Home

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. 137 By Lord Chief Justice Eyre’s command I write this to give an account of ye most remarkable events in his Lordships long indisposition and ye methods of medicine he made use of under it. This first fever which … call payns in ye muscles of ye legs continued more than 20 days with little variation. Though three bleedings and more frequent purgings were on several occasions made use of. The want of signs of concoction either in the urine or by sweats defend ye use of the cortex, till such time as ye fever appeared under ye true symptoms of a regular intermittent one. The medicine though taken every two hours in the intermissions succeeded not till ye fourth day on ye first night after suppressing ye paroxysm. His Lordship felt acute payns in ye feet which were not attended with redness and swellings till ye fourth night. Hitherto had been forborne flesh, wine or mault drink without the … appearance of low spirits from that Regimen or ye Evacuations. He has since fed temperately on white flesh once 1 day with 2 or 3 glasses of wine. The gouty payns have frequently infested him since that time and have prevented ye use of his legs. A few days after ye gouty swellings, others of the anasarcous kind appeared, on which severe brisk … was advis’d and a bitter stomachick infusion to be taken day by and a cordial draught with confection Raleigh at night. These have been continued for above three weeks unless when interrupted twice by an accidental cold taken and fever following it, which were … by ye use of cordial testaceous powders, diluting and sweats remov’d. His Lordship is again in ye same method on ye Road, ye particulars you will be inform’d of by ye … hand and myne. I have no thing more to add but wishes of a good journey to his Lordship and good success under your care…
Read more- Letter 2615


Latest Statistics

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