(Born:      ; Died: Ousby, Cumberland, England, 1719) English theologian & naturalist.

Robinson was appointed rector at Ousby in 1672, a position he held his entire life. His leisure hours were devoted to collecting facts about the mining, minerals, and natural history of Cumberland and Westmoreland.

Biographical references: Allibone, Dictionary of English Literature, 1859-71. • BBA: I 940, 197-201. • DNB: 17, 46. • Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica, 1824. • WBI.

1. English, 1694.
[Contained within a double rule box:] The | Anatomy | Of The | Earth | [rule] | By Tho. Robinson, | Rector of Ousby in Cumberland. | [rule] | [... 2 lines of quotation ...] | [double rule] | London, | Printed for I. Newton, at the Three Pigeons | in Fleet-street, 1694.

8°: A-C⁴ D³; 15l.; [6], 1-24 p. Figure showing the interior of the earth occurs on page 19.

Contents: [1 pg], Title page.; [1 pg], "Licenced, | January 12. | 1693 | Edward Cooke."; [2 pgs], "To The | Gentlemen Miners."-signed Tho. Robinson.; [2 pgs], "The | Contents."; 1-24, Text.

Rare. The text has the feel of a series of sermons, perhaps as delivered to his congretation in Cumberland. The 10 chapters of the work are as follows: (1) Creation of Matter. (2) Production of Living Creatures. (3) Of the Fleshy-Parts and Blood of the hair-veins. (4) Of the several kinds of metals and minerals. (5) Of Water Baths and Hot Springs. (6) Of the Tapping of Feeders, the Nature of Damps, Firing of Mountains, etc. (7) Of Dykes, Rakes, Veins, Strings, &c. (8) Description of the Belly of the Earth. (9) Reason of the Sea's Ebbing and Flowing. (10) The Diurnal Motion of the Earth.

Bibliographical references: LKG: XIII 23 & XIII 24a.

Essay, 1709

2. English, 1709.
[Contained within a double rule box:] An | Essay | Towards A | Natural History | Of | Westmorland | And | Cumberland. | Wherein | An Account is given of their several Mineral | and Surface Productions, with some Dire- | ctions how to discover Minerals by the Ex- | ternal and Adjacent Strata and Upper Co- | vers, &c. | To which is Annexed, | A Vindication of the Philosophical and Theological | Paraphrase of the Mosaick System of the | Creation, &c. | [rule] | By Tho. Robinson, Rector of | Ousby in Cumberland. | [rule] | London: Printed by J.L. for Freeman, at the Bible against the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1709.

[Title page of second part:]

A | Vindication | Of The | Philosophical and Theological | Exposition | Of The | Mosaick System | Of The | Creation. | With | Moral Inferences and Conclusions. | [rule] | By Tho. Robinson. | [rule] | Non est mortale quod opto. | [rule] | London: | Printed in the Year, 1709.

2 parts in one volume. 8°: A-G⁸ H-O⁸ P⁴; 116l.; [16], 1-95, [1] p.; [1]-118, [2] p. (page 3 misnumbered 1). Page size: 194 x 118 mm.

Contents: [Part 1] [2 pgs], Title page, verso blank.; [6 pgs], Dedication, signed Tho. Robinson.; [4 pgs], "The | Preface."; [4 pgs], "The | Contents | Of The | First Part."; 1-95, Text, ending "The End of the First Part."

[Part 2] [1-2], Title page, verso blank.; 3 (i.e., 1)-98, Text of Sermon.; 99-104, "Of | Magnetisms | And | Influences."; 105-116, "The | Platonick Anima Mundi: | Or, The | Chain of Life Illustrated."; 117-118, "The | Conclusion."; [2 pgs], Publisher's list.

Scarce. The first part contains 15 chapters that describe mountains, heat and cold, the earth, water, stones, the different classes of matter of the earth, mineral productions of various regions, assaying and purification of metals, the generation, growth and trasmutation of metals, of mundick metals, how to discover mines of coal, and whether there be precious stones in Westmorland and Cumberland. The second portion contains the text of a sermon on the Biblical creation of the earth, including references to magnetism and the development of life.

Bibliographical references: Gatterer, Mineralogischen Literatur, 1798-9: 1, 88. • LKG: XIII 25b & XIV 411.

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