Hartlib Circle

The Hartlib Circle was the correspondence network set up in Western and Central Europe by Samuel Hartlib, an based in London, and his associates, in the period 1630 to 1660. Hartlib worked closely with John Dury, an itinerant figure who worked to bring Protestants together.

J. T. Young writes:

At its nexus, it was an association of personal friends. Hartlib and Dury were the two key figures: Comenius, despite their best efforts, always remained a cause they were supporting rather than a fellow co-ordinator. Around them were Hübner, Haak, Pell, Moriaen, Rulise, Hotton and Appelius, later to be joined by Sadler, Culpeper, Worsley, Boyle and Clodius. But as soon as one looks any further than this from the centre, the lines of communication begin to branch and cross, threading their way into the entire intellectual community of Europe and America. It is a circle with a definable centre but an almost infinitely extendable periphery.

Examples given of the "periphery" are John Winthrop and Balthazar Gerbier.

Educational reform was topical, and central to the pansophist programme. Hartlib compiled a list of "advisers", and updated it. It included Jeremy Collier, Dury, Thomas Horne, Marchamont Nedham, John Pell, William Rand, Christian Ravius, Israel Tonge, and Moses Wall. The staff proposed for Durham College was influenced by the Circle's lobbying. John Hall was another associate who wrote on education. In the period 1648–50 many works on education appeared from Circle authors (Dury, Dymock, Hall, Cyprian Kinner, Petty, George Snell, and Worsley).

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