LEIBNIZ (GOTTFRIED WILHELM)
Autograph letter signed ('Leibniz') to Thomas Burnett ('Monsieur'), in French, thanking him for '...the news you send me of the state of literature as well as of the political states...', reporting that British ministers have written to the Electress Sophia to assure her that they will protect the Protestant Succession, on minority rule in France ('...the death of two Dauphins in less than a year is truly remarkable... an event unparalleled...'), the war between Russia and Turkey, commenting on Anne's power over parliament and English politics ('...she seems to be the mistress in both Chambers. We must hope that she makes good use of it... The Whig gentlemen have not profited from the time in which they were masters...') and referring to a letter of Sir Rowland Gwynne, going on to inform him that his Théodicée is being translated into Latin and German and asking '...what English scholars capable of penetrating its substance say of it... In Holland, Paris and Leipzig – in Rome itself, it received great applause by most able theologians of the three religions...', noting the posthumous printing of some letters of Locke in which he, Leibniz, is said to have expressed objections to Burnett ('...I don't remember this...'), also that Thomas Fritsch, the Leipzig bookseller is having all the works of Hobbes printed in folio, in Latin translation and asking his help in locating Hobbes' Dialogue of a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Law, Letter of the Duke of Newcastle and Memorable sayings in his Books and at the Table, ending '...Our principality, thank God, thrives marvellously...', with amendments and deletions throughout, 2 pages on a bifolium, integral address panel with good impression of Leibniz's seal in red wax, docketed in another hand, creased at folds, loss where seal torn away not affecting text, 8vo (174 x 110mm.), Hanover, 17 March 1712
Footnotes:
'NOW LET US COME TO THE LITERARY NEWS. WORK IS GOING ON ON A LATIN AND GERMAN TRANSLATION OF MY THÉODICÉE': LEIBNIZ ASKS THE OPINION OF ENGLISH SCHOLARS ON HIS TREATISE.

Our letter not only discusses Leibniz's ongoing concerns with the Protestant Succession in Britain but also dwells on the ever-changing political situation in Europe – the French King with a great-grandson as a successor ('...an event unparalleled perhaps in all the kingdoms of the world...') and the return of Azov to the Turks which had been ceded to the Russians at the end of the Russo-Turkish war ('...we don't know if they will be content with that...'). Also mentioned in passing is a letter by Sir Rowland Gwynne. In 1706 Leibnitz had composed an open letter to the Earl of Stamford on behalf of Gwynne, who was then visiting Hanover, in which he criticised the Whig opposition to the suggestion that Electress Sophia should be invited to England. The fear was that a second Court would be a rival to that of Anne and thus, by sowing dissention, would be prey to the affairs of France and the Jacobite pretender. Leibniz/Gwynne reiterated the Electress' wish to take the throne and argued that it would be beneficial for her to be present. Leibniz had the letter printed in Holland and circulated in England where it was ill received on Parliament – his authorship was not discovered and he subsequently denied his involvement in the affair (see E.J. Aiton, Leibniz: A Biography, 1985).

In 'literary news' he asks what English scholars think of his Théodicée, which has been received favourably '...by most able theologians of three Religions...'. His treatise on the problem of evil, written in 1709, concerned a subject which '...vexed Leibniz as much as any of the problems that he engaged in the course of his philosophical career...' (plato.stanford.edu online) and was one of two book-length works devoted to the subject, the first being his Philosopher's Confession of 1672.

This letter is quoted from in Susan Burnett, Without Fanfare: The Story of my Family, 1994, p.22, and has been held in the archive at Kemnay House, Aberdeenshire, until now. It is not published in Gerhardt, C. J., Die philosophischen Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1887, vol.3, neither is it currently available in Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: Allgemeiner politischer und historischer Briefwechsel, Akademie Verlag, 1998 (no.316, L2, p.492-493),

Provenance: Thomas Burnett, 2nd of Kemnay (1656-1729); and thence by descent.

Light dust-staining and marks, particularly to address panel. Creased at folds with small pin holes where folds join. Loss to right hand edge where seal torn away, not affecting text.