Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Servington Savery to Hans Sloane – July 16, 1730
Item info
Date: July 16, 1730
Author: Servington Savery
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4051
Folio: ff. 72-73
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 72] Shilston July 16th, 1730 Honrd Sr When Mr Sheperd ye Bearer hereof was in London last I prsumd to trouble you wth three or four sheets containing some Magnetical Experimts made mostly by others, as well as my self, & among them 2 or 3 which I apprehended now, because I never heard or read of them. In my Letter I beg’d ye Favour of a Line from one of your Secretary’s (who are Strangers to me) to let me know what the Royal Society thought of them tho they should Judge them to be of little Moment. I also promis’d, if so commanded to send ye best Directions I could for making a Machine wch within ye Time of 24 Hours will plainly show to yr naked eye yt ye Magnetical Poles in respect of ye surface of the Earth have mov’d [and] how much. The Civilitys yr Honr was pleas’d to show to my above named Friend encourages me to renew my Request, concluding yr Answer to my first is miscarried. I’m attempting also to find the Lunar Distance by a Method not depending on ye Parallax, but ye Work wanting a few Approximations I can’t yet send it: By wt I have wrought I find it above 238000 Eng: Miles but defective, wch Defect, as I guess, may exceed 2000 Miles, & if so, ’tis pretty near wt other make it by ye Parallax. If a Thing of this Nature will be acceptable, please to lay ye Commands on Honrd Sr Yr Honrd most obedient Humble servant Servington Savery Ere this can be deliver’d I hope to be in Exon at ye Revnd Mr John Enty’s, where, if I’m favour’d wth an Answer, please to order it to be directed.
Servington Savery (c.1670-c.1744) was a natural philosopher. He authored a paper on magnetism that was published in the Philosophical Transactions in 1730. Savery also designed a telescope, which George Graham used to measure the sun’s diameter. He spent his career in Shilston, near Modbury, Devon (Patricia Fara, ‘Savery, Servington (c.1670–c.1744)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/53780, accessed 18 Aug 2014]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
W. Cheyne to Hans Sloane – June 11, 1700
Item info
Date: June 11, 1700
Author: W. Cheyne
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: f. 23
Original Page
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Henry Connell to Hans Sloane – September 26, 1700
Item info
Date: September 26, 1700
Author: Henry Connell
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: f. 74
Original Page
Transcription
Connell has just arrived in London from Fort St. George. He has some business from Edward Priestley with whom Sloane was involved. Sloane is to meet Connell at the ‘Pestle & Morter’ the following morning.
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
D. G. to Hans Sloane – August 15, 1700
Item info
Date: August 15, 1700
Author: D. G.
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: f. 52
Original Page
Transcription
The author informs Sloane that he would like to meet ‘att the coffe house’ at around two o’clock.
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle to Hans Sloane – June 30, 1700
Item info
Date: June 30, 1700
Author: Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: ff. 27-28
Original Page
Transcription
This certificate of the Academie royale des sciences represents the favourable report of MM. Cassini and De La Hire regarding Sigismondo Alberghetti’s Nuova Artiglieria Veneta.
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757) was a French author. He became a member of L’Academie francaise in 1691 and from 1697 he was perpetual secretary to L’Academie des Sciences. Fontenelle was very popular with French high society and his books were widely read (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Le_Bovier_de_Fontenelle).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Étienne François Geoffroy to Hans Sloane – September 7, 1700
Item info
Date: September 7, 1700
Author: Étienne François Geoffroy
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: ff. 63-64
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Language
French
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Library
British Library, London
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Categories
Collections, Library, Royal Society, Scientific, Travel
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Subjects
Botany, Geography, Meridian, Printing, Shells, Weather
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Date (as written)
September 7, 1700
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Standardised date
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Origin (as written)
Paris
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Others mentioned
Edmond Halley Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Pierre Bonnet Bourdelot Abbe Louvois
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Patients mentioned
Original Page
Transcription
Geoffroy consulted Bourdelot to answer Sloane’s questions. He believes Sloane’s catalogue should be annotated and bound with a copy of Vanderlinden’s Scriptis Medicis. Geoffroy will ask Dr Lefevre to do this for him. He was surprised by Halley’s meteorological reportage from the south. MM. Cassini, mathematicians Jean-Dominique Cassini and his son Jaccques Cassini, have left to measure the meridian from Paris to the Pyrenees. They send their best wishes. The shells that Sloane sent from England are surprising. This and other evidence suggest the earth was once covered in water. Geoffroy contemplates what would be covered should water levels rise again. He is preparing to leave for Italy with the Abbe de Louvois. He offers his services to Sloane and the Royal Society. Geoffroy promises to inform Sloane of any interesting observations. They have recently heard from Tournefort, who has sent drawings and descriptions of plants which Geoffroy will try to send before leaving.
Etienne Francois Geoffroy (1672-1731) was an apothecary and physician who studied at Montpellier, like Sloane, and worked at the Jardin du Roi and College Royal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etienne_Francois_Geoffroy).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Constable to Hans Sloane – August 15, 1700
Item info
Date: August 15, 1700
Author: John Constable
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: f. 51
Original Page
Transcription
Aware of Sloane’s contributions to natural history, Constable offers his services.
John Constable was the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s physician.
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Peter Hotton to Hans Sloane – January 7, 1700
Item info
Date: January 7, 1700
Author: Peter Hotton
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4037
Folio: ff. 363-365
Original Page
Transcription
Peter Hotton (1648-1709), also known as Petrus Houttuyn, was Professor of Botany and Medicine at Leiden University. He supervised the university’s botanic gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrus_Houttuyn).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Robert Chapman to Hans Sloane – June 22, 1700
Item info
Date: June 22, 1700
Author: Robert Chapman
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: ff. 21-22
Original Page
Transcription
Robert Chapman was a servant of the Marchioness of Normanby.
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
James Drake to Hans Sloane – April 17, 1700
Item info
Date: April 17, 1700
Author: James Drake
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4038
Folio: f. 5
Original Page
Transcription
Drake visited Mr Fulford, a patient of his, at Kensington. He hopes Sloane will agree to see Fulford. Drake suggests Sloane visit his own patients in Kensington during the trip.
James Drake (bap. 1666, d. 1707) was a political and medical writer. He studied first at Wivelingham and at Eton College before being admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in March 1685 and receiving BA before the 1688 revolution. He obtained MB and MD in London in 1690 and 1694. Drake was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1701 and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1706. (Bridget Hill, Drake, James (bap. 1666, d. 1707), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).