An Essay Towards A Real Character and A Philosophical Language - Composition and Influences

Composition and Influences

The stimulus for Wilkins to write the Essay came from the Council of the Royal Society, in 1662. The work was delayed by the Great Fire of London of 1666, which destroyed some of it in draft.

The book was written by Wilkins, assisted by John Ray, Francis Willughby, and others. An influence was the Ars Signorum of George Dalgarno. Also influential, as Wilkins acknowledged, was The Ground-Work or Foundation Laid … for the Framing of a New Perfect Language (1652) by Francis Lodwick.

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