Samuel Hartlib, known as the Great Intelligencer of Europe, educationalist, natural philosopher and polymath, dedicated himself to maintaining regular and extensive correspondence with like-minded thinkers around the world, to creating a documentary archive of knowledge and information on many aspects of contemporary life and to communicating that knowledge to others - in effect an encyclopedist of the seventeenth century. He was assisted in his work by close associates and a staff of copyists.

Samuel Hartlib was born around 1600 in Elbing in East Prussia, but his mother was English, and his family was involved in an English merchant company in Danzig and Elbing. He was educated at least partly in England, and because of the disruption caused by the Thirty Years War moved permanently to England around 1628. After settling in England he became acquainted with religious leaders (on the reformed side), leading members of universities, men of science, literature, politics, education, agriculture, horticulture, technology and many other areas of knowledge. Notable people with whom he corresponded include Comenius (Jan Amos Komenský), John Milton, Andrew Marvell, Robert Boyle, Oliver Cromwell, John Dury, Christopher Wren, René Descartes and Blaise Pascal. In addition he corresponded with the English colonies in America. Sadly, despite his eminent connections, Hartlib was always short of money, though his association with the Parliamentary side resulted in a small pension from Cromwells government, but at the Restoration he fell out of favour, dying in penury two years later in 1662.