Notice to Visitors

Newton moved to 35 St Martin's Street in 1710 and retained the house until his death in 1727. Since he died without leaving a will, an inventory was made of all his possessions, room by room, most of which were then sold. The house survived with little alteration until 1913 when plans were made to demolish it.

A storm of protest followed and the house was bought for the nation with donations from the public. At the same time it emerged that almost all of the furniture had been bought in one lot, and its present owner donated it to the Museum anonymously.

(In reality the building was demolished in 1913 and Newton's furniture has not been found - only the fixtures of the fore parlour survive, as the Babson College Isaac Newton Room. This Virtual Museum exists in an alternate reality in which Newtonian scholars were unreasonably lucky. Thanks to the Web, the house has been refurnished as Villamil suggested.)

At first the collection was arranged on the basis of common sense, but Richard de Villamil, one of the founding Trustees, discovered the inventory after two hundred years - simply by asking the relevant office to search their records. The inventory was soon published in Villamil's Newton: the Man.

Using the Inventory it has been possible to refurnish each room correctly. Where the relationships of objects are not specified, sensible choices have been made and the visitor should consult the Inventory itself if in doubt.

You are welcome to examine any item on display, but in deference to the memory of Isaac Newton senior, smoking it not permitted in any part of the Museum.