Salomon de Caus, Les raisons des forces mouvantes (Frankfurt: John Norton, 1615).
These plates come from an extravagantly illustrated volume of hydraulic solutions to engineering problems produced by the Huguenot Salomon de Caus. De Caus worked as an engineer under Louis XIII but also designed gardens, using features such as the singing birds shown here, in both Germany and England (the gardens of Somerset House were designed by him).
Giacomo Lauro, Antiquae urbis splendor (Rome, 1612-28).
Below is an image of Biblical prophecy included at the beginning of a pictorial work on Roman antiquities. It portrays a sequence of four monsters seen in a vision by the prophet Daniel, described thus:
Johannes Pontanus, Rerum et urbis Amstelodamensium historia (Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, 1611).
By 1611, the date of publication of this volume, Amsterdam, a small town in the 16th century, was becoming the major mercantile and cultural centre of the Low Countries, and of Europe.
William Gilbert, De magnete (London: Peter Short, 1600).
This treatise, in which the proposition that the Earth is a giant magnet is put forth, was the first major scientific work produced in England. Its author, William Gilbert, was a Fellow of St John's and an eminent physician. Alongside his medical profession Gilbert conducted experiments on magnetism, of which this volume was the fruit.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The necessity of atheism (Worthing, [1811]).
Thomas Clarkson, The history of the rise, progress, and accomplishment of the abolition of the African slave-trade by the British Parliament (London, 1808).
This graphic image of the treatment of cargoes of slaves by British merchants was included in a work by the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson. St John's had strong links with this movement, which led to the out-lawing of slavery in British colonies in 1807, as both Clarkson and William Wilberforce, another leading abolitionist, were alumni of the College.
Humphry Repton, Observations on the theory and practice of landscape gardening (London, 1805).
Humphry Repton (1752-1818) succeeded 'Capability' Brown as head gardener at Hampton Court and was the first to assume the title of landscape gardener. His designs were used at Antony House, Bowood, Clumber Park, Hatchlands, Plas Newydd, Sheffield Park, Sheringham Park, Tatton Park, and Wimpole Hall, among other prominent locations.
Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads (London, 1798).
William Wordsworth is one of St John's College's most famous alumni. He found academic life in Cambridge unstimulating and conservative, and did not strive for anything other than an ordinary degree, which he obtained in 1791.
James Cook, A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the world (London, 1777)
The first edition of the official description of Cook’s second voyage, and his first as commander of the Resolution (1772-1775). The journey was undertaken in order to further explore the Southern Oceans and ascertain whether there were any further land masses in the southern seas.
Bernard Lamy, De tabernaculo foederis, de sancta civitate Jerusalem, et de templo ejus, libri septem (Paris, 1720).
Illustrations from a volume by Bernard Lamy (1640-1715), philosopher, theologian and mathematician, which reconstructs various structures from the Old Testament. The illustrations reproduced here show reconstructions of Noah's Ark and the Temple of Solomon. The ark is shown as a rectangular structure with two decks. On the upper deck the crew raise curtains to look out upon the flood.