(Born: Killyleagh, County Down, Ireland,, 16 April 1660; Died: London, England, 11 January 1753) English physician & naturalist.

Sloane was a wealthy physician who devoted himself to natural history studies. He bacame a fixture in the early to middle 18th century London scientific circles, becoming secretary of the Royal Society. On his death he left his vast collections to the nation, helping to build the British Museum into a world institution.

Biographical references: Anon., "Sir Hans Sloane", British Museum Quarterly, 18, (1953), 1-26. • BBA: I 1008, 289-384. • De Beer, G.R., Sir Hans Sloane and the British Museum. London, 1953. • DNB: 18, 376-80. • Poggendorff: 2, col. 942. • Sloan, W.R., "Sir Hans Sloane, F.R.S.: Legend and Lineage", Notes and Records of the Royal Society, 35, (1980), 125-33. • WBI.

A Voyage, 1707

1. English, 1707-25.
[Contained within a double rule box:] [In black:] A | [in red:] Voyage | [in black:] To the Islands | Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers | And | [in red:] Jamaica, | [in black:] With The | [in red:] Natural History | [in black:] 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 | [in red:] Introduction, | [in black:] Wherein is an account of the | [in red:] Inhabitants, Air, Waters, Diseases, Trade, &c. | [in black:] of that Place, with some Relations concerning the Neigh- | bouring Continent, and Islands of America. | [rule] | Illustrated With | [in red:] The Figures of the Things describ'd, | [in black:] which have not been heretofore engraved; | In large Copper-Plates as big as the Life. | [rule] | [in red:] By Hans Sloane, M.D. | [in black:] Fellow of the College of Physicians and Secretary | of the Royal- Society. | [rule] | In Two Volumes.    Vol. I. | [rule] | Many shall run to and fro, and Knowledge shall be increased. Dan. xii.4. | [rule] | [in red:] London: | [in black:] Printed by B.M. for the Author, 1707.

2 vols. [Vol 1: 1707] 2°: π² A-C² a² b-pp² qq¹ B-Xxx²; 218l.; [16], i-cliv, 1-264 p., 285 double-page or folding engraved plates, the majority by Michael Vander Gucht or John Savage, including a large folding map, mounted on guards throughout.Title in red and black. [Vol 2: 1725] 2°: π² a-d² e¹ A-6A² 6B¹ 6C-6K²; 260l.; [4], i-xviii, 1-466, 469-499, [1] p. (195 as `185', 232 as `322', 472 as `572').

Contents: [Vol 1] [2 pgs], Title page, verso blank.; [1 pg], Dedication.; [1 pg], Blank.; [12 pgs], Preface.; i-cliv, Introduction.; 1-264, Text.

[Vol 2] [2 pgs], Title page, verso blank.; [1 pg], Dedication.; [1 pg], Blank.; [18 pgs], Introduction.; 1-499, Text.; [1 pg], Errata.

Rare. Sloane's most important published work containing "the earliest representations of the flora and fauna of Jamaica and neighbouring islands" (Hunt). Physician, scientist, botanist and collector of note, Sir Hans Sloane went to the West Indies in 1687, staying for 15 months as physician to the Governor of Jamaica, the Duke of Albemarle. Sloane returned to England with 800 dried specimens of plants for his herbarium. Vander Gucht's plates were worked up from drawings of these plants by Everhard Kickius [fl. 1701-1705]. The text leaves are mounted on guards. Sloane was interested in all aspects of the natural history of Jamaica including its scant mineralogy.

Bibliographical references: Hunt Botanical Catalog: no. 417. • LKG: XIV 893. • Nissen (ZBI): no. 1854. • Sabin, Dictionary, 1868-1936: no. 82169.

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