The Origins of the Royal Society Revisited (original) (raw)

The paper re-evaluates the origins of the Royal Society, arguing for a stronger connection with the Oxford meetings of the 1650s, as presented in John Wallis's account compared to Thomas Sprat's narrative. The analysis reveals the unappreciated significance of Wallis's historical narrative and its implications for understanding the Society's foundation, notably through the lens of speech teaching for the deaf. The examination of these accounts highlights hidden tensions and rival claims to credit within the historical contributors to the Royal Society and calls for a reconsideration of their intertwined legacies.