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Welcome to The Sloane Letters Project

sloaneA 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. 303] Sir I presume to beg the Favour of You, to let me know, weither you have any Acquaintance, amongst some of the Chiefest Turkey Merchants, or if by your Interest I may be brought acquainted with Sr James Roushcoult, who is designd Ambassadour of ye Ottoman Port. I shall add this to Yr former Favuor, and show my self upon all occasions, that I am with greate Respect Yr most humble & most obliged ser’t G Kirchmaier April ye 23th 1697
Read more- Letter 0442


Latest Statistics

Pages digitised
4,545 Document summaries
Documents transcribed
People
1,527 Medical Cases
Places