Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Martin Folkes to Hans Sloane – January 23rd 1734
Item info
Date: January 23rd 1734
Author: Martin Folkes
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4053
Folio: f. 151
Original Page
Transcription
Folkes writes to Sloane that Sir Thomas Dereham showed him a letter from Sloane where Sloane happily passed on a recommendation Folkes had made. He mentions his brother as well who was pleased to be recommended to the Society. He takes this opportunity to mention a Monsignor Leprotti, first physician to the pope, a man of great learning who is particularly acquainted with the works of the society and respects all the members. Folkes says he has never met a gentleman of greater merit or curiosity. He has a noble library of philosophical books and, like Sloane, likes communicating them to the use of all. Folkes concludes that he believes Leprotti to be very valuable and useful correspondent. The second man he mentions is the R. father Ravillas, Prior of St. Alexius upon Mount Clementine, and Professor of Philosophy. A very qualified gentleman skilled in natural knowledge and experimental philosophy. Both these men are also recommended by fellows Signor Mamfredi and Father Grandi. Folkes closes by mentioning that a Cardinal had just sold his collection of marbles and offers his service to Sloane.
Martin Folkes was an antiquary and natural philosopher. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge and inherited a large estate from his father. Folkes was appointed Vice-President of the Royal Society in 1723 and contributed articles to the Philosophical Transactions. After the death of Royal Society President Sir Isaac Newton in 1727 Folkes and Sloane, both vice-presidents, petitioned to succeed him. Sloane won the election and Folkes only returned to the Royal Society Council in 1733. He succeeded Sloane as President from 1741 to 1752 (David Boyd Haycock, Folkes, Martin (16901754), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9795, accessed 16 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Joseph Ames to Hans Sloane – December 13th 1733
Item info
Date: December 13th 1733
Author: Joseph Ames
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Ms 4053
Folio: f. 112
Original Page
Transcription
Ames writes to Sloane updating him on Job as Sloane requested. Ames and Job went to Hamlin’s Coffee house at the exchange where they met Mr Blewit with whom Ames had a slight argument. “The Company” is a topic of conversation which has a ship bound for Gambia which Job will sail on.
Joseph Ames (bap.1687, d.1759) bibliographer and antiquary, elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1743. He was admitted to the Society of antiquaries and contributed to their Thursday meetings. He frequented university libraries as well as those of the members of both societies. (Robin Myers, ‘Ames, Joseph (bap. 1687, d. 1759)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/439, accessed 13 Aug 2015])
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Charles Preston to Hans Sloane – June 13, 1710
Item info
Date: June 13, 1710
Author: Charles Preston
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4042
Folio: ff. 146-147
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Language
English
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Library
British Library, London
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Categories
Collections, Philosophical Transactions, Scholarship, Scientific
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Subjects
Books, Botany, Gardens, Hotbeds, Montpellier, Plants, Specimens
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Date (as written)
June 13, 1710
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Standardised date
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Origin (as written)
Edr [Edinburgh]
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Others mentioned
William Caruthers Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Dr Mitchel Archibald Pitcairne
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Patients mentioned
Original Page
Transcription
Preston tells Sloane of the new plants he received from an acquaintance at Montpellier, some of which he ‘committed to a hot bed’. He discusses the work of botanical scholars and requests that Sloane send him the Philosophical Transactions ‘from January to February 1708’.
Preston was a physician and botanist who established a lengthy correspondence with Sloane, exchanging plants, seeds, books and information. His main interest was in botany, and was well-known by his contemporaries for his botanical knowledge (Anita Guerrini, Preston, Charles (16601711), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47084, accessed 2 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Stukeley to Hans Sloane – July 7 1733
Item info
Date: July 7 1733
Author: William Stukeley
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4053
Folio: f. 5-6
Original Page
Transcription
Dr William Stukeley writes to Sloane describing the return of his gout and how he is treating it with Dr. Rogers’s Oils. His pain has come and gone in the past year and recently came back violently. He vouches for Rogers’s remedy and says there are many other patients that do as well.
William Stukeley was an antiquary and natural philosopher. He studied medicine at Corpus Christi, Cambridge and practiced medicine in London and Boston before setting up a practice in Grantham in 1726. Stukeley was acquainted with Dr Richard Mead, Sir Hans Sloane, Edmond Halley, and other prominent intellectuals and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1718. He published several medical treatises and important texts on the stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury (David Boyd Haycock, Stukeley, William (16871765), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26743, accessed 19 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Daniel Turner to Hans Sloane – July 2nd 1733
Item info
Date: July 2nd 1733
Author: Daniel Turner
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4053
Folio: f. 3
Original Page
Transcription
Turner Apologizes for his bookseller forgetting to send Sloane the book he has enclosed.
Daniel Turner was admitted as a surgeon to the Barber-Surgeons’ Company of London in 1691. He participated in four dissections that were recorded and published in the Philosophical Transactions between 1693 and 1694. In 1711, after twenty years of practicing surgery, he was admitted as a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. Turner published treatises on the nature and place of surgery in medicine throughout his career and engaged in debates on the treatment of syphilis (Philip K. Wilson, Turner, Daniel (16671741), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27844, accessed 15 Aug 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Mary Glentworth to J. Petiver – Juen the 22
Item info
Date: Juen the 22
Author: Mary Glentworth
Recipient: J. Petiver
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: MS 4066
Folio: f. 350
Original Page
Transcription
Deare son
this com to in quier of your helth which
i shuld Bee very glad to heare of i have sent
to my dater woodcock to kno and shee sent me
word you were Better But your Are in ware
laid open i shuld bee very glad to heare it
were beter and how you doe as to your helth
there ware a mesengar came from oxford
this morning with the nues that my pore cusen wilam
Pettiver lieeth so very week that tha veri much
despare of his [lives?] and i all so this day Reseveed
a leter from Elborowe of his [saves?] a [kival?] which
i were much Regist to heare of my Brother and
sister and your nes ginni present you with
there love and servis and Bee plesed to eccept
of my Blesin and Deare love to your selef
wit my prares to the lord for your good
helth is all at present from deare son
your truly afeckinat mother
Mary Plentworth
Rugby
Juen the 22
Mary Glentworth writes to James Petiver, inquiring about the state of his health. Glentworth mentions that her “pore cusen” William Petiver “lieeth so very week[.]” Glentworth reports that she recently received a letter from Elborowe. There is an additional message printed in the left margin but the text is too faded to read – unclear whether it is Glentworth’s or another individual’s handwriting in the margin. Mary Glethworth was the daughter of the wealthy Richard Elborow and mother of James Petiver. (D. E. Allen, ‘Petiver, James (c.1665–1718)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22041, accessed 15 July 2015])
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Adam Buddle to Petiver – June ye 20th two of ye clock
Item info
Date: June ye 20th two of ye clock
Author: Adam Buddle
Recipient: Petiver
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: MS 4066
Folio: f. 286
Original Page
Transcription
June ye 20th two of ye clock
Madam Cary
If this note finds you, if you will
come to ye ship Tavern in Bartholomew
Lane, you will be kindly received
by your
Kinsman & servant
Adam Buddle
here is onely Mr Petiver with me
Buddle asks Madam Cary to meet him at the Ship Tavern in Bartholomew Lane. Adam Buddle (bap. 1662, d. 1715) was a botanist and an ordained minister with the Church of England. While living in Henley, Suffolk, Buddle corresponded with James Petiver and Samuel Doody. Buddle had an impressive collection of mosses and grasses that he lent to Petiver and Doody, which were later passed on to Tournefort and Bobart. Buddle also acquired several specimens of English flora, which he bequeathed to Sloane. (James Britten, ‘Buddle, Adam (bap. 1662, d. 1715)’, rev. Janet Browne, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3883, accessed 22 June 2015])
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Derham to Hans Sloane – November 3, 1710
Item info
Date: November 3, 1710
Author: William Derham
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4042
Folio: ff. 199-200
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 200]
Sr Upminster Nov: 3 1710
My little Daughter had some time since
a sore Throat wch with repelling medicines went
off & (as I imagine) turned upon her Lungs. For
she was seized immediately wch a great suffocation
like to have carried her off divers times. She coughed
up several pieces of white stuff like rags wth her
violent strainings & agitations of her Lungs. She
hathe been blooded, taken Linseed oyl, & Also Pec-
toral things, takes now Lucat: Bals. By reason
she raise blood oftentimes. Her cough is now for ye most part
gone & all other symptoms off, only a great hoarse-
ness continues, & sometimes a kind of Palpita-
tion of her heart all day long. She hath for
near a fortnights time, been taken wth such a
Blindness yt she cannot discern leters or small
things distinctly, not even know the spots on ye
cards from one another. And yet her Eyes are
clear, & free from the least appearance of Cata-
racts even when peeped into wth a Microscope:
neither hath there been any soreness or humour
at all in them. Knowing your great judgmt in these
matters, I beg the favour of your opinion & di-
rections in my poor childs case. I forgot to tell you she is above
9 years old. I am sorry I have been so long detained from the
Societies affairs. The occasions whereof were the Lying in of
my Wife, & the Death afterwards of that Child at the very
time of some frequent Councils I had summons unto; &
near 3 weeks agoe my Wife loosing a very dear & indulgent
Mother hath occasioned a great many journeys & other in-
terruptions from any other business. But I hope in some
short time to be able to wait on you in Crane-court, to wch
I met Mr Hunts summons last night at my return home.
I fear Crane-court house is much too little for us, a Library
& a Repository fit for the reception of the benefactions we
allready have, or may in all future ages compass, being I
think necessary. But you are better judges of these matters
than I who have not yet had an opportunity of discoursing a-
bout them. Ed: Lucking returns you many thanks for the 5s you
sent him by me: he tells me all things are very well at your
Farm, & yt he will faithfully advertize you, by me, of any thing
Amiss there. Wth great respect I am
Sr Your much obliged humble servt
Wm Derham
Derham was a Church of England clergyman and a natural philosopher, interested in nature, mathematics, and philosophy. He frequently requested medical advice from Sloane, and likely served as a physician to his family and parishioners (Marja Smolenaars, “Derham, William (1657-1735)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7528, accessed 7 June 2011]).
Patient Details
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Patient info
Name: Miss. Derham
Gender:
Age:
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Description
Miss Derham had a sore throat 'which with repelling medecines went off [...] She coughed up several pieces of white fluff like rags' because of the strain on her lungs.
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Diagnosis
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Treatment
Previous Treatment: Derham 'turned upon her lungs' which 'seized [her] immediatley with a great suffocation'. She was bled and given 'Linsed oyl' along with a pectoral and 'now Lucat: Bals'.
Ongoing Treatment: Her cough went away
Response: She has 'a kind of Palpitation of her heart' and a 'Blindness' that prevents her from reading. Her eyes remain free of obvious obstructions. Derham dismisses cataracts after having examined her eyes 'with a Microscope'. There is no 'soreness or humour at all in them' either.
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More information
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Medical problem reference
Lungs, Coughs, Childhood Diseases, Blood, Eyes, Heart
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Jo: Douglas to J. Petiver –
Item info
Date:
Author: Jo: Douglas
Recipient: J. Petiver
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: MS 4066
Folio: f. 333
Original Page
Transcription
I was hurried away so unex==pectedly,
that I could not possibly wait
upon you, however you may depend
upon’t, I’ll take all possible care
to oblige you in what you desire.
The Admiral not the fleet
from the Downs, are Just now
come in sight, so yt I expect to sail
very suddenly.
In my next I’ll give you my
direction till when I wish
you all properity & successe.
[Yt?] is all at present from
him that you shall always be proud to
serve you.
Jo: Douglas N:B
John Douglas was unable to wait on James Petiver but assures him that he will do whatever he can to oblige him in whatever he desires. John Douglas was a surgeon famous after 1719 for his method of removing stones. He published a book elucidating the procedure in 1720 and was appointed surgeon to Westminster Hospital in 1721 (Michael Bevan, Douglas, John (d. 1743), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7907, accessed 18 July 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Robt Clavell to Pecaver –
Item info
Date:
Author: Robt Clavell
Recipient: Pecaver
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: MS 4066
Folio: f. 297
Original Page
Transcription
that …. ……..
Mr Pecaver
I went to mr Walford to enqure for one Marrion
that writ about west India plants cut & [conley?] but he could
give me no account of it but advisd me to enquire
of you, if you can give me any directions about [yt?]
book or collection you will doe me a kindness. I am
a little lame by a hurt in my leg that I cannot well
way be upon you & therfore desire the ffavour of you
to let me have the best account in writing you can
give & you will oblige
Yor ffriend & Sert
Robt Clavell
at ye peacock in St pauls church yard
Robert Clavell spoke to Mr. Walford, inquiring about some West Indian plants, but Walford was unable to provide him any information. Clavell therefore seeks Mr. Pecaver’s (James Petiver) advice on the matter (‘James Petiver, FRS Apothecary to the Charter-House: Miscellaneous correspondence’ British Library [http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?dscnt=1&fromLogin =true&doc=IAMS040-002116460&displayMode=full&dstmp=1432649891937&vid=IAMS_ VU2&ct=display&tabs=detailsTab&fromLogin=true&fromLogin=true, accessed 16 July 2015]) Robert Clavell was a successful bookseller and publisher who served as master of the Stationers’ Company from 1698-1700. Clavell is known for his role as editor of the Term Catalogues, which was a bibliography of new English Publications. (David Stoker, Clavell, Robert (b. in or before 1633, d. 1711), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5552?docPos=3, accessed July 9, 2015]).