Notes that Isaac Newton's dog almost destroyed sell for over $500K

Posted on December 10, 2020 at 8:15 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Pet owners everywhere can surely empathize with the great Isaac Newton, who left something important on a table only to find his dog had nearly destroyed it.

Fortunately, the fire that is said to have occurred when Diamond the dog jumped on a table and knocked over a candle didn’t destroy Newton’s notes on the secrets of ancient Egypt.

The Guardian reports that these papers — burned around the edges but still eligible – have sold at auction for £378,000 (over $501,000).

The papers date to the 1680s and show Newton’s attempts to “unlock secret codes he believed were hidden in the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Egypt,” in the Guardian’s words.

Learn more about Newton’s wonderings in these papers in the Guardian.