Sloane printed books (Identifying Sloane's books / Bibliography) - British Library

• Identifying Sloane’s books

There are a number of ways to identify an item as one of Sloane's books.

• The Sloane number

The most common form of marking used by Sloane to number his books is an alphanumeric marking, a letter and a number. Generally speaking, they were numbered sequentially within each letter category, in order of acquisition. Upper case letters were used for folio and larger books; lower case for quarto and smaller. There were also special categories, such as Min.(indicating Miniatures; illustrated books, often coloured) and Pr.(indicating Print, followed by a Roman numeral; books with many illustrations or engravings), and Pr.Or.(Oriental material, mostly engraved). The example below shows both a Pr. number at the bottom of the page, another Pr. number, deleted, centre top, and an alphanumeric number r 149 at the top right. The early British Museum shelfmark 8 X a can also be seen. A small number of items are numbered with Roman numerals, for example XCVII or XLIX. These are mainly maps, prints, or items once classed as manuscripts.

Because the numbers were commonly written in the corner of a titlepage or flyleaf they have often suffered damage. When a Sloane number is not complete, damaged or otherwise partially illegible, it is entered in this catalogue with an open square bracket, for example, a 145[ . This number will be retrieved as a 145 even though the actual Sloane number might be a 1450, a 1451, etc.

Books may have more than one number if the number was changed during Sloane’s lifetime. Usually one number is deleted and substituted by another, as in the example above where Pr. CXXXIII has been deleted, and replaced by Pr. DXLV. Deleted numbers are entered in the catalogue and followed by (d), for example Pr. CXXXIII (d). On occasion, two numbers may appear, neither of which is deleted. In the example above, the number r 149 has not been deleted although it is probable that the book was shelved in the Pr. category.

Sloane’s numbers are the principal means of identifying his books.

• Sloane’s Codes

Sloane used coded dates and prices to record the purchase of books. They occur in two different forms. Firstly, recording dates from 1682 and possibly earlier, until 1686, he noted the place of purchase and sometimes the price, the price being expressed in an alphabetical code. For example, in Diomedes Amicus, De morbis diasporadibus, Venice, 1605, (BL shelfmark 1167.h.9) we find the place of purchase, London, and the date, 1682; in Joannes Andreas Schmitz, Medicinae Practicae Compendium, etc., Paris, 1666, (BL shelfmark 545.b.14.) we find the place of purchase, Paris, the date, 1684, and the price coded as a.c. This form of code was noted and described, with a list of known examples, by J.L. Wood, in Factotum (Newsletter of the XVIIIth century STC), No.2, June 1978. The price codes were clarified by Margaret Nickson, in ‘Sloane’s codes: the solution to a mystery’, Factotum, No .7, December 1979. The alphabetical codes very simply signify a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4, e=5, f=6, g=7, h=8, i=9. Thus the example above purchased in Paris cost Sloane one shilling and threepence.

The second form of code was used from 1686 to 1699. Here the place of purchase is not given, but both the date and the price are coded, using symbols. Nickson’s article explains how she arrived at their significance. The codes are as follows:

For example, in Jacques Gaffarel, Curiositez inouyes, sur la sculpture talismanique des Persans. [Paris], 1650, BL 719.e.14, the code readssignifying a purchase date of 1686 and a price of three shillings.

Similarly, Petrus Vascus Castellus, Exercitationes medicinales, Toulouse, 1616, bears this code.

The symbols often appear, as in this case, joined together. This inscription can be transliterated as purchase date 1697 and price two shillings and sixpence.

In this catalogue, the letter price codes have been entered as they appear in the books, but all symbols in the purchase codes have been transliterated.

• Previous owners

Sloane often acquired books from other libraries, either entire libraries or selected items. In cases where it is known that Sloane had many books from a certain owner, and that they could only have entered the library which currently holds them through Sloane’s collections, this is taken as a form of definite identification. For example, Sloane owned many books formerly owned by Joseph Fenton. Fenton’s books are found in other libraries, but when they also bear the black British Museum ownership stamp (see below) it is almost certain that they must have belonged to Sloane and have entered the British Museum as part of his collection. However, since there is not conclusive evidence, these books are marked as ‘probably’ Sloane’s.

The catalogue lists the previous owners of his books where they can be identified. The usual form of identification is an inscription with the owner’s name, or a mark, motto or shelfmark known to have been used by that person. The owner’s name is standardised for searching, and also transcribed as found. Names which are difficult to interpret are left as transcribed but may be standardised subsequently as evidence emerges.

• The black British Museum stamp

The octagonal ‘Museum Britannicum’ stamp was intended to be stamped with black ink on Sloane’s books alone. Other colours were used for purchased or donated material, and for the Royal collection. It occurs in the following two forms (images not to scale) on Sloane books:

The picture is confused, however, by the continuing use of the stamp on later acquisitions, and by the use of similar but re-cut stamps as late as 1829. As evidence for Sloane’s ownership the presence of the stamp alone is not conclusive, but highly indicative. Books with the stamp but no other definite evidence of Sloane ownership are probably Sloane’s. For further details of stamps, see P.R.Harris, ‘Identification of printed books acquired by the British Museum, 1753-1836’ in Libraries within the Library, ed. G. Mandelbrote and B. Taylor (British Library, forthcoming 2009)

• Manuscript notes

Manuscript notes or inscriptions often indicate Sloane ownership. The book may have been sent to Sloane, bearing his name or address, or he may have written his name on the book. Quite commonly his books are inscribed “Bibliothecae Sloanianae”, often followed by his number. This note appears particularly on prestigious and attractive items. This is a definite form of identification.

• Labels

A small number of Sloane’s books bear small paper labels on which are written the Sloane numbers. The typical images below show the number at the top left-hand corner of the cover, and the letter at the bottom. Labels sometimes appear on the titlepage. The presence of this type of label is a definite form of identification of a Sloane book.

• Sloane’s catalogues

Sloane recorded the content of his library in three separate catalogues. The catalogues of the various parts of Sloane’s collections are described by Peter Murray Jones, ‘A preliminary checklist of Sir Hans Sloane’s catalogues’, British Library Journal vol. 14 (1), 1988. The catalogues which list his books and manuscripts are described in greater detail by Margaret Nickson, ‘Hans Sloane, book collector and cataloguer, 1682-1698’, in the same issue of the British Library Journal.

Of the three catalogues, the first, Sloane Ms 3995, is a small volume which records Sloane’s purchases from 1685 to 1687, which has not been used as background for this catalogue. The principal catalogues of his printed books are firstly a manuscript catalogue, now in the BL Department of Manuscripts, Sloane Ms 3972C, with an index at Sloane Ms 3972D. Some leaves, mainly recording manuscripts, were removed and bound as Sloane Ms 3972B. Secondly, medical books in Latin are recorded not in the manuscript catalogue, but in an interleaved copy of a bibliography of medical literature, J.A. van der Linden, Lindenius renovatus, Nuremberg, 1686, BL 878.n.8 (Note: this book is fragile and must be consulted on microfilm). The fact that separate and very different catalogues were used means that it is extremely difficult to fully identify Sloane’s books completely from these sources.

The identification of Sloane‘s books has proceeded not from these catalogues but from examination of the books. However, these catalogues have been used on occasion to clarify Sloane numbers and may be referred to in the catalogue record.

• Bibliography: a selected list of works relating to Sloane’s library

Alston, R. C. The Arrangement of Books in the British Museum Library 1843-1973, Compiled from Manuscript and Print Sources, with Classifications for the Old Library and the New Library. London: Chadwyck-Healey in association with the British Library, 1986.

Birrell, T. A. The Library of John Morris: The Reconstruction of a Seventeenth-Century Collection. London: British Museum Publications Limited, 1976.

Brooks, Eric St John. Sir Hans Sloane: The Great Collector and His Circle. London: Batchworth Press, 1954.

Carley, James P., and Colin G. C. Tite, eds. Books and Collectors 1200-1700: Essays Presented to Andrew Watson. London: The British Library, 1997.

De Beer, Gavin Rylands. Sir Hans Sloane and the British Museum. London: Oxford University Press, 1953.

Esdaile, Arundell. The British Museum Library. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1946.

Finch, Jeremiah S. "Sir Hans Sloane's Printed Books." The Library 22.1 (1941): 67-72.

Griffiths, Antony, ed. Landmarks in Print Collecting: Connoisseurs and Donors at the British Museum since 1753. London: British Museum Press, 1996.

Harris, P. R. A History of the British Museum Library 1753-1973. London: The British Library, 1998.

Jones, Peter Murray. "A Preliminary Check-List of Sir Hans Sloane's Catalogues." British Library Journal 14.1 (1988): 38-51.

MacGregor, Arthur, ed. Sir Hans Sloane: Collector, Scientist, Antiquary. London: British Museum Press, 1994.

Nickson, M. A. E. "Hans Sloane, Book Collector and Cataloguer, 1682-1698." British Library Journal 14.1 (1988): 52-89.

---. "Sloane’s codes: the solution to a mystery." Factotum 7 (1979): 13-18.

Pearson, David. "Illustrations from the Wellcome Library: Joseph Fenton and His Books." Medical History 47 (2003): 239-248.

Wood, Lawrence. "Sir Hans Sloane’s books." Factotum 2 (1978): 15-18.

Adaptado de:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/sloane/Identifiers.aspx
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/sloane/References.aspx


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Quero agradecer publicamente à British Library, na pessoa de Sandra Powlett (Permissions Manager) pela autorização de utilizar os textos e imagens constantes nesta mensagem.

Sloane printed books (About / History of the collections) - British Library

• About

The Sloane Printed Books Catalogue

The Sloane Printed Books catalogue lists books which belonged to Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). His was one of the largest libraries in Europe of its time, and particularly significant for its holdings of medical and scientific material. In this catalogue, bibliographical records are enhanced with Sloane's own numbers or other identifying marks, and with information about previous owners. A number of records include information on the physical state and condition of the items. This catalogue opens up Sloane’s library for research into what he owned, how he used it, from whom he acquired items, and how the collection was managed. It is a resource for the historian of science or medicine, the intellectual historian, and the historian of information.

The Sloane Printed Books Project

A two-year project, which runs from April 2008 to April 2010, led by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London in collaboration with the British Library, and funded by the Wellcome Trust Research Resources in Medical History, is enabling a research team to enlarge substantially an existing database which was not previously publicly available. In July 2008 it was launched as one of the Library’s special catalogues, with over 13000 records. Additions to the catalogue will be made regularly throughout the period of the project.The project team will report on developments and events, and welcomes comment and correspondence about all aspects of the catalogue and studies based on it. Information about the progress of the project will be posted on an interactive blog, to be set up in the near future.

• History of the collections

Sloane’s career and collections

Born in Ireland in 1660, Sloane moved to London in 1679, and trained as a physician both in London and in France, receiving a doctorate from the University of Orange in 1683. A stay in Jamaica in 1686-7 as personal physician to the Duke of Albemarle allowed him to extend his study of natural history. His A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers, and Jamaica, with the natural history ... of the last of those islands (London, 2 vols, 1707-25) records his experiences and findings. After his return to London Sloane established a successful career as a physician in London while continuing scientific investigations and, increasingly, collecting objects, specimens, books and manuscripts in his field of interest. He received many honours and was elected to many scientific societies, most notably as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1685, its second Secretary in 1693 and President in 1727, which office he held until the age of eighty-one, in 1741. He died in January 1753 at his home in Chelsea.

Sloane’s collections, held initially at his home in Bloomsbury, and later at the manor house in Chelsea, were well known and much used and visited, both by members of the scientific community and by visiting dignitaries. The diversity and extent of the collections is illustrated by the list transmitted to his executors in 1753. There were some 80,000 items of which the largest single category was printed books, the second coins and medals, followed by varying numbers of specimens - dried plants and other botanical items, insects, shells, fish, quadrupeds, metals and minerals, precious stones, etc. In his will, Sloane specified that his collection should be offered to the nation on provision of £20,000 for his heirs. This legacy effectively catalysed the creation of the British Museum, and Sloane’s materials formed one of its three founding collections.

The substantial article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography should be consulted for the salient facts of Sloane’s life, and an outline of his collections. See also A. Macgregor, “The Life, Character and Career of Sir Hans Sloane” in Sir Hans Sloane, Collector, Scientist, Antiquary, Founding Father of the British Museum ed. A. Macgregor, London: British Museum, 1994. More extensive biographies by G.R. de Beer, Sir Hans Sloane and the British Museum, London, 1953, and E.St.J. Brooks, Sir Hans Sloane, the Great Collector, London, 1954, are also useful.

The later history of Sloane’s library

On Sloane’s death in 1753 his collection of books and manuscripts was estimated at 50,000 volumes, of which 136 were books of prints, 2666 volumes of manuscripts and the remainder printed books. The number of printed books must be considered approximate. At the foundation of the Museum, his books were moved from Chelsea to Montague House along with the other collections. Although Sloane’s books were kept in designated rooms, they were placed into subject categories, the Museum trustees having expressed their opinion that the books were ‘dispos’d in a very irregular manner, with little regard to the subjects or even the size of them’ and ordered that they should be re-arranged by subject; they should be ‘placed on the shelves according to their respective faculties’. By end of the eighteenth century, Sloane’s books were interspersed with items from other sources, particularly the Old Royal Library, and with subsequent acquisitions. In many cases, evidence of identity was lost by the early practice of binding or re-binding in a Museum style which involved removing the preliminary leaves where Sloane’s identification marks are often found.

The identification of Sloane’s printed books is therefore not entirely straightforward. Unlike his manuscripts, the books were never kept together in the order in which they had been during his lifetime. Those that remain in the British Library are now scattered in various parts of the collections: moreover, some of them are no longer in the British Library, having been sold or otherwise disposed of as duplicates and many of those remaining have lost their identifying marks through wear and tear and repair.

The British Museum duplicate sales

The British Museum held a number of sales of duplicate items, in 1769, 1788, 1805, 1818, 1819, 1831 and 1832. As a result of these sales an unknown but evidently substantial number of Sloane’s books left the Museum, many of which are now to be found in libraries both in the UK and abroad. The 1769 sale catalogue is the only one for which we have an extant copy with indications of the collections from which the lots were taken. 390 separate Sloane items are listed there, to which must be added many tract items sold as part of mixed lots. One of the aims of the Sloane Printed Books project is to locate as many as possible of the items disposed of as duplicates and to enter them in the catalogue, in order to give a complete listing of the collection.
Items sold at these sales were normally stamped as duplicates. The example below was sold as a duplicate in 1787, bought by Sir Joseph Banks, and subsequently re-entered the Museum with Banks’s collection after his death in 1820.

Adaptado de:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/sloane/about.aspx

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/sloane/History.aspx

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The Library of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753): creating a catalogue of a dispersed library - Alison Walker (2009)

The Library of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753): creating a catalogue of a dispersed library

Alison Walker
Lead Researcher
Sloane Printed Books Project
British Library, United Kingdom

Comunicação apresentada no:
WORLD LIBRARY AND INFORMATION CONGRESS: 75TH IFLA GENERAL CONFERENCE AND COUNCIL
23-27 August 2009, Milan, Italy

Disponível em:
http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/papers/ifla75/78-walker-en.pdf

Happy Birthday to Sir Hans Sloane! - Karen Baston (2010)

Happy Birthday to Sir Hans Sloane!
By Karen Baston

April 16, 2010

One of my favourite people from history, Hans Sloane, was born 350 years ago today on 16 April 1660. He went on to have a varied and successful career as a physician, botanist, collector, and traveller. The immense collection of objects and books which he left to the nation after his death in 1753 was the starting point for the British Museum, the British Library, and the Natural History Museum.
Sloane was one of the great networkers of his age. He was a secretary of the Royal Society of London and he revived the publication of their Philosophical Transactions. He counted among his many friends, colleagues, and patients Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Samuel Pepys, John Locke, and Henry Morgan.
Sloane was hugely successful in his profession and with his hobbies. He became both the President of the Royal College of Physicians and the President of the Royal Society – at the same time! His medical practice (and his marriage to a rich widow) ensured that he was able to indulge his taste for collecting. He collected books, natural history specimens, ethonographic material, prints, fossils, coins, manuscripts to name just a few of his interests. He was one of the richest people in London and was eventually able to buy the Manor at Chelsea.
Sloane was also popularised the use of chocolate as a medicine so it is clear that he was also a genius who was far ahead of his time! This also means that lots of events commemorating Sloane involve chocolate in some way. So if he wasn’t worth celebrating enough already there’s an excuse to dose yourself with some healthy chocolate while enjoying his legacies!
There are a lot of events to celebrate the life and many achievements of the enterprising Dr Sloane this year. Here are just a few.
Sloane’s hometown of Killyleagh in Northern Ireland has a series of concerts and events starting this week to honour their favourite native son. See http://hanssloane.com/ for details. The Killyleagh birthday party continues in September with a Chocolate Ball at Killyleagh Castle ‘(dress: Milk, Dark or White Tie of course!)’ and a Chocolate Festival. See http://hanssloane.com/events.php.
London will also play host to a variety of events celebrating Sloane.
The British Library will host a conference on 7-8 June 2010 entitled ‘From Books to Bezoars’ which will include the latest news about the Sloane Printed Books Project. Thousands of Sloane’s 40,000 books have already been identified.
The British Museum is also offering a series of events including a concert and talks. See their Events Page for all the details. Meanwhile the British Museum also has on online exhibition of some of the objects Sloane collected. See them at Sloane Objects. There is also a page giving a biography of Sloane and the history of the British Museum at Sir Hans Sloane.
The Royal College of Physicians, the Chelsea Physic Garden and The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret are joining forces to present a series of events for the rest of the year. The RCP will host an exhibition called ‘Sir Hans Sloane: Discoveries, Travels and Chocolate’ from 5 July-24 December 2010. The Physic Garden has a series of events including chocolate tastings througout the spring and summer. The Old Operting Theatre is holding ‘Odyssey of Chocolate’ workshops and Sloane walks in Chelsea and Bloomsburgy will be led by its director, Kevin Flude. For a full list of events see Hans Sloane Our Local Hero Events (pdf).
The Natural History Museum holds Sloane’s famous and important Herbarium which includes specimens from his Voyage to Jamaica in the late 1680s. The Museum will also host a series of Sloane350 events.
Hans Town in Chelsea was named for Sloane (as, of course, was Sloane Square!) – he once owned the land it stands on. Find out more at Hidden London Hans Town.
Why not celebrate Sloane’s birthday with some chocolate and his very own Rum Punch Recipe? Or make some Rum Chocolate Truffles. I know I’m tempted!

http://www.emintelligencer.org.uk/2010/04/16/happy-birthday-to-sir-hans-sloane/

Madeira in The Sloane Herbarium

Sloane ID / Current Name / Country

• 5 undetermined Madeira
• 33 Globularia salicina Madeira
• 39 Phagnalon saxatile Madeira
• 40 Gnaphalium luteo-album Madeira
• 41 Gnaphalium luteo-album Madeira
• 42 Gnaphalium luteo-album Madeira
• 56 Bidens pilosa Madeira

• 148 Erica maderensis Madeira
• 171 Convolvulus althaeoides Madeira
• 210 Teucrium betonicum Madeira
• 225 Origanum vulgare Madeira
• 233 Sibthorpia peregrina Madeira
• 275 Bituminaria bituminosa Madeira
• 279 Fumaria capreoides? (see comments) Madeira
• 309 Euphorbia sp. Madeira
• 317 undetermined Madeira
• 332 Petrorhagia nanteuilii Madeira
• 333 Silene gallica Madeira
• 334 Hypericum canariense Madeira
• 335 Hypericum glandulosum Madeira
• 336 Hypericum canariense Madeira
• 373 Oxalis corniculata Madeira
• 383 Foeniculum vulgare Madeira
• 390 Heliotropium europaeum Madeira
• 500 Asparagus officinalis Madeira
• 938 undetermined Madeira
• 565 Hyparrhenia hirta Madeira
• 594 Aristida adscensionis Madeira
• 631 Urtica sp. Madeira
• 632 undetermined Madeira?
• 671 Polygonum punctatum Madeira and Jamaica
• 675 Rolandra fruticosa Madeira or one of the Caribes
• 682 Amaranthus blitum Madeira
• 701 Cytisus scoparius Madeira
• 800 Myrtus communis Madeira
• 903 undetermined Madeira
• 1075 Halopteris sp. Madeira
• 1103 Pistia stratiotes Madeira or Barbados
• 1122 Asplenium hemionitis Madeira
• 1123 Asplenium reniforme Madeira
• 1143 Asplenium marinum? Madeira?
• 1257 Davallia canariensis Madeira

Adaptado de: Natural History Museum - The Sloane Herbarium

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/research/projects/sloane-herbarium/

Poderá vêr alguns dos espécimes colhidos na Madeira, aquando da passagem de Hans Sloane pela mesma.

A Voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica (...) - Hans Sloane (1707)

Sloane, Hans - A Voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica, with the Natural History of the Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, &c. of the last of those Islands; to which is prefix'd, an introduction, wherein is an account of the inhabitants, air, waters, diseases, trade, &c. of that place, with some relations concerning the neighbouring continent, and islands of America. Illustrated with figures of the things described, which have not been heretofore engraved. In large copper-plates as big as the life /by Hans Sloane. , London: Printed by B. M[otte]. for the author, 2 volumes, 1707-1725.
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/642#