A New Method of a Common-Place-Book

Abstract

In this tract, framed as a letter to Nicolas Toinard, John Locke explains a method for organizing and indexing a common-place book that he had used for twenty-five years. A compact two-page index groups subject headings by their initial letter and first subsequent vowel; for vowel-initial monosyllables, the initial vowel serves both functions. Each class receives a pair of facing pages. Headings begin in the margin and continue along the text line. When a pair fills, Locke marks an immediately following continuation with V (Verte), or links separated pages through reciprocal page references, adding new reference numbers to the index. He recommends consistent use of one language for headings, favors Latin nominatives to prevent changes of case from confusing the indexing, and proposes separate volumes for different fields of knowledge. His citation system records an edition’s total page count as well as a passage’s page number, allowing approximate proportional location in another edition. The tract demonstrates its own layout through sample entries on Egyptian funerary customs (Acheron), Ebionite scriptural alterations (Ebionitæ), Augustine and Salvianus on forbearance toward theological error (Hæretici), and Hilary of Poitiers on post-Nicene doctrinal disputes (Confessio Fidei). – AI-generated abstract.