Cabinet 13: John Locke

The construction of John Locke’s publishing persona is an interesting example of authorship. A Letter Concerning Toleration was published in 1686, in French, and then in English in 1690, without Locke’s name attached to it. Causing much heated debate, Locke then published three anonymous pamphlets in response to the criticism. In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, drafted in 1671 but not published until 1690, Locke is named as its author.

John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Draft A of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding: the Earliest Extant Autograph Version, edited by Peter H. Nidditch (Sheffield: University of Sheffield, 1980) Special Collections B 1289 NN12

John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, translated and edited by Mario Montuori (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1963) Special Collections BR 1610 LT18 1963

John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Draft B of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding: the Fullest Extant Autograph Version, edited by Peter H. Nidditch (Sheffield: University of Sheffield, 1982) Special Collections B 1289 NN13