Contents and Arrangement Expanded View
Online

Collection Overview

Creator:
Minto, Walter, 1753-1796
Collector:
Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
Title:
Walter Minto Collection
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/6h440s49c
Dates:
1787-1793
Size:
1 box and 0.2 linear feet
Storage Note:
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of selected correspondence and documents of the eighteenth-century Scottish mathematician Walter Minto, who was one of Princeton University's earliest teachers of mathematics.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of selected correspondence, documents, and a travel journal of Walter Minto. The correspondence and the documents chiefly concern the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Included are receipts (1790, 1791) for tuition payments made by Alexander H" for the college; a letter from Minto to the mother of a student, dated 29 October 1792, explaining various charges made by the college on her son's account; and another letter, dated 20 April 1793, to a "Col. Nelson" about getting goods to the college. There is a letter to John Ewing, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, written at Princeton on 31 July 1788, regarding "the elements of the orbit of the new planet . . ." and containing mathematical calculations. On the verso is an inscription by Prof. James C. Moffat of the Theological Seminary in Princeton, which reads, "This letter of Prof. Minto was presented to me by Rev. Dr. Carnahan, when he retired from the presidency in 1854." The inscription is signed by Moffat and dated 24 August 1886. In addition, there is a statement of accounts sent to the trustees of the college, dated 9 April 1793, as well as a brief biographical statement written in an unknown hand concerning Minto's family. A small travel journal, containing facts and impressions, documents a trip Minto took in 1787 from Massachusetts to Georgia, with facts and impressions of the cities he traveled through. Page one of the wrapper lists the states that he visited.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged by accession number.

Collection Creator Biography:

Minto, Walter, 1753-1796

Walter Minto was one of Princeton's earliest teachers of mathematics and perhaps the first deserving the designation "mathematician." He was born in the Merse district of Scotland in a family of Spanish origin. He studied philosophy and literature at the University of Edinburgh. He traveled to Italy as a tutor to two boys and was in Pisa on March 13, 1781, when William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, which Minto got to see in a telescope. It was then that he became interested in astronomy and mathematics, and two years later he published his treatise Researches Into Some Parts of the Theory of the Planets(1783). Minto was a supporter of the of American independence, and in 1787 he sailed to America. In the same year he was called to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) to succeed Ashbel Green as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. His fellow countryman, Dr. John Witherspoon, was president of the college at the time. His inaugural oration, "On the Progress and Importance of the Mathematical Sciences," presented the night before the commencement in 1788, was subsequently published. He became treasurer of the college and wrote a textbook on mathematics, which was in manuscript form at the time of his death. Minto died at the age of forty-two and was buried in the Princeton (N.J.) cemetery.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Letter to John Imlay was a gift of Dr. W. H. Green in 1896 .

Receipts to Dr. Hosack were a gift of William Nelson on March 21, 1903 .

Letter to Col. Nelson was a gift of Pyne-Henry, in 1904 .

Statement of accounts to the Trustees was a transfer from the Hunt papers, in 1906 .

Letter to John Ewing was a gift of Chas L. Cooder on July 4, 1929 .

Biography of Minto and travel diary were purchased in July 1940 .

Letter to the mother of a student was purchased in December 1944 .

Custodial History

The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Walter Minto Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/6h440s49c
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1