Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Bernard Connor to Hans Sloane – May 28, 1695
Item info
Date: May 28, 1695
Author: Bernard Connor
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: ff. 213-214
Original Page
Transcription
Connor thanks Sloane for the hospitality shown him on his visit to London. He has not received anything from Poland. Connor is having ‘a small little treatise’ translated and printed. He has letters for ‘dr Ratcliff… and dr Brown’. Connor asks Sloane to let him know if anything ‘new in Physick [is] coming out, or it yr Book of Plants is finished’. He is stopping at Cambridge before returning to London.
Bernard Connor (c. 1666-1698) was a physician and writer with an interest in Poland. His magnum opus was The History of Poland (1698). Connor was a friend of Hans Sloane (Gerald Stone, Connor , Bernard (c.16661698), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6086, accessed 19 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Ralph Thoresby to Hans Sloane – May 29, 1703
Item info
Date: May 29, 1703
Author: Ralph Thoresby
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4039
Folio: f. 136
Original Page
Transcription
Thoresby is worried that the letter regarding the Roman Monuments has been miscarried. He asks Sloane for the Philosophical Transactions he needs to complete his set and Sloane’s Jamaican catalogue.
Thoresby was an antiquary and topographer. He expanded his fathers Musaeum Thoresbyanum impressively, and his collection brought him into discussion with many important political and scholarly figures (P. E. Kell, Thoresby, Ralph (16581725), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27334, accessed 27 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Edmond Halley to Hans Sloane – June 12, 1694
Item info
Date: June 12, 1694
Author: Edmond Halley
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: f. 175
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 175] Chichester June 12 1694 Sr I hope you will please to pardon my neglect in not waiting on you to request of you the favour I now begg, viz: that you would please to take the Minutes of the Society during my absence this summer. I shall make it my endeavour to be serviceable to you in prosecuting such naturall Enquirys as shall come in my way, and in all things strive to approve my self Sr Your most obedient HUmble Servt Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley left Oxford without an undergraduate degree to travel the world, giving him the opportunity to study astronomy on the spot. Upon returning to England he had a prestigious career and collaborated with Sir Isaac Newton, entered the public service, served as a professor at Oxford, and was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1721 (Alan Cook, “Halley, Edmond (1656-1742)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12011, accessed 1 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Sherard to Hans Sloane – March 19, 1694
Item info
Date: March 19, 1694
Author: William Sherard
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: ff. 163-164
Original Page
Transcription
Sherard was a botanist and cataloguer. He worked for the Turkish Company at Smyrna where he collected botanical specimens and antiques (D. E. Allen, ‘Sherard, William (1659–1728)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25355, accessed 24 June 2011]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
Samuel Doody to Hans Sloane – July 10, 1703
Item info
Date: July 10, 1703
Author: Samuel Doody
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4039
Folio: ff. 326-327
Original Page
Transcription
Doody requests Sloane’s company in Greenwich on Thursday at noon to view a collection of plants.
Samuel Doody was a botanist, elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1695. According to contemporaries his personality prevented him from publishing or presenting his work, though he contributed one article to the Philosophical Transactions. Many of his dried plant specimens were housed in Sloane’s herbarium (B. D. Jackson, Doody, Samuel (16561706), rev. Ruth Stungo, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2010 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7825, accessed 9 July 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Ray to Hans Sloane – August 16, 1693
Item info
Date: August 16, 1693
Author: John Ray
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: f. 155
Original Page
Transcription
Ray was glad to read Sloane’s account of Jamaican birds, which he would reference in his Synopses. His book is ‘ready for the press’. He does not believe his work will be of use to those familiar with ‘Mr Willughbyes Ornithology & Ichthyology’. This letter was supposed to have been arrived earlier, but the postman failed to deliver it.
Ray was a theologian and naturalist who collected and catalogued his botanical findings in the much lauded Historia plantarum (1686, 1688) (Scott Mandelbrote, Ray , John (16271705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23203, accessed 18 June 2013]).
Patient Details
-
Patient info
Name: N/A John Ray
Gender:
Age:66-67 years of age.
-
Description
-
Diagnosis
Painful ulcers on the patient's legs and in his stomach.
-
Treatment
Previous Treatment: Ray took sassafras and 'shavings of Hartshorn' during the summer.
Ongoing Treatment: Ray is taking mercury, Calomelanos (in 10 gram doses) and moderate purges. Plasters are being applied to his legs.
Response: The mercury and other treatments are proving unsuccessful. Ray claims they do little but give him sweats and keep him from sleeping. The combination of plasters with the mercury only serves to aggravate the pain.
-
More information
-
Medical problem reference
Injuries (includes wounds, sores, bruises), Sleep, Ulcerous legs, Skin ailments, Age, Pain, Stomach
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Mortimer to Hans Sloane – December 17, 1706
Item info
Date: December 17, 1706
Author: John Mortimer
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4040
Folio: f. 271
Original Page
Transcription
Mortimer sends a book. He cannot make it to London, but would like to get the treatise to the booksellers’. He asks Sloane to make the necessary corrections and thanks him for his many favours.
John Mortimer (1656?-1736) was an agricultural writer. Born in London, he received a commercial education and became a successful merchant. In 1693 he retired to practice his ideas on agricultural improvement. He published ‘The Whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving Land’ in 1707 which was popular and influential. He dedicated this work to the Royal Society, of which he had been a Fellow since 1705. (Thomas Seccombe, Mortimer, John (1656?1736), rev. Anita McConnell, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19348, accessed 18 July 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Ray to Hans Sloane – April 10, 1693
Item info
Date: April 10, 1693
Author: John Ray
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4036
Folio: ff. 141-142
-
Language
English
-
Library
British Library, London
-
Categories
Collections, Medical, Scientific, Travel
-
Subjects
Africa, Books, Botany, Cape of Good Hope, Catalogues, Earthquakes, Jamaica, Plants
-
Date (as written)
April 10, 1693
-
Standardised date
-
Origin (as written)
Black Notley
-
Others mentioned
Captain Halton Dr Robinson Robert Morison Rauwolf Sherard
-
Patients mentioned
John Ray
Original Page
Transcription
Ray discusses the latest scholarship, including a ‘Catalogue of more rare Oriental plants’ and Leonhart Ranwolf’s ‘Itinerary’. He believes his latest book would have benefited from Sloane’s description of the ‘Earthquake att Jamayca’, but the manuscript was already in press at London.
Ray was a theologian and naturalist who collected and catalogued his botanical findings in the much lauded Historia plantarum (1686, 1688) (Scott Mandelbrote, Ray , John (16271705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23203, accessed 18 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
John Ray to Hans Sloane – June 19, 1704
Item info
Date: June 19, 1704
Author: John Ray
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4039
Folio: f. 319
Original Page
Transcription
Ray thanks Sloane for the parcel. He discusses his plans for the History of Insects, for which he has consulted Mr Stonestreet’s collection. Ray and Mr Dale have also compared their findings to Sloane’s specimens. They would like to view Sloane’s blue papilios.
Ray was a theologian and naturalist who collected and catalogued his botanical findings in the much lauded Historia plantarum (1686, 1688) (Scott Mandelbrote, Ray , John (16271705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23203, accessed 18 June 2013]).
Posted on August 2, 2016 by -
William Burnet to Hans Sloane – November 9, 1707
Item info
Date: November 9, 1707
Author: William Burnet
Recipient: Hans Sloane
Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4041
Folio: ff. 60-61
Original Page
Transcription
[fol. 60] Sr I hope you received my letter that was to inform you that I had executed all your commands. I now send you a packet that I received from Dr. Ruysch. I will be proud to be employed in serving you in any thing here; and the mentioning your name to learned men will be a very effectual recommendation of your most obliged humble most obedient servant. W. Burnet Nov: 9 1707
William Burnet (1688-1729) was a colonial governor and son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury. He served in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire (Mary Lou Lustig, ‘Burnet, William (1688–1729)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4070, accessed 10 June 2015]).