LONDON.- They were among the great figures of their age yet barely any correspondence between the diarist and naval administrator Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) and the mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727) has survived. This makes the chance discovery of a handwritten letter from Newton to Pepys particularly exciting. The letter, written in 1685, concerns the appointment of a Mathematics master at Christ’s Hospital, and was found in an album belonging to descendants of a Dr William Hathaway (1783-1853). It is to be offered at Bonhams Fine Books & Manuscripts Sale in London on Wednesday 21 June 2023, with an estimate of £60,000-80,000.

Both men shared a close interest in Christ’s Hospital (founded in 1522) and in the Royal Mathematical School which had been established there in 1673 to match a similar scheme set up by Louis XIV and Colbert in France. (Newton described it elsewhere as ‘the flower of the Hospital’). Forty 14-year-old boys from the school – known as 'Mathemats' – were chosen to take up the first places and were taught mathematics and navigation. They were entitled to wear a silver-plated badge designed by the scientist and polymath Robert Hooke, and still worn by pupils today.

Pepys had been appointed a governor of Christ's Hospital in 1676 (other influential figures involved with the school included Sir Christopher Wren, and John Flamsteed, astronomer at the new Greenwich Observatory as well as Newton). Through his role at the Admiralty Pepys was determined to professionalise the navy by encouraging promotion by merit, with the aid of examinations in navigation and seamanship. He persuaded the government to provide ships' masters with a financial incentive to take on apprentices from the Mathematical School.

As the letter shows Newton was deeply interested in the teaching of mathematics and modernising the curriculum. He was particularly keen to advance the study of practical navigation and to reap the benefits of new technology and innovation. As he wrote, "...For what seaman would have expected the inventions of sails, Anchors, Rudders, the compass & Gunpowder till they were found out..." .

Bonhams Head of Books and Manuscripts, Matthew Haley, said: “This newly discovered letter adds an important dimension to our knowledge of the relationship between these two giants of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Surprisingly few other pieces of correspondence between them are recorded, making this letter a real rarity. It also casts a fascinating light on the importance both men ascribed to the Mathematics school at Christ’s Hospital and its value to the nation as an incubator of highly skilled sailors, engineers, and architects. Newton, Pepys and fellow members of the Hospital’s Board were particularly exercised about finding the right master for the task – something that, as other letters from the time show, was proving a challenge.”