Letter 0730

Hyde explains that he was abandoned by many of his subscribers, which made him act uncharitably to his friends. He is sorry if Sloane took offence. Hyde has arranged to have the remaining copies of the book put in Sloane’s care. He discusses his new work, which will take the form of a book entitled ‘Natural History of Egypt’. Hyde was the librarian of the Bodleian Library from 1665 to 1701. He possessed excellent linguistic skills in eastern languages, especially ancient Persian and Arabic (P. J. Marshall, Hyde, Thomas (16361703), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14336, accessed 19 June 2013]).