Reconstruction

Abstract

There are two main sets of surviving drawn plans for the Temple of Solomon by Newton⁴⁶⁹; the three illustrations in the Chronology and the six in Babson MS 0434. Of the six drawings in Babson MS 0434, three of them are incomplete and are not referred to in the text. Only three of the six drawings have sufficient detail to allow their annotations within the text to be followed. Two of these are of the gates and the other is the plan of the Temple precinct. The Temple precinct drawings have become synonymous with Newton’s Temple. The images in the Chronology consist of floor plans of the Temple precinct, the Temple and the colonnades of the Temple. These images are complete floor plans, but their completeness is not backed up by the very brief and confused description given in Chapter Five of the Chronology. The image of the Temple precinct in Babson MS 0434 (Fig. 7.4) lacks some details, and the other images in Babson MS 0434 add nothing to complete these areas. In the two images of the Temple precinct, there are clear differences in the floor plan, but the overall appearance does seem similar.