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Secondary sourceBook1829

The Life of John Locke, with Extracts from His Correspondence and Journals

Peter King, Lord King · 1829

An 1829 biography of Locke drawing on his own letters, journals and notebooks, written by Peter King, Lord King.

This 1829 biography of Locke uses his own letters and journals to reconstruct his life and thought.

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Plain dark red cloth book cover with no visible title or lettering, showing faint wear and a vertical spine crease along the left side.
Peter King, Lord King, The Life of John Locke, 1829.

About this source

What it is

This is a biography of John Locke published in 1829 by Peter King, Lord King, who included extracts from Locke's own correspondence, journals and notebooks. The cover shown is a plain dark red cloth binding.

Why it matters

Because the author had access to Locke's private papers, the book is considered a strong early source on Locke's life, preserving his own words even though it was written over a century after his death.

Look closer

  • Why might a biography that quotes a person's private letters be more trustworthy than one that does not?
  • What might the author have chosen to leave out when selecting which letters to include?
  • How does writing about someone generations later shape what we learn about them?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of John Locke on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Engraved oval portrait of a man with long wavy hair, wearing a loose dark gown over a white collared shirt, set in an ornate oval frame atop a pedestal bearing a coat of arms. Inscription below reads 'Effigies Iohannis Locke' with a Latin line beneath, plus artist credits 'G. Kneller Equ. pinxit 1697' and 'Geo. Vertue Sculp. 1722'.Painting

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