Bishopsgate (p. 903)

In October 1689, Samuel Pepys visits Daniel Waterhouse in London to help catalog his library as Daniel prepares to depart for Massachusetts.

“Knowst thou but how the stone doth enter in / The bladders cave” — A reference to bladder stones, an excruciatingly common medical condition in the 17th century caused by mineral deposits. The “Stone” serves as a recurring motif in the novel, representing both the physical mortality of the characters and the agonizing limits of early modern medicine.

“a hard-bitten old computer who had set himself up with a lap-desk” — In the 17th century, a “computer” was not a machine but a person employed to perform tedious and complex mathematical calculations by hand.

“a large book of engravings of diverse fishes. The R.S. had printed too many copies” — The Royal Society published De Historia Piscium (A History of Fishes) in 1686; the book’s massive production costs nearly bankrupted the institution, famously leaving them unable to pay Isaac Newton’s salary in anything but copies of the fish book.

“assemble a library to rival Sir Elias Ashmole’s” — Elias Ashmole was a celebrated antiquary and alchemist whose vast collection of curiosities and manuscripts formed the founding core of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

“During the Plague Year, when we lodged at Epsom” — Refers to the Great Plague of London (1665–1666), which forced many members of the Royal Society to flee the city and continue their scientific inquiries in the relative safety of the countryside.

“sedan-chair—one of the smallest type, little more than a sarcophagus on sticks” — Sedan chairs were enclosed seats carried on poles by two porters; they were the preferred mode of urban transport for the wealthy to avoid the mud and sewage of London streets.

“They took him north beyond the Roman wall” — The London Wall was the defensive boundary originally built by the Romans; by the 17th century, the city had begun to expand significantly beyond these ancient limits.

“It was Bedlam.” — The Bethlem Royal Hospital was London’s primary psychiatric institution; in 1676, it moved to a palatial new building in Moorfields designed by Robert Hooke, which was often visited by the public as a form of macabre entertainment.

“Christiaan Huygens, Isaac Newton, Isaac’s little shadow Fatio, Robert Boyle, John Locke… Christopher Wren” — A gathering of the era’s scientific luminaries, including Christiaan Huygens (physics/clocks), Isaac Newton (calculus/gravity), Robert Boyle (chemistry), John Locke (philosophy), and Christopher Wren (architecture).

“Isaac’s little shadow Fatio” — Nicolas Fatio de Duillier was a brilliant Swiss mathematician who became Newton’s intimate companion and later a central figure in the bitter priority dispute over the invention of calculus.

“burn the place down like Greek fire” — Greek fire was a legendary incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire that was famously difficult to extinguish, even with water; its chemical composition remains a mystery.

“Wren spoke of the progress building the great Dome of St. Paul’s.” — Following the Great Fire of 1666, Christopher Wren spent decades rebuilding St. Paul’s Cathedral, which became his architectural masterpiece.

“Hooke, when not arguing with Huygens about clocks” — Refers to the fierce priority dispute between Hooke and Huygens over the invention of the balance spring, which allowed for the creation of accurate pocket watches.

“Spain might have mines in America and France might have an infinite supply of taxable peasants” — A summary of 17th-century state finance: Spain relied on New World silver, while France’s power was built on its massive population and the absolute taxation of the peasantry under Louis XIV.

“the crooked probe that would be inserted up the length of the patient’s urethra” — A description of the tools used in lithotomy, the surgical removal of bladder stones. Performed without anesthesia, the procedure was so terrifying that patients were often physically restrained by several strong men.

“The bright lights you see are sticks of burning phosphorus” — Phosphorus was first isolated from human urine by Hennig Brand in 1669; its ability to glow in the dark and spontaneously ignite made it a sensation among natural philosophers.

“When he and Hooke and Wilkins had cut open live dogs” — Early Royal Society members frequently performed vivisection on animals to study the mechanics of breathing and the circulation of blood, often in public demonstrations.

Original annotations by: quillman, sinder