Register of Boyle's Works

Throughout, The Works of Robert Boyle, ed. by Michael Hunter and Edward B. Davis, 14 vols (London, 1999-2000), is abbreviated as Works. Published works are referred to by the short titles given in Works, i, xvi-xx. Other writings, including sections of books, are listed under the title by which Boyle refers to them. Workdiary references have the workdiary number then the entry number, for example: 21-253 (Workdiay 21, Entry 253).

An index of references to Boyle's writings

1. 13th Treatise.
   Referred to in 21-580. Perhaps a reference to the 13th section of Usefulness, as planned in the synopsis of the work dating from 1666 published in Works, xiii, lxix-lxx
2. 2nd Tome.
   Præface referred to in 27-22. This could be a reference to the Preamble to Tome II of Usefulness, except that the topic referred to ( the Concentrat. of Beams) does not seem to appear there.
3. 2nd Tract.
   Referred to in 28-831 in connection with echoes. Not identified.
4. Air.
   In 21-253, 260, 272, 616 there are references to the Aire and in 22-30, 32 to Obs. About Aire, while references to H. of Air appear in 28-917, etc. 36-1 has a reference to Air with a number, which is followed by a series of references to A with numbers, evidently referring to 'titles' of this work. All these references evidently relate to Boyle's General History of Air posthumously published by John Locke in 1692: see Works, xii. In addition, 21-697 refers to Regions of the Air, 21-702 to Temperatur of the Air, 22-4 To the Heat of the Air and 22-116 to Moisture of Air, which may have formed parts of this work: see also Changes of the Air and Temperature of Subterraneal Regions.
5. Antiperistasis.
   Referred to in 19-34. An Examen of Antiperistasis was published as part of Cold in 1665: Works, iv, 459-98
6. Celestial Influences.
   Referred to in 21-611 and 22-108. In 21-613, 619 referred to as Tract of Influences. This putative work appears in Various Tracts, as Essays &c of c. 1665, Works, xiv, 332 (cf. the verse mnemonic in ibid., 335). A treatise with this title published in General History of the Air is now known to be by Worsley rather than Boyle: see Works, xii, xiv, 48-56
7. Changes of Air.
   Referred to in 21-347, 644 and in 22-30. A work with this title appears in Various Tracts, as Essays &c of c. 1665, Works, xiv, 332 (cf. the verse mnemonic in ibid., 335). It was later subsumed into the project represented by General History of the Air (Air), as is indicated by the reference in 22-30.
8. Chymical Principles.
   Referred to in 28-887 as the paper about Chymical Principles. Cf. various references in 28 to C.Pr., Hist. of C.Pr., C.P., Ch. P., etc. There are also references to C.P. in 38, 24, etc. These evidently refer to The Producibleness of Chymical Principles, published with the second edition of Sceptical Chymist in 1680: published in Works, vol. ix.
9. Cold.
   Referred to in 22-30. See also 37-32, 33. Published in 1665: see Works, iv
10. Colours.
    Referred to in 21-537, 22-32 and 28-995. Published in 1664: see Works, iv
11. Cosmical Qualities
    Published in 1670; see Works vi, 259-364. Referred to in 21-628, 21-639, 23-640.
12. Depth of Sea.
    Referred to in 21-644. Presumably Relations about the Bottom of the Sea, published as part of Cosmical Qualities(1670), with an annexe in Saltness of the Sea(1673): see Works, vi, 357-64, vii, 413-7
13. Discernment of Suppositions.
    Referred to in 22-116 and, as D. of S., in 28-977. A treatise with this title, now lost, is referred to in Boyle's list of Various Tracts, as Essays &c of c. 1665 (and the verse mnemonic based on it): Works, xiv, 332, 335
14. Effluviums.
    Various references in 21, etc. Boyle's Essays on the Strange Subtilty, Great Efficacy [and] Determinate Nature of Effluviums were published in 1673: see Works, vii
15. Essay 12.
    Referred to in 28-937. The set of essays referred to in workdiary 28, ranging from 12 to 20 (though not including 13 and 14), are puzzling. They appear to have comprised a kind of compendium of Boyle's natural philosophy, dealing with such themes as corpuscularianism, effluvia, the chemical composition of things and final causes (28-915), perhaps from an overtly epistemological (and anti-Aristotelian) viewpoint. They were in any case superceded by references to named works by Boyle which also appear in this index.
16. Essay 15.
    Various references in 28; also referred to in 34-16. Probably another of the group of essays discussed under Essay 12, above.
17. Essay 16.
    Various references in 28. Another of the group of essays discussed under & Essay 12, above. 28-980 has a reference to the 16th Experiment, which is perhaps a slip of the pen for Essay
18. Essay 17.
    Various references in 28. Another of the group of essays discussed under Essay 12, above.
19. Essay 18.
    Referred to in 28-877. Another of the group of essays discussed under Essay 12, above.
20. Essay 19.
    Various references in 28. Another of the group of essays discussed under Essay 12, above.
21. Essay 2.
    Referred to in 19-69, 102. Probably the 2nd essay of Usefulness as planned in the synopsis of the work dating from 1666 published in Works, xiii, lxix-lxx, entitled That the Empire of Man may be promoted by the Naturalists skill in Chymistry, sections of which are published in ibid., 321-41.
22. Essay 20.
    Referred to in 28-990, 1000. Another of the group of essays discussed under Essay 12, above.
23. Essay 6.
    Referred to in 19-55, 62, 63, 65 and in 21-633, 689. This seems likelier to be essay 6 as planned in the synopsis of Usefulness dating from 1666 published in Works, xiii, lxix-lxx, That the Naturalist may much advantage Men by exciteing & assisting their Curiosity to discover, take notice, & make use of their homeland Riches & advantages of particular Countrys, & to increase their Number, (by transferring thither those of others), than essay 6 of the 2nd Tome as published in 1671 (ibid., vi, 507-40).
24. Experimenta et Observationes Physicae.
    Referred to in 28-931 as Obs. Ph., and elsewhere as E. & O.P., O.P. or ‘P.O.’ (839, 879, 885). This work, published in 1691, appears in Works, xi
25. Experiments Solitary.
    Referred to in 37-59. Not identified.
26. F.E./F.I
    (or conceivably T.J. Referred to in 28-811, 831, 832, 841, 862. Not identified.
27. Flame and Air.
    Referred to (as Experiments of Flame & Fire) in 19-99. Cf. 19-117 and 28-866, etc. The work in question is presumably Flame and Air (1672), published in Works, vii, though it might be Dialogues concerning Flame and Heat: for the extant fragments of this work, and a discussion of its history, see ibid., xiii, xliv-vi, and 261-9
28. Fluidity and Firmness.
    Referred to in 29-291. Published as part of Certain Physiological Essays in 1661: see Works, ii
29. G.H.
    See Requisites of a Good Hypothesis.
30. Generation of Minerals.
    Referred to in 28-872 as Gen. of M.. Thoughts and Observations about the Generation of Mineralls was published for the first time in Works, xiii, 363-76
31. History of Qualities.
    Various references in 28, sometimes as Qual. Various of Boyle's publications of the 1670s are to seen as part of this work, which is referred to thus in The Order of My Several Treatises ( Works, xiv, 331): see ibid, esp. vi, 265-84, viii, 315-523
32. History of Water.
    Referred to in 21-375. Perhaps the work of which a synopsis survives in BP 26, fols. 49-50.
33. Hydr.
    Various references in 37 and 38. Evidently a collection of hydrostatical data, perhaps linked to the Appendix to the Hydrostatick Paradoxes included in the catalogue of Boyle's unpublished writings of 7 July 1684: Works, xiv, 342
34. Improbable Truths.
    Referred to in 21-530. A Discourse of Improbable Truthsappears in the list of Boyle's unpublished and unpublished writings in Cold (1664), Works, iv, 517, and in The Order of My Severall Treatises, ibid, xiv, 331 (cf. the verse mnemonic in ibid., 335); a folio with this title was among his papers in 1691 (ibid., 351, 353).
35. Materia Medica.
    Referred to in 22-44 and 105 (as the Cons. &c. of the M.Med.) and 29-275. Heads of an Essay tending to the improvement of the Materia medica and related titles appear in various lists of Boyle's writings in his later years: see Works, xiv, 337, 342, 351
36. Mechanical Origin of Heat and Cold.
    Referred to in 38-63. Published in 1675-6: see Works, viii, 329-61
37. Mineral Waters.
    Referred to in 38-78. Published in 1685: see Works, x
38. Notes about Delinquability.
    Referred in 22-64. Not identified.
39. Notion of Nature.
    Referred to as Free Inquiry in 21-645 and as Nature in 28-900. Probably Boyle's Free Inquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature ( 1686), published in Works, x
40. Occult Qualities.
    Referred to in 22-104 and 34-26. Boyle's Notes upon the Sections about Occult Qualities in BP 22, pp. 201-44, were published by M.B.Hall in Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 41 (1987), 111-43. See also Boyle's reference in Forms and Qualities (1666), Works, v, 213n
41. O.P.
    See Experimenta et Observationes Physicae.
42. Origin of Qualities.
    Referred to in 28-870, 876. An allusion to a section of Forms and Qualities (1666), published in Works, v
43. Paradoxes about Flame.
    Referred to in 21-643, 681. For a lost work entitled A Paradox about the Fuel of Flames, see Works, x, 346. See also Flame and Fire.
44. P.O.
    See Experimenta et Observationes Physicae.
45. Pores of Bodies & Figures of Corpuscles.
    Referred to in 28-807, etc. as P. & F. Perhaps the work of this title of which a synopsis survives in BP 10, fols. 87-8, itself linked to Porosity (1684): see Works, x; see also ibid., xiv, 338, 351. In 22-53 there is a reference to ‘Pores’.
46. Pref. & Dire of Mett.
    Referred to in 28-902. Præf is also referred to in 28-812, 817, 911. Not identified.
47. Qual.
    See History of Qualities.
48. Quarto Book of Entrys.
    Referred to in 19-85. Perhaps one of the quarto manuscripts containing chemical recipes referred to in the inventories of Boyle's papers in his later years (Works, xiv, 337-55)
49. R.V.
    (or conceivably C.V.: cf. 28-818 or C.U., cf. 28-883). Referred to in 28-827. Not identified.
50. Requisites of a Good Hypothesis.
    Frequent references in 28, usually as R.G. H. or G. H.. It may also be intended by R.H. in 28-885. For the extant fragments of this work, and a discussion of its history, see Works, xiii, xliv-vi, and 261-9. For the mnemonics based on it published from the Boyle Papers in the 20th century, see Works, xiv, 359-61.
51. Retract.
    Referred to in 28-801, 802 (and perhaps also as R. in 28-885). Not identified.
52. Schemes of Historys.
    Referred to in 28-842, 843. Perhaps to be linked with the Rapsody of rude schemes of Discourses of Naturall History and other Subjects in the catalogue of Boyle's writings of 7 July 1684 (Works, xiv, 342)
53. Sceptical Chymist.
    Referred to in 21-217, 219, 236. Published in 1661: see Works, ii
54. Shining of the Sea.
    Referred to in 21-641. Not identified.
55. Specific Medicines.
    Referred to in 28-912 as Tract of Specificks. Published as Specific Medicines (1685), Works, x
56. Subterraneal Steams.
    Referred to in 21-344. Boyle's essay with this title is published in Works, xiii, 403-23.
57. Temperature of the Subterraneal Regions.
    Referred to in 19-7 and 21-299. Published as part of Cosmical Qualities in 1670: Works, vi, 321-41. Temperature of Subterraneal Air, referred to in 21-421, may be related to this, or to Air (q.v.).
58. Theodora.
    5-15 is marked as related to this work, initially composed in the late 1640s, of which part was published by Boyle in 1687 and the original version in 2000: see Works, xi and xiii.
59. U. of A.
    Referred to in 28-972, etc. See next entry.
60. Use of Reason/Use of Experience.
    Referred to in 28-901, etc (often as U. of R. and U. of E. - or sometimes U. of X.). Materials for Boyle's intended treatise on The Uses and Extent of Experience, Reason and Authority in Natural Philosophy are to be found in Boyle Papers 9.
61. Usefulness.
    A reference to the last Essay of the Use &c. appears in 22-116, and presumably refers to the final essay in the 2nd Tome of that work published in 1671: see Works, vi, 507-40. See also Essay 2 and Essay 6.