Meredith Houlton

A copy of Lucretius' Classical text De rerum natura (On the nature of things) which is in the University of Cambridge Library raises several questions relating to Renaissance era study of Classical texts and the significance of Lucretius to the Renaissance philosopher/scholar.  Was study of De rerum natura standard curriculum for Renaissance Classical education or was there increased interest in Lucretius and Epicureanism as a result of Renaissance scholarship, literature, art, and culture?

The Cambridge Library copy of De rerum natura (Montaigne.1.4.4), edited by Denis Lambin and printed in Paris in 1563, belonged to the French writer Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) and is covered with Montaigne's notes and annotations.  Why was Michel de Montaigne so interested in De rerum natura by Lucretius (c. 94-55 or 51 BCE, ref. Oxford Classical Dictionary)? 

Marginalia, marked passages, and annotations are commonly indicative of great interest by the reader.  Were such notes and annotations the standard practice of French Renaissance philosophers such as Montaigne, a standard practice of Montaigne himself for his personal study of Classical literature and other topics, evidence of a great interest by Montaigne in De rerum natura, and/or evidence of a great interest in Classical Epicureanism by Montaigne and possibly others?  What was the significance of the study of Epicureanism and Lucretius to Renaissance scholars who were living in Christianity-centred cities and countries?  Epicureanism developed before the time of Christ, and Lucretius lived and wrote before the time of Christ.  The death of Lucretius is believed to have been in 55 BCE or 51 BCE.  This places his death approximately 7-11 years prior to the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE.  

A full transcription and study of Montaigne's notes was published in 1998 by Prof. M.A. Screech, a cleric and a professor of French literature at  University College, University of London, and a Fellow and Emeritus Fellow at Oxford.  Reference: M. A. Screech, Montaigne's annotated copy of Lucretius: a transcription and study of the manuscript, notes and pen-marks (Genève, 1998).  Re provenance of this copy of De rerum natura: The book was purchased by Eton College from Hesketh & Ward in 1989.  Subsequently it was owned by Gilbert de Botton and given to Cambridge University Library in 2008.  This explains the Eton College Library sticker on the verso of the cover page. 

A preliminary observation of this research is that the marginalia in Montaigne's copy of De rerum natura is often neatly written next to italicized passages that are indented and separated from the rest of the text by this indentation and italicization and these passages are also printed in a larger font. The whole book is in Latin and the indented and italicized sections are also in Latin. There are also some lines printed in Ancient Greek. This marginalia shows a diligent and organized note taking practice by Montaigne devoted to these indented and italicized passages which are printed in a larger font.   

Fields: History of the Book, Print History, Ancient History, Roman History, Classics, Ancient Philosophy, Renaissance History, Renaissance Philosophy, French Renaissance, French History, European History, History of Knowledge, Intellectual History, History of Science, Digital Humanities.

Previous Research Experience:  Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Astrophysics, History of Mathematics, Greek History, Roman History, Ancient History, Early Modern History, History of Early Modern Mathematics, Scottish History, and History of Science, Medicine, and Technology.    

(Website updated on Oct. 24, 2025) 

Attended a conference on The Mathematical Book Trade in the Early Modern World hosted by Prof. Benjamin Wardhaugh at All Souls College, Oxford (December 2019).

Assisted Prof. Isobel Falconer MBE (St Andrews) and  Prof. Dame Ursula Martin DBE CBE FREng FRSE DSc (Oxford and the University of Edinburgh) in the coordination and hosting of a conference for Scotland’s Historians of Science held at the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh (January 2020).

Presented at the Research In Progress (RIP) Conference of the British Society for the History of Mathematics held at The Queen's College, Oxford (February 2020).

Presented at the Scotland’s Historians of Science Conference (online, June 2020). 

Presented at Novembertagung Berlin: Axiomatics Conference (online, November 2020).

Presented at the Research In Progress (RIP) Conference of the British Society for the History of Mathematics (online, February 2021).

Presented at “People, Places, Practices: Joint BSHM-CSHPM/SCHPM Conference” (online, July 2021; originally planned for St Andrews). 

"William Sanders," published in the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive in June 2023: https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Sanders/

Gravitational Microlensing Near Caustics II: Cusps  On page 39: "We are especially thankful to Meredith Houlton for meticulously checking our calculations." (This acknowledgement was unanticipated.  Thanks are extended to Prof. Arlie Petters MBE for his mentorship during the NSF PRUV Fellowship and this acknowledgement in his journal article.)  

Research Supervisors: 

Prof. Isobel Falconer MBE, Prof. Edmund Robertson, and Prof. Peter Maxwell-Stuart

Acknowledgements:

Much gratitude is extended to St Andrews Special Collections which provided a scan of one of St Andrews copies of Elementa Geometriae.  Thanks are also extended to universities throughout the UK including the University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, Oxford, and Cambridge.

Note: 

British spelling and American spelling are sometimes different.  Acknowledgment (American spelling) and acknowledgement (British spelling) and honor (American spelling) and honour (British spelling).

GPA and Transcript:

Cumulative GPA, major GPAs, and undergraduate transcript: available upon request.