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. 117
Last Sunday morning before day Mr Plowden had another fit: and another on Monday morning. Tuesday he was well; Wednesday morning had a fit again and none since that. Your favour of the 11th came not to me till yesterday the 14th. The child having miss’t the fit and being in a fine way of recovery, I presume if you were here, you would recall the order you have given for the Bark. On Sunday and Monday he bled pretty plentifully at nose. His Giddiness in quite gone. Till yesterday he has had a small inconsiderable headache, which would come and go off, but sometimes last about an hour. Of late he complains that the Electuary and julep go against his stomach and make him sickish. Pray tell me if he must take those remedies again. Last Saturday night he had another mishap in bed.
Read more- Letter 2609
Latest Statistics
| Pages digitised | |
| 4,545 | Document summaries |
| Documents transcribed | |
| People | |
| 1,527 | Medical Cases |
| Places |