Sloane’s Collecting Practices

Before we can understand the ways in which Sloane catalogued his collection, it is essential to know the type of artefacts Sloane was collecting and, equally important, how. The exchange of knowledge in this period undoubtedly allowed Sloane greater access to the world’s objects. Sloane had many contacts all around the world who would purchase and collect objects on his behalf.
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Jorink, Eric (2012) ‘Sloane and the Dutch Connection’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, eds, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London, pp.57-70.
Kusuwaka, S., (2016) Appendix 1: a transcription of William Courten’s (1642-1702) price lists from Sloane MS 3961, BL which is supplementary to Kusuwaka, ‘S., William Courten’s lists of Things Bought’ from the late seventeenth century.’ Journal of History of Collections, 29:1, 1-17.
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— ed. Sir Hans Sloane. Collector, Scientist, Antiquarian. The British Museum Press, London.
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Ortolja-Baird, Alexandra, “‘Chaos naturae et artis’: imitation, innovation, and improvisation in the library of Sir Hans Sloane. Part 2“, Library and Information History, 2021, vo. 37, No. 1 : pp. 49-69.
Pearce, Susan M (1995) On Collecting. An Investigation into Collecting in the European Tradition. Routledge, London.
K. Sloan, ‘Sir Hans Sloane’s Pictures: the science of connoisseurship or the art of collecting?’, Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 78, no. 2 (2015): 381–415.
Thomas, J., (2011) ‘Compiling ‘God’s great book [of] universal nature’: the Royal Society’s collecting strategies’, Journal of the History of Collections 23:1, pp.1-13.
Walker, Alison, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, eds, From Books to Bezoars: Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London.
Yaya, I., (2008) ‘Wonders of America: the curiosity cabinet as a site of representation and knowledge,’ Journal of the History of Collections 20:2, pp.173-188.
See more widely the Journal of the History of Collections and The Digital Ark Project.