).

5. Influences and Collaborations (11:04–12:25, 15:45–17:22)

• Comenius (John Amos Kaminius): Czech educator whose ideas of universal education deeply shaped Hartlib. Comenius argued for universal literacy (especially in Latin) as a way to foster mutual understanding and peace.
• Hartlib invited Comenius to England in 1641, strengthening the network of reformers.

6. The Hartlib “Pact” with Durie and Comenius (18:41–21:48)

• 1642 Pact: The three signed a 10-point agreement to promote religious unity and education. Holly describes its "cute vibe" of mutual loyalty and collaboration.
  • "We shall have before us the sole aim of manifesting God's glory and of promoting public support for our fellow men." — Tracy V. Wilson reading from the pact (19:30)
• Occurred just as England approached civil war; all three supported Parliament.

7. Ambitious Projects: Universal Access to Knowledge (22:54–28:33)

• Original Works: Hartlib published on various topics, especially agriculture, such as the 1651 pamphlet Propositions for the Erecting a College of Husbandry.
• The Office of Address: Hartlib envisioned a central clearinghouse for information—sort of a proto-library/information exchange, which he petitioned Parliament to support.
  • "An Office of Address... will be settled for the advancement of universal learning and all manner of arts and ingenuities..." — Holly Fry (24:34)
• Parliament gave him a (rarely-paid) pension instead. The Office never became a reality, frustrating Hartlib.

8. The Hartlib Papers and Ephemerides (31:47–33:37, 39:08–41:41)

• Ephemerides: For over two decades, Hartlib collected brief records of scientific, social, and cultural developments—a diary of ideas rather than daily life.
• The Hartlib Papers: After Hartlib's death, his vast correspondence was nearly lost, only to be rediscovered and published in the 20th century.
  • "It is through these papers that modern historians have really learned and understood the true extent of Hartlib's influence and impact." — Holly Fry (41:14)

9. Relationship to the Royal Society (33:58–37:15)

• Although many original Fellows of the Royal Society (founded 1660) were in Hartlib’s network, neither he nor Durie were invited.
  • "Hartlib seems to have gone little further with these men than to act as a receiver, seeker and disseminator of information..." — Tracy V. Wilson quoting Turnbull (36:03)
• Hartlib desired a wider, more democratized distribution of knowledge than the Royal Society envisioned.

10. Later Life and Decline (37:15–39:08)

• Hartlib suffered financial hardship, poor health, and family tragedies after the Restoration, dying in 1662.
• His contributions echoed on due to the rediscovery of his extensive papers.

11. Rediscovering Hartlib and Modern Legacy (39:08–41:41)

• Rediscovery of his papers in the 20th century led to revived scholarly interest. Major biographies and digitization projects (like at University of Sheffield) have made his work freely available.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Hartlib’s writing style:
  "He was deeply verbose... Even more stilted than that." — Holly Fry (08:58)

• On the pact between Hartlib, Durie & Comenius:
  "We promise that no one of us will conceal from the other any of his thoughts, even his innermost thoughts, which have to do with this proposed goal." — Holly Fry (20:28)

• On the intent of the Office of Address:
  "An orderly and effectual correspondence and agency will be settled for the advancement of universal learning and all manner of arts and ingenuities..." — Holly Fry (24:34)

• On the rediscovery of the Hartlib Papers:
  "Were it not for a somewhat wild series of events, Hartlib may have faded almost entirely from history..." — Holly Fry (39:08)

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Segment & Quote Timestamps

• Introduction & Hartlib’s background: 02:31–04:46
• Early life & mystery of origins: 04:46–07:07
• Education, marriage, and move to England: 07:07–08:29
• Ideals on religion & education: 08:29–12:25
  • Key quote on verbose writing: 08:58–10:30
• Comenius and the drive for universal education: 11:04–12:25, 15:45–17:22
  • Epic book title: 15:45
• Pact with Durie and Comenius (quotes from pact): 18:41–21:48
  • Summary reading of each article: 19:30–21:33
• Hartlib’s agricultural and informational projects: 22:54–28:33
  • The Office of Address: 24:34–26:42
• Hartlib’s Ephemerides & information network: 31:47–33:37
• Relationship to the Royal Society: 33:58–37:15
  • Quoting Turnbull: 36:03
• Later life and death: 37:15–39:08
• The rediscovery of the Hartlib Papers: 39:08–41:41

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Tone and Style

• Warm, witty, and conversational—balanced between scholarly detail and lighthearted observation.
• Willingness to poke fun at Hartlib’s verbosity and express genuine affection for the personalities discussed.
• Frequent asides for clarification, context, and encouragement for listeners to dig deeper with newly available resources.

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Conclusion

Holly and Tracy present Samuel Hartlib as a visionary whose dreams of democratized knowledge, educational reform, and religious unity were ahead of his era—even if not fully realized in his lifetime. Thanks to the preservation of his networks and writings, Hartlib’s influence, as a "connector" and advocate for learning, continues to resonate for scholars and the history-curious alike.
For in-depth reading, they highlight Charles Webster’s recent, freely available biography.

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Resources & Further Reading:

• Charles Webster’s biography of Hartlib (available for free, see show notes at mistinhistory.com)

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For more fascinating dives into historical figures and movements, subscribe to Stuff You Missed in History Class on your platform of choice.

Transcript

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[Holly Fry]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Holly Fry]

So the Heartlib Circle came up in research recently. And I put it right on my list because it is this very unique nexus of scientific and philosophical thought in the 17th century. Right out of the gate, we gotta make a note on name pronunciation because

[Tracy V. Wilson]

we're having a lot of these lately.

[Holly Fry]

I know this person, Samuel Hartlib, who we'll talk about some more a whole lot today, originally was born in Prussia. His name is from the German side of his family, his father's side of the family, which would lead one to say Hartlieb. And it's spelled a million different ways if you look at various historical documents. But because he did most of his work in Britain and most of the writing about him has been in Britain, most scholars about him pronounce it Hartlib. And so we're just gonna roll with that, recognizing that he too. I don't know where he landed, if he had a preference or not. I suspect probably his contemporaries also pronounced it that way once he was living in London. The name Samuel Hartlib probably does not exactly spring to mind when people are thinking about influential figures of the 17th century. But he was very connected to a lot of the names you would think of. And he served as this sort of conduit of information to many of them and made connections among them as he sought to promote his own ideas regarding theology and education, which he saw as being very closely tied to government and successful government, as well as this really overarching goal in his life to provide ready access to information to anyone and everyone about things like the latest scientific developments. You'll see references to the Hartlib circle in a lot of writing about these people. Hartlib never called his network of people that he corresponded with anything. That name. Hartlib Circle, wasn't coined until the 20th century, and that happened then because there was a surge of scholarship about his work in the 1920s and thereafter, after a fortuitous turn of events brought his life's work back to light.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Samuel Hartlib was born around 1600, probably in Elbing, Prussia, to a German father and an English mother. So Elbing is part of modern day Poland, and in Polish it's pronounced very differently from that. More like Elblung. He's one of the many cases we've had on the show recently where this early life is not well documented. In a biography written by G. H. Turnbull in 1920, the biographer notes that there's no record of Hartlib in the birth records from Elbing at the time. And there are also not any records in the baptismal records from the churches of the city. He doesn't appear in any of the school records of Elbing from the time when he would have been a child. So there are just a lot of question marks about his early life and education. There are mentions of a George Hartlib, who is believed to have been Samuel's brother. Even Samuel's higher education comes with a lot of debate. He has long been cited as attending the University of Konigsberg starting in 1614, but there are once again no solid records to really back that up. A more recent biography by Charles Webster, which came out in 2025, says that there's actually more substantiation that Samuel was in Silesia and enrolled at the Academy at Briggs starting in 1615. When did he leave there? Another unanswered question.

[Holly Fry]

We do know that Hartlib went to the University of Cambridge, but that too has inconsistencies regarding the timing. 1628 is frequently given as the first year that we can conclusively say he was living in England. But in the latter 20th century, additional correspondence has come to light that indicates that he was definitely there before that, in the mid-1620s. And even in saying he went to Cambridge, we really have to clarify because he does not appear to have actually enrolled in the university, but did study informally with some members of its faculty. And even after that he returned to Elbing after his time at Cambridge. So that whole like right up to the late 1620s. So much guesswork going on regarding his

[Tracy V. Wilson]

background, it's very foggy indeed. He became friends with John Durie in 1628. Durie was born in 1596 in Edworth, Scotland, so he was around the same age as Hartlib. Durie was a Protestant minister and was in Elbing in 1628, and the two men met there soon after that. This a series of interlocking conflicts known as the Thirty Years War, which spanned from 1618 to 1648, made Elbing an increasingly more dangerous place to be. Sweden was using this port city as a base and a staging ground in the struggle for the control of the Baltic Sea. So Hartlib went to England, and this time he stayed there. Durie did as well for a time, and the two of them continued to be close friends.

[Holly Fry]

On January 20, 1629, Samuel married a woman named Mary Burningham. Some accounts show her last name with an M, like Birmingham. Unclear to me which of those is accurate. We also just don't know a whole lot about Mary. Although the two of them were married for years and they had at least six children together, most of what we know about their kids is because later in their lives they lived near Samuel Pepys and he wrote about them.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Hartlib was an active promoter of the need for reform within schools and Protestant churches. John Durie was his friend, but also one of his influences and ultimately a collaborator on many reformist texts. Durie sought to reform the church by uniting the fractured Protestant factions. Hartlib agreed with this idea, and he put forth the idea that if the church could be united in England, then the whole country would benefit.

[Holly Fry]

And this is also where a little bit of a confession has to come in for me. I wanted so much to include lots of Hartlib's writings in this episode, but let me tell you, that is a slog. He was deeply verbose, and in addition to the somewhat stilted writing of the day that he. You might see in any text, he was even more stilted than that. As an example, here is a portion of a pamphlet that he wrote in 1647, titled Considerations Tending to the Happy Accomplishment. So the point of this work is to make the case that if England can reform its religion, everyone will benefit. As Tracy just mentioned, this is the most easily accessible passage in terms of messaging that I could find. Quote, and least any might make a doubt of this last position. Let us a little enlarge ourselves thereon to make it more apparent from the undoubted maxims and reasons of a true reformed Christian state, such as we are now called to be. If we take notice of our condition first, then we conceive that the glory and happiness of a state go hand in hand together, so that everything which may add unto the true glory is also fit to increase the happiness. A vice versa, on the other side, whatsoever doth add unto the true happiness is also fit to increase the glory of a state. Basically, if we're all happy, the whole country will be happy. But he has to put a lot of extra words in there.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Samuel Hartlib also believed that education was vital for everyone. And one of the efforts he made early on during his time in England was the establishment of a school.

[George Taveras]

School.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This attempt was in Chichester in 1630. Although that school did not draw enough students to stay open, Hartlib closed it almost immediately after founding it. It lasted for less than a year. Not long after that, he started a correspondence with John Amos Kaminius, who became another huge influence for a little background.

[Holly Fry]

John Amos Kaminius was born in Moravia, in an area that is now part of the Czech Republic. You'll often see him described as being Czech. If you look him up, he was a minister and an educator and he developed an ideology that he thought could lead to a deeper connection among the warring countries and cultures of Europe, and that was universal education. Comenius thought that if everyone was truly educated, they would understand and accept their fellow humans better and would be less likely to start conflicts with one another. One of the cornerstones of this idea was that everyone should learn to read Latin. He thought that this would improve access to a wide range of historical information and open up the wealth of Western knowledge to all.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

To Hartlib and a lot of his colleagues, these ideas of educational access and a united religion were two sides of the same coin. This was at the heart of Hartlib's thinking. He believed that God granted every person a talent and that if they shared that talent with others, everyone would learn from one another. They would all know more, they would understand each other better, and people would recognize a divine hand in play. For all of that to happen, teaching everyone to read would also ensure that they could study the Scriptures and become better Christians.

[Holly Fry]

Coming up, we will talk more about the influence of Comenius on Hartlib. And we will get to that after a sponsor break.

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[Holly Fry]

The writings of Comenius were very important to Hartlib in his ideology K 1632 writing the gate of Tongues Unlocked was one of many that really captured Hartlib's attention and formed the foundation of his thinking regarding education. He started translating the writing of Comenius for the English audience, and this offers another opportunity to share his proclivity for using just lots and lots of words. The title for this translation of Comenius, one of his many writings, was A Reformation of Schools Designed in two Excellent treatises. The first whereof summarily showeth the great necessity of a general reformation of common learning. What grounds of hope there are for such a reformation, how it may be brought to pass. Written many years ago in Latin by the Reverend Godly, learned and famous divine Mr. John Amos Comenius, one of the seniors of the exiled church of Moravia, and now upon the request of many, translated into English and published by Samuel Hartlib for the general good of this nation. So brevity was not his strong suit. We love a long title on this one, but I was reading many of his titles, I was like, oh, oh, my friend, goodness. But that relationship that he developed with Comenius really established Hartlib as a connecting point of European intellectuals. Comenius actually visited England in 1641 on the invitation of Hartlib, and he stayed there for several months, meeting with many of London's preeminent thinkers and scientists.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Hartlib was associated with so many other famous names of the 17th century in the Western world. I don't think Holly mentioned in the outline, but he came up in our John Evelyn episode like somebody had given him a paper and he gave that to John Evelyn. As another example, John Milton's pamphlet of education was dedicated to Hartlib, and that's because the reformer had convinced Milton to write it. The entire thing is addressed to Hartlib. It opens with quote, Mr. Hartlib, I am long since persuaded that to say or do ought worth memory and imitation. No purpose or respect should sooner move us than simply the love of God and of mankind. Nevertheless, to right now, the reforming of education, though it be one of the greatest and noblest designs that can be thought on. And for the want whereof this nation perishes, I had not yet at this time been induced but by your earnest entreaties and serious conjurements. Milton goes on to share there at the beginning of the book that Hartlib is somebody he deeply respects and at the same time could be said of, quote, men of most approved wisdom and some of highest authority among us.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, basically just saying, like all of us smart guys think Hartlib is great. But despite the numerous people that Hartlib was connected to and the network of correspondence he developed, it was the friendships Hartlib had with John Durie and Comenius that were the most important to him. On March 13, 1642, the three men signed a pact, written in Latin, that outlined their shared goals for promoting reform in education and. And religious unity. And the document is really fascinating because in addition to those goals, it also has this very cute vibe, in my opinion, of we will be BFFs forever. And this is our secret. Um. We are going to read only the most abbreviated versions of the points of the pact, and they are as follows.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Number one. That we shall have before us the sole aim of manifesting God's glory and of promoting public support for our fellow men.

[Holly Fry]

2. So that with God in his goodness we may pursue this end, we set ourselves the task of recalling to a better and fuller accord in their profession of religion those who have already been called to acknowledge Christ.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

3. To the end that we may have God's favor toward us in this our purpose, we shall strive in daily prayers before him in turn, both for ourselves and for all those others, wheresoever they may be, who, whether we are aware of them or not, are now stirred by God to like endeavors, or will be stirred hereafter.

[Holly Fry]

For we meanwhile promise one another that in these matters we shall do nothing except it be by mutual design and consent.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

5. We promise that no one of us will conceal from the other any of his thoughts, even his innermost thoughts, which have to do with this proposed goal.

[Holly Fry]

6. That no one of us will take an inflexible stand against the purposes agreed among the others, but will rather yield to them, even if he may not perhaps be able to perceive fully the strength and weight of the reasons that are put forward.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

7. We promise that we will preserve complete faithfulness in our dealings with one another.

[Holly Fry]

8. We also take it upon ourselves to freely admonish one another, but as between close friends, for any errors that may be committed out of human ignorance.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

9. It has seemed proper, and we faithfully so promise not to divulge to others these conditions of our pact entered into in the sight of God, chiefly for our consciences sake, unless by common consent, and then to those alone of whose suitability for future association in our treaty we are assured.

[Holly Fry]

10. Finally, if anything further is discerned by common accord as likely to benefit this our religious fellowship in God, it must be subscribed to these conditions of this our pact, and will be equal to them in force.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So they struck this pact just as the conflict between parliamentarians and the Crown in England was reaching a boiling point. We've talked about the English Civil War and its causes in a bunch of other episodes. So we won't go into depth here, but the shorthand is that Charles the First, with no checks within the government that could stop him, enacted a number of policies that were damaging for a lot of his subjects that made him really disliked. That included dissolving the Parliament. He reinstated it when he needed help in the form of financial backing for his war with the Scots, Parliament began to use its reinstated power immediately, including prosecuting members of the King's circle. Five months and two weeks after Hartlib, Durie and Kaminius signed their pact, the English Civil War began. Hartlib and his friends were parliamentarians. He and Durie stayed in the country, but Cominius left. Still, the pact remained very important to the three men, and sometimes it is cited as a guiding force in Hartlib's life.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, Also, just for clarity, Durie didn't stay in England all the time. He is sometimes described as being sort of itinerant. He moved around Europe a lot. So just in case you're like, did he live there the whole time? No. But in addition to his translation work and his prodigious correspondence was seemingly everyone, Hartlib also wrote original works. Many of these works were influenced by other reformers and thinkers of the day. For example, Francis Bacon is often cited when scholars mention Hartlib's 17 page pamphlet, an Essay for Advancement of Husbandry Learning or Propositions for the Erecting a College of Husbandry and in Order Thereunto for the taking in of pupils or apprentices and also friends or fellows of the same college or society. He published that in 1651. In it, he laid out the need for agricultural education that offered a continuous stream of the latest information and advancements in the field so that farmers could produce the best possible livestock and crops.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Throughout all of this work, Hartlib was connecting people to people and more importantly, people to information. He was supported throughout his time in England by personal patronage with people and families paying him with some degree of regulation so he could continue in his work. But he wanted to establish something more official, a means to disseminate information that would not just be him working alone, but would have a dedicated staff sending out published materials and recording new information. This was what he called the Office of address.

[Holly Fry]

In 1648, Hartlib published a pamphlet that was written either by him or by John Durie. That comes up a lot when you look at the Hartlib papers, where it's like either Durie or Hartlib, because they worked on things together sometimes and their writing style developed in a very similar way. But that paper was titled A Further Discovery of the Office of Public Address for Accommodations. And this read in part, quote, whereby the good of the kingdom and the benefit of all inhabitants thereof may be greatly advanced, There is one very easy to be set afoot, which is called an Office of Address, whereby an orderly and effectual correspondence and agency will be settled for the advancement of universal learning and all manner of arts and ingenuities whereby ready helps will be offered to supply the wants of everyone without prejudice unto any whereby all manner of commerce will be mainly facilitated, and whereby everyone will be easily accommodated with such things as may be lawfully used and are usefully communicable unto everyone from each other in a well ordered society or commonwealth, as it is more fully specified and explained in the printed discourses that describe the Foresight Office. Listen. This is one tiny part of a very, very verbose paper. Continuing. It is therefore most humbly desired that the Parliament would be pleased to resolve upon these following particulars as the matter of ordinance to be passed by both houses. 1. That Samuel Hartlib, Esq. Be appointed Superintendent General of an Offices of Address. Number one. Indicates that there were additional points and There were points two through four. Asked that Hartlib be paid 200 pounds annually for this work, that he could charge users a small fee to pay the wages of the clerks and registers, and that, quote, a convenient great house be set aside for Hartlib to establish this office. The rest of the document goes over the particulars of how the office would be run and emphasizes the great benefit this would be to all.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

While the Office of Address was never formally established, Hartlib was granted an annual pension of £300. That number is sometimes reported as 200 or even 100 pounds, depending on the source. But as biographer George Turnbull explained in the 1920s, that payment was not really the portent of success that it seemed to be. He wrote, quote. Ultimately, Parliament officially recognized him and made arrangements for financial support, thereby raising Hartlib's hopes of the near approach of the millennium to the highest pitch. But they only flattered to deceive. The political atmosphere was too troubled to allow of the prosecution of such magnanimous designs, and as has already been indicated, the financial support promised was irregularly paid and finally ceased altogether. So this annual payment was more like lip service to placate Hartlib. They didn't even keep up with it. This must have become immensely frustrating for Samuel Hartlib, as he believed the Office of Address would be the culmination of all of his life's work. It would enable him to fully manifest his goal of education for all. He'd already been doing this sort of work at his own personal expense, and he knew that people found it valuable, but it was simply not perceived as valuable enough for Parliament to put money and resources behind it.

[Holly Fry]

Just the same, with the money he was awarded when it was paid out, Hartlib did continue to expand his personal efforts at sending materials and correspondence throughout his wide network of associates. He continued to publish pamphlets offering information on a variety of topics, although agricultural subjects were particularly frequent.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

We will talk about some of Hartlib's other writing and the nature of his connection to the Royal Society after we hear from some of the sponsors that keep the show going.

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[Holly Fry]

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[Jana Kramer]

Wind down with Jana Kramer. Hey, quick question for the parents listening right now. When's the last time your kid asked for something and you actually felt good saying yes, because lately a lot of families have been hearing the same thing. Can I have Lingokids please? And here's the thing. Lingokids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids with more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows. Astronauts, wild animals, superheroes, dinosaurs. It's literally everything kids love all in one place. So when they ask for it, you can actually feel good saying yes. Download Lingokids for free and start exploring today. Or unlock even more amazing content with LingoKids Plus. And if you go with the yearly plan, you can save up to 60%. Search LingoKids in the App Store or Google Play Lingokids Everything kids love.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is a Michelin message.

[Holly Fry]

And generally in Michelin messages you hear some and some. But not this time. This time you will just hear this, because at Michelin we innovate on the road and beyond by creating a prosthetic strap designed to improve the mobility of people with prosthetics.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Just a few more steps and John

[Holly Fry]

will reach the summit of Mount Rainier. One of the projects that Samuel Hartlib worked on for decades was something he called Ephemerides. This was an ongoing record, snippets really, of information about interesting developments in the realms of science and culture and things of note that were related to advancements in human knowledge. It was sort of like Pepys diary, but it didn't include any of Hartlib's own day to day doings unless it was specifically about acquiring some of this information. He started writing ephemerides in 1635 and it continued until 1659. For example, an entry from 1635 reads, Borthwait knows a countryman of his who's about to make a collection out of English divinity books. NB it will confer with Darius about it as also about his own work, which is a catechism of conscience. A 1650 note states, quote 28 February Mr. Worsley sent me the receipt to be given to Mr. Osmasingh concerning the spirit of Tartar, which he got from Mr. Morian as a special present, who seriously affirmed unto him that it cost 500 guilders. Spirit of Tartar was a reference to a distillate that was used in alchemical experiments. Probably why it was so pricey. One of These entries from 1655 reads, A woman in England burning a smock. One of her women neighbors came bouncing at the door and entreated with all entreaties that she might come in, which if she had obtained, she would have killed but not prevailing, she went home and was found dead. This is a true story related by Dr. Mayerne to the King. These are the kind of entries in the ephemerides

[Tracy V. Wilson]

in more tame fare. In 1654 Hartlib published True and Ready Way to Learn the Latin Tongue, which was of course part of his effort to make more religious texts readable to a wider range of people. He published several dozen pamphlets and various short books throughout his life.

[Holly Fry]

In 1660, the Restoration reshaped England's government as Charles II became king and the monarchy was re established. As many of the decisions of the Long Parliament were rolled back, Hartlib officially lost his annual pension. That was also the same year that the Royal Society was founded. But Hartlib was not invited to be a member. Neither was John durie. There were eight fellows elected in the original 1660 group and there was some crossover among them with Hartlib's unofficial circle. You may have heard, if you've done any reading about the early years of the Royal Society of the Invisible College. And that was another similar group to the Hartlib circle, which included men who shared information with one another through correspondence and in person meetings. George Turnbull and other scholars have written about this and just how much connection there was between Hartlib and the founding fellows of the Royal Society. Many of those men are certainly mentioned in his correspondence. Irish chemist Robert Boyle, who came up recently in Our Modern Inventions that Aren't Episode and who is on my short list, wrote to Hartlib on more than one occasion. And there's evidence of direct connection with others who were founding Fellows and even Mormon who were invited to become Fellows later. There were clearly a number of them in his correspondence network and quite a few of them sent information to him to be cataloged and shared, and in some cases he consulted with them to get their take on various scientific matters. In some cases, Samuel Hartlib also acted as a sort of informational middleman, receiving information from one of these men with instructions to give it only to one specific person. Another one of these men who became a Fellow, he was clearly trusted and was considered knowledgeable about all manner of subjects. So for a lot of people the question arises, why then was Hartlib not included in the Royal Society?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Turnbull lays out some reasons. For one, Hartlib may have been seen as a trusted friend and a conveyor of information, but maybe not as an equal quote. Hartlib seems to have gone little further with these men than to act as a receiver, seeker and disseminator of information, including letters and writings about them and for them and thereby to help them in their work. Turnbull also cites several instances where people mention that Hartlib appears to be very interested in the collection and dissemination of their scientific writing, but not in the writing itself itself. And in one case, there's a letter to Hartlib from German theologian Henry Oldenburg that states that, quote, you care not much for the philosophical discourses of our clubs. So he wasn't directly involved in the activities of the group that eventually became the Royal Society, although he was clearly on friendly terms with its members. It also seems like Hartlib himself was not all that interested in the Royal Society. He saw it as a piece of, of a bigger vision that he had, of a democratized knowledge utopia.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, he wrote about this idea of a utopia many times. And the founding of a society like this seemed like, of course, that's the next step to get to my utopia. Following the loss of his occasional pension from Parliament, Hartley really had a very difficult time financially. He had never really had a lot of money, and what he did have he largely funneled into this universal education project. Even before 1660, though, when that money was cut off, Hartlib was having a variety of health issues, including ulcers and possibly kidney stones. His son in law, a man named Claudius, was his doctor and worked to manage his various ailments. Although it sounds like there really wasn't a lot of relief there. When he did get relief, it was quite temporary. In 1660, he had some sort of attack that left him with temporary limb paralysis, although he did recover. I was reading various descriptions of it and it didn't quite sound like a stroke to me, although it could have been. But that incident scared him a lot and he became constantly fearful that it was gonna happen again and that he would be what he called useless.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

To make things worse, he also had a number of significant life stressors in the early 1660s. His wife Mary died in 1660. In 1661, he had some sort of problem with the business associate that had been storing his books and he lost all the remaining copies of his book catalog. Then there was a fire at his house. He blamed a young member of the house staff for mishandling a stove for starting that fire. While the fire was caught before it could burn the house down, it did cause a lot of damage. Hartlib died on March 12, 1662 in his London home.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, it is possible he had another one of those intense events that caused some paralysis. May or may not have been a stroke, et cetera. Were it not for a somewhat wild series of events, Hartlib may have faded almost entirely from history. His papers, which were extensive and included his years and years of correspondence, were purchased after his death by a man named William Brereton, a member of the Royal Society, who took them to his family's estate. After they were organized, with the help even of some of Hartlib's associates, they were stored there at Brereton hall, and then everybody kind of forgot them. The Brereton estate stayed in the family until 1817, when it was sold to a merchant named John Howard. And then the house changed hands at least one more time, and possibly more than that before. George Turnbull, who we've referenced a couple times, who wrote that 1920 biography we mentioned earlier, was contacted by a lawyer who said that he had a huge stash of Hartlib papers that had been brought to him by the current owner of the property because they had found them, did not want them, but thought they might be useful. Turnbull, who was teaching at the University of Sheffield at that time, and this, by the way, happened after he had published his biography, had become the foremost Hartlib scholar that anybody could think of. So he was the obvious recipient of these papers and he accepted them and he brought them home, where he worked with them until the end of his life in the 1960s. And at that point, Turnbull's wife gave the papers to the University of Sheffield. The school started a digitization project with the collection in the 1990s. And today the entirety of the Hartlib papers is available online for free. And it is through these papers that modern historians have really learned and understood the true extent of of HeartLib's influence and impact. And new analyses of these connections continue to be published today. As we said, that other biography just came out months ago, so. And that biography is also in The Spirit of HeartLib, available for free online. Even though it's a full book, it is in our show notes, so take a look for it. It is the one that is written by Charles Webster. It is going to be one of the last ones in our Show Notes page.

[Jana Kramer]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

And you can go there's literally on the publisher's page, it's like get book for free and you just pop right there and get the whole thing as PDF.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Nice.

[Holly Fry]

Perfect, perfect. So if you want to get the in depth real real on Samuel Hartlib, do it. There you go.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Do you have some listener mail?

[Holly Fry]

I do. And this is how to title an email to make sure I read it. Boysenberry Murder.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah,

[Holly Fry]

this is from our listener. I don't know if it's pronounced Andrea or Andrea either. Who writes I am a high school history teacher so I just wanted to thank you for the continual outlet to learn and grow. I am very behind and just listened to the eponymous Fruits episode. I grew up in Anaheim, California, very near Pearson park that was mentioned as part of Rudy Boysen's development project for the city. The park also has a cactus garden named after him. We also have a Boysen park in Anaheim named after him as well. I currently live in Fullerton that was mentioned as the city Mr. Boysen lived in. My house is over 110 years old which is ancient for the West Coast. When I moved in, there was a strange growth of Boysenberries in my backyard. When you mentioned Boysen had berries growing in a ditch in his yard, I immediately had an overwhelming feeling of guilt. What if my house was Mr. Boysen's house? I felt guilt because I intentionally killed those berries a few years back. They were riding my last nerve and pricked me one too many times. Anyways, I may have murdered a historic plant and I will feel guilty until I'm able to find Mr. Boysen's exact address. To vindicate myself, I plan on doing some research in the city library history room during my summer break. I've had my PhD in stuff youf Missed in History class, but since having twins I have been continually behind. Listen, no shame in that game. I don't have twins and I can't keep up with anything. Nope. Andrea continues. Only my second time emailing in these frustrating times. I have appreciated the allusions to frustrations in politics because I have had to deactivate social media and stop listening to NPR as a form of self preservation. The positive is I am catching up on your podcast much faster. Attached are some pictures of PI from a 314 PI Day celebration. The Moon Pie reminded me of Georges Melies and I just thought you would enjoy the Lichtenstein pie. My pet tax is my dogs, Barack Obama and my Cane Corso Mix, Rosie the Riveter, German shepherd and Loki, my 12 year old black cat. Wishing you positive vibes in these wild times. I can't remember and I did not go back and look at my outline for that one, but I think the original ditch got identified so I think you're probably safe because you would know. And those original you know the Boysen farm that is still producing boysenberries today has plants in some cases that are from or directly related to those original plants. So I'm here to unburden you of your guilt. You're fine. You didn't kill anything historical. The history grows on in many places. Also, man, Loki looks like my kind of cat. And Tracy's all black.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

But the facial expression is the real sell. That is a like. Yeah, for real with the pictures kind of face. Your pups are so sweet. I want to kiss those snoots. And I love pictures of pie. For sure. The moon pie is very beautiful and I love it. These are spectacular. So thank you, thank you, thank you because this is a very fun email to read. Thank you again for being an educator. I feel like we cannot thank educators enough right now. Thank you for sharing your story and I'm glad that I can banish your guilt. I hope I had this vision in my head of like a rosary made out of boysenberries, but that doesn't make any sense to anybody but me.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you. If you would like to write to us and tell you about plants that may or may not be historical, that you're worried you've killed and somehow destroyed history again, you haven't. You can do that@history podcastheartradio.com you can find the show notes for all of our episodes and this one of course, [e-mail] Like I said, that last openly available biography that was written by a really well researched scholar just last year is available online and it's the last entry in the show notes there. Just scroll on down and click right through. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast and you haven't done that yet, you could do that on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Stuff you missed in history class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Holly Fry]

Wouldn't it be great to never buy gas again? EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and they are a perfect addition to your everyday life. Most people are only driving about 40 miles a day, and most EVs can handle 200 to 400 miles of range on a charge. And there are hundreds of EV models available today, so there's something perfect for every lifestyle and budget. I drive an ev. I've had it for a couple of years. It's my favorite car I've ever owned. It is so fun to drive. The pickup is incredible. It's super agile and it is easy to maintain. The way forward is electric. Learn [e-mail] brought to you in part by Vital Farms.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I love eggs. I turn to them all the time as a quick and easy way to start a meal. And Vital Farms eggs are brought to you by hens that have access to fresh air and sunshine. And you can actually look up on the carton and see the farm eggs came from. Vital Farms is also a certified B corporation with a purpose to improve the lives of people, animals and the planet through food. Look for the black egg carton in the egg aisle and visit vitalfarms.com to learn more. Vital Farms Good eggs, no shortcuts.

[Jana Kramer]

This is Jana Kramer from Wind down with Jana Kramer. Hey, quick question for the parents listening right now. When's the last time your kid asked for something and you actually felt good saying yes? Because lately a lot of families have been hearing the same thing. Can I have lingo kids, please? And here's the thing. Lingokids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids with more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows. Astronauts, wild animals, superheroes, dinosaurs. It's literally everything kids love all in one place. So when they ask for it, you can actually feel good saying yes. Download Lingokids for free and start exploring today or unlock even more amazing content with LingoKids Plus. And if you go with the yearly plan, you can save up to 60%. Search LingoKids in the app Store or Google Play. Lingokids Everything kids love. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. The Trump administration and its backers in Congress are messing around with our health care. In case you haven't heard, they already passed a law defunding Planned Parenthood that blocks Medicaid patients from getting life saving care like cancer screenings, wellness exams, birth control, STI treatment and more. And now these lawmakers want to shut down health centers by defunding Planned Parenthood permanently. Our communities deserve better. So to learn how you can get involved, text update to 22422.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.