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Letters to Charles Mason and other papers, including an extract from the account book of Goodwich, Bishop of Ely; 'An epitome of Sir Isaac Newton's Opticks'; and a printed notice of 24 June 1811, regarding the installation of the Duke of Gloucester as Chancellor of Cambridge University. All are letters to Mason unless otherwise stated.

The volume contains a draft letter from Rizzetti to Christino Martinelli, c.1720, with a description of Newton's experiment leading to the discovery of the aberration of light, and Rizzetti's experiment contradicting Newton's results; and two diagrams on refraction (p.13), the 'Anatomical composition of the eye' and the 'Aberration in telescopes with different lenses'. There are references to Descartes, Huygens and Tschirnhaus.

138 folios. Fos 2, 3, 13-22, 26-33, 46-54, 63-67, 74 and 92-138 are blank. On fo. 1v: 'F. W. Lodington Ex dono J. Speare 1816'.

A holograph manuscript of a talk on Sir Isaac Newton delivered by John Maynard Keynes at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1942. There is an accompanying typescript of a talk delivered by Geoffrey Keynes at the Newton Tercentenary celebrations in the Hall of Trinity College, 17 July 1946, and a newscutting from the Times literary supplement, 1971, regarding J.M. Keynes.

Robert Boyle to Captain Thornhill, 14 November 1678, concerning the repayment of a sum of money, 2 pages and address. The letter is signed by Boyle and his sister, Lady Ranelagh. Robert Boyle to Sir Isaac Newton, 19 August 1682, concerning various matters, including the appearance of a comet, 2 pages and address.

A letter from Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Boyle, 28 February 1679, regarding the cause of gravitation. The letter is a file copy written in the hand of Newton's amanuensis. There are corrections and additions by Newton, who has signed the letter at the end.

In Latin. fo. 1: tables on the motions of two comets, 1682-3. For the first, see Edmond Halley, Astronomical Tables, London, 1752. The printed table differs in some particulars from this copy. fo. 5: Newton: notes on the periods and distances of the satellites of Saturn, and of the planets. fo. 9: Newton: notes on Principia, p. 370, l. 28.

The Portsmouth Collection is the principal collection of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical papers, including early drafts of the Principia, and his correspondence with Oldenburg, Halley Flamsteed and many of the other most prominent scientists of his day.

A defence of Sir Isaac Newton against the attack of George Gordon, made in Gordon's Remarks on the Newtonian philosophy, as propos'd by Sir Isaac Newton, in his Principia naturalis, and by Dr. Gregory, in his Principia astronomiae physicae (London, 1719). The treatise (47 pages) contains an examination of several of Newton's propositions, and Gordon's contradictions, with regard to centripetal forces, friction, projectile motion and gravity.