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. 253]
Whitby Septemb:r the 22th 1724
Sr Hans
The great favour you did me, when
I gave y’r Worship an acc’t sometime
since of a great quantity of silver ore &
another of Jett, which were found in our
sea clives not far from Whitby, You were
pleasd to give me y’r opinion that Jett
being so plentifull in other p’ts of this
kingdom, it would not be of any great
advantage to pursue the getting of
it though it is very good in its nature &
abundance of pretty things have been
made of it here & the silver ore hath
been tryd by a Chymist
& very good silver extracted from it but attended
with too much charge whether or not he was a
very skilfull man in his profession, I am not a
competent judg but shall send you a demonstr
-ation of it. S’r Hans I should be very proud
that S’r Isaac Newton & y’r Worship would be
so kind as to procure me some little place
that I may get my bread, being out of employm’t
I hope I should be found faithfull & always
acknowledge the favour done me & that I am with all profound
respect
S’r Hans
Y’r most humble & most
Obedient Servant
W’m Newton
Read more- Letter 3081
Latest Statistics
| Pages digitised | |
| 4,545 | Document summaries |
| Documents transcribed | |
| People | |
| 1,527 | Medical Cases |
| Places |