Sir Isaac Newton and the Great Re-Coinage of 1696 in Philip Kerr’s Dark Matter

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show how in recent years a comparatively little-known period of Newton’s life, his work as the Warden and then Master of the Royal Mint, has entered the popular imagination. Analyzing Philip Kerr’s detective novel set in the 17th century, Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton, I discuss his depiction of the Great Re-Coinage and the criminal world of cockney counterfeiters and ‘clippers’ whom Newton so successfully prosecuted. Additionally, the paper demonstrates how the “Britishness” of Newton and of old London becomes commodified; Kerr sells the myth of British history, Britain’s greatest minds, and British urban folklore for the global market.