Welcome to The Sloane Letters Project
A pilot of this project, Sir Hans Sloane’s Correspondence Online, was first launched at the University of Saskatchewan in 2010 to coincide with the 350th anniversary of Sir Hans Sloane’s birth. The project was renamed The Sloane Letters Project when it moved to this site in 2016.
The correspondence of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) consists of thirty-eight volumes held at the British Library, London: MSS 4036-4069, 4075-4078. The letters are a rich source of information about topics such as scientific discourse, collections of antiquities, curiosities and books, patients’ illnesses, medical treatments and family history. Most of the letters were addressed to Sloane, but a few volumes were addressed to others (MSS 4063-4067) or written by Sloane (MSS 4068-4069).
So far, we have entered descriptions and metadata for Sloane MSS 4036-4053 and 4075, as well as several letters from each of the following: Sloane MSS 4054-4055, 4066, 4068-4069 and 4076. Several of these entries also include transcriptions. Further entries and transcriptions are being made available gradually.
Please, explore the website and database. You can search through the letters, learn about Sir Hans Sloane or the letters written to him, and peruse blog posts about interesting letters!
Random Letter
Author:Recipient:
[fol. 229] Gr. Coll. 13. Apr. 1722
Sr What you call a Bibliotheca Materiarum would be a Thing of very great Use: & I intreat you to set it forth. I’m satisfyd there’s no where, together, so great a Collection of Physick Books as you have: and, if I have any that you want, you may freely command them towards compleating so noble a Collection. You shall see my Catalogue whenever you please. Mean while, haveing a Dupl.at; from Sr. S of His Translation of Dr Astruc’s Tract of ye Plague, I cannot place it more fitly than wth you. Mr. Woolhouse, Sensible of yr Favours to Him, makes you frequent Offers of his service at Paris: his, I am sure, very sincere & hearty. I am Sr your very faithfull humble servant Woodward S.r H. Sloane
Read more- Letter 2570
Latest Statistics
| Pages digitised | |
| 4,545 | Document summaries |
| Documents transcribed | |
| People | |
| 1,527 | Medical Cases |
| Places |