Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Hadley to Hans Sloane – October 13, 1721
Item info
Date: October 13, 1721
Author: John Hadley
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 134-135
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 135] 13 Oct:br 1721 Sr
I take the Liberty to trouble You wth the body of a Hen Pheasant wch dyed this day among those we keep, in hopes that the examination of her inside may afford something curious, & unusual, she having about 5 or 6 years ago changed her appearance from that of an ordinary Mottled Hen to one much more resembling that of a Cock [?] she has carryed ever since. If as I suppose you care not for the trouble of opening her your self I beg the favour of having her delivered into the Hands of Dr Douglas or Mr St Andre. I hope in a very little while to beg your pardon in person for the liberty I take & In the mean time remain Your Most obedient humble servant J Hadley Humble services attend the Ladys & your self from all here
John Hadley was a natural philosopher and mathematician. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1717 and invented the navigational instrument known as the octant, or Hadley’s quadrant (Gloria Clifton, Hadley, John (16821744), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11860, accessed 16 July 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Robert Walpole to Hans Sloane – August 26, 1720
Item info
Date: August 26, 1720
Author: Robert Walpole
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: f. 6
Original Page
Transcription
Sir Robert Walpole, later the 1st Earl of Orford, was a politician and the first prime minister of Great Britain (Stephen Taylor, Walpole, Robert, first earl of Orford (16761745), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28601, accessed 18 Aug 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Robert Southwell to Hans Sloane – March 9, 1699
Item info
Date: March 9, 1699
Author: Robert Southwell
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4037
Folio: ff. 226-227
Original Page
Transcription
Southwell asks about some books Sloane had purchased from Mr Smith, particularly ‘a Ms the Anales of Richardsons Southwell’.
Sir Robert Southwell was a diplomat and government official. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1662, and was elected president from 1690 to 1695 (Toby Barnard, Southwell, Sir Robert (16351702), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26066, accessed 19 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Purcell to Hans Sloane – July 28, 1720
Item info
Date: July 28, 1720
Author: John Purcell
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4045
Folio: f. 353
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 353] London July ye 28th 1720
Hond Sir I call’d to wait on you, in order to my Examination at the Colledge of Physitians who am Hon’d Sr your very humble servant J Purcell
Purcell studied medicine at the University of Montpellier where he was a student of Pierre Chirac, a correspondent of Sloane’s. He published a ‘A Treatise of the Cholick’ in 1714 and was admitted a member of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1730 (Norman Moore, Purcell, John (c.16741730), rev. Patrick Wallis, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22895, accessed 17 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Sutherland, 16th Earl of Sutherland to Hans Sloane – July 8, 1720
Item info
Date: July 8, 1720
Author: John Sutherland, 16th Earl of Sutherland
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4045
Folio: f. 338
Original Page
Transcription
Sutherland has ‘become [Sloane’s] tennant for a ltle house’ and wants ‘to build [a] coach house and stables’. He hopes Sloane will be accommodating. Sutherland bought the house from Mr Hammond.
John Sutherland, 16th Earl of Sutherland (bap. 1661, d. 1733) was an army officer and politician who fought the Jacobites during the Jacobite Rising, which earned him the Order of the Thistle and a large pension from George I (Henry Paton, Sutherland , John, sixteenth earl of Sutherland (bap. 1661, d. 1733), rev. Jonathan Spain, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11066, accessed 18 Aug 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Thomas Hearne to Hans Sloane – May 17,1720
Item info
Date: May 17,1720
Author: Thomas Hearne
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4045
Folio: ff. 330-331
Original Page
Transcription
Hearne sends three copies ‘of [his] Collection of curious Discourses’. He requests that Sloane make the first payment. If Sloane wants a fourth copy he will need to pay for ‘A Collection of curious Discourses, written by eminent Antquaries upon several Heads in out English Antiquities, and now first published by Thomas Hearne, M.A.’ immediately. A printed advertisement is included with the letter.
Thomas Hearne (bap. 1678, d. 1735) was an antiquary and diarist. He began working at the Bodleian Library in 1701. A nonjuror, his refusal to take an oath of allegiance to King George I led to his dismissal from the Bodleian in 1716. Hearne published the works of several English chroniclers (Theodor Harmsen, Hearne, Thomas (bap. 1678, d. 1735), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12827, accessed 2 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Thomas Hearne to Hans Sloane – January 10, 1720/21
Item info
Date: January 10, 1720/21
Author: Thomas Hearne
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 56-57
Original Page
Transcription
Hearne sends ‘five Copies of Rob. of Avesbury in small paper’. He informs Sloane of what he still owes for the books. The advertisement for the book is included. It is called ‘Roberti Avesbury Historia de Mirablilibus gestis Edvardi tertii’.
Thomas Hearne (bap. 1678, d. 1735) was an antiquary and diarist. He began working at the Bodleian Library in 1701. A nonjuror, his refusal to take an oath of allegiance to King George I led to his dismissal from the Bodleian in 1716. Hearne published the works of several English chroniclers (Theodor Harmsen, Hearne, Thomas (bap. 1678, d. 1735), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12827, accessed 2 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Musgrave Jr. to Hans Sloane – December 6, 1721
Item info
Date: December 6, 1721
Author: William Musgrave Jr.
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 154-155
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 154] Exon. Dec:ber 6. 1721. Honorable, The Weather being excessive cold with us, my Father doth by me desire you to accept his very humble Thanks for your kindness to Dr Seymour; & in a parcel, directed to Mr March Bookseller in Exon, by Mr Taylor, Bookseller in Paul’s Church Yard, (wch my father will take care shall be conveyd to Plimouth to enclose, what you intend for the said Doctor. He bids me tell you, that among all his Country Acquaintance, he knows no one Gentleman, so fit to be addressd to, in Dr Seymour’s Case, as you are; Di tibi Divitias dederunt, animumq fruendi. My Father hopes, that as the Society have chosen a new Secretary, it will acquire new Life. He is, as I am, (Honed Sr.) Your most obedient humble Ser:vt Willm Musgrave Jun
William Musgrave, Junior was the son of of William Musgrave, Senior. See the latter’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Alick Cameron, Musgrave, William (16551721), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19668, accessed 8 July 2013].
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Nathaniel Johnston to Hans Sloane – April 5, 1699
Item info
Date: April 5, 1699
Author: Nathaniel Johnston
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4037
Folio: f. 242
Original Page
Transcription
Johnston hopes Sloane had time to review the papers he sent and desires his opinion of them. He asks if Sloane has heard anything about a medicinal plant used by the Amerindians in the West Indies. If so, he wants to know whether Sloane can procure it.
Johnston was a physician, antiquarian, and political theorist celebrated for his book ‘The Excellency of Monarchical Government’ (1686) (Mark Goldie, Johnston, Nathaniel (bap. 1629?, d. 1705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14946, accessed 21 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Charles Preston to Hans Sloane – April 29, 1699
Item info
Date: April 29, 1699
Author: Charles Preston
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4037
Folio: f. 260
Original Page
Transcription
Preston reminds Sloane of a letter with which he sent some specimens and a catalogue of Balfour’s Library. He thanks Sloane for lending him Tournefor’s ‘Histoire des plantes’. He sends a manuscript he hopes will interest Sloane. Preston mentions James Sutherland’s contributions to botany and the possibility of publishing it. There is an indecipherable inscription on a gold ring Preston possesses. He asks if Sloane knows someone who might be able to decode it.
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 18 June 2013]).