Isaac Newton and the Temple of Solomon

Isaac Newton published little but wrote hundreds of manuscripts, the bulk of them on alchemy, prophecy and theology. His writings on the Temple of Solomon have widely been thought to have been written in old age or possibly after a nervous breakdown in 1693. In fact, his study of the Temple spanned more than fifty years. This book examines Newton’s work in the context of his times, when the Temple was a popular subject for academics, and models were displayed to the general public. The author provides insight into Newton’s writings in Latin on Solomon’s Temple, along with a model reconstructed from his interpretation of its structure, symmetry and proportional elegance.

Tessa Morrison is a senior lecturer at the School of Architecture and Built Environment at University of Newcastle, Australia, with a research interest in unbuilt utopian cities.

Tessa Morrison
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 200
Bibliographic Info: 67 photos & illustrations, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6554-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2513-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. Newton’s Manuscripts 15
2. A Brief History of Models Up to the 18th Century 39
3. Paper Reconstructions of the Temple of Solomon from the 17th and 18th Centuries 53
4. Architectural Models of the Temple of Solomon Exhibited in London in the 17th and 18th Centuries 86
5. The Model Guidebooks 113
6. The Architectural Model of Newton’s Temple of Solomon 128
Conclusion 158
Chapter Notes 167
Bibliography 177
Index 187