Letter 2955

Zollman went to view ‘les curiosites de feu Mr Kampfer’. Steigertahl sends a catalogue of the plants and rarities in the collection. Lord Townshend is already familiar with it. J.H. Kampfer, nephew of the late Engelbert Kaempfer, has already sent specimens related to the ‘Histoire du Japon’ to Steigertahl. Zollman is going to translate the 47 chapters of the ‘Histoire’ into English. It is up to Sloane to decide whether there is any merit to the project, which is a natural history and general survey of Japanese culture. Steigertahl is going to see if the shells and plants in Kaempfer’s collection can be purchased separately, as the whole collection would be rather costly. Princess Amalie is in good health, as are the King, Queen, and Prince Frederick. Steigertahl proposes a new project on ‘la longitude’, which Sloane is to communicate to Edmond Halley. Johann Georg Steigertahl (1666-1740) was the personal physician to George I of England. He was a member of the Royal Society and secured the purchase of Engelbert Kaempfer’s collection of East Asian curiosities for Sir Hans Sloane in 1723 (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Georg_Steigerthal).