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:
Sr
This opertunaty obliged me to
Trouble yu. with annother Letter as alsoo
A small Token to Drinke wth. yu & Coz James
Ayrey; I have had tow fitts of ye. goute
since I camee here which occasioned
me to make use of some of yor. medicens
by which I found Co…..
The Bearer has got such a stock of
Plants &c yt. he will furnish yu. wth.
what varietties ys place chiefly affords
he has had abundance more Time & opper
=tunaty to looke for ym. yn. I could
Expect, being mine Consisted in Town
in ye. selling my goods, & his in being in
ye. Country or Drinking Claret[t?] in Town
wch. he never spared; But if there be
any thinge yt. he has gott wch. yu. may
fancy for a [qt.?] of Let me know & yu.
shall not want it, And I hope to have
somethinge from ye Indians yt. ye Major has
not in his Collection; Pray give my servis
to Coz James Ayrey & Tell him I would have
writt him but yt. nothing has offerd worth
while since my last wch. was ye 14 [wth?]:
[p?] Captt. [Brabins?] As for any News ys place
affords I Refer yu. to ye. Bearer, & am wth. Tender of unfeigned Respects
Sr your affect. Servtt.
Ja Ingerson
Read more- Letter 4241
Latest Statistics
| Pages digitised | |
| 4,545 | Document summaries |
| Documents transcribed | |
| People | |
| 1,527 | Medical Cases |
| Places |