Letter 0392

Edmond Halley to Hans Sloane – June 12, 1694


Item info

Date: June 12, 1694
Author: Edmond Halley
Recipient: Hans Sloane

Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: f. 175



Original Page



Transcription

[fol. 175] Chichester June 12 1694 Sr I hope you will please to pardon my neglect in not waiting on you to request of you the favour I now begg, viz: that you would please to take the Minutes of the Society during my absence this summer. I shall make it my endeavour to be serviceable to you in prosecuting such naturall Enquirys as shall come in my way, and in all things strive to approve my self Sr Your most obedient HUmble Servt Edmond Halley

Edmond Halley left Oxford without an undergraduate degree to travel the world, giving him the opportunity to study astronomy on the spot. Upon returning to England he had a prestigious career and collaborated with Sir Isaac Newton, entered the public service, served as a professor at Oxford, and was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1721 (Alan Cook, “Halley, Edmond (1656-1742)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12011, accessed 1 June 2011]).




Patient Details