Sloane collected manuscripts and books on a variety of subjects; the majority of the manuscripts were medical based. Nickson has made great headway in this area of study, deciphering Sloane’s catalogues in order to understand his systematic approach to documenting his library collection. She has also shed light on Sloane’s many assistants, or ‘hands’ who helped in shaping his manuscripts catalogue. Sloane had over 45,000 printed books (the majority of which are recorded in the Sloane Printed Books Catalogue); investigation into these is still ongoing.

Blakeway, Amy (2011) The Library Catalogues of Sir Hans Sloane: Their Authors, Organization and Functions. The British Library Journal, London.

Brown, Yu-Ying (1994) ‘Japanese Books and Manuscripts’ in Arthur, MacGregor. Sir Hans Sloane. Collector, Scientist, Antiquarian. Founding Father of the British Museum. The British Museum Press, London, pp.278-290.

Caygill, Marjorie (2012) ‘Sloane’s Catalogues and the arrangement of his collections’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London, pp.120-136.

Goldfinch, John (2012) ‘Sloane’s Incunabula’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London, pp.208-220.

Hunt, Arnold (2012) ‘Sloane as a Collector of Manuscripts’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London, pp.190-207.

Nickson, M. A. E (1998) ‘Hans Sloane, Book Collector and Cataloguer, 1682-1698.’ The British Library Journal, 14:1, pp. 52–89.

Nickson, M.A.E (1994) ‘Books and Manuscripts’ in Arthur, MacGregor, Sir Hans Sloane. Collector, Scientist, Antiquarian. Founding Father of the British Museum. The British Museum Press, London, pp.263-277.

Ortolja-Baird, Alexandra, “‘Chaos naturae et artis’: imitation, innovation, and improvisation in the library of Sir Hans Sloane. Part 1“, Library and Information History, 2020, 36:3, 155-174.

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.

Scott, E.J.L., (1904) Index to the Sloane manuscripts in the British Museum. London.

Simpson, Julianne (2012) ‘From London to Toronto: a case-study of the dispersal of Sloane’s library’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collections. The British Library, London, pp.221-226.

Wickenden, Alice, ‘Things to know before beginning, or: Why provenance matters in the library’, Inscription Journal, 1.1 (2020).

While Sloane was not considered a great collector of prints and drawings, he did collect many drawings as records to accompany his vast collection.

Griffiths, Anthony (1996) Landmarks in Print Collecting: Connoisseurs and Donors at the British Museum Since 1753. The British Museum Press, London.

Rowlands, John (1994) ‘Prints and Drawings’ in Arthur MacGregor, Sir Hans Sloane. Collector, Scientist, Antiquary Founding Father of the British Museum. The British Museum Press, London, pp.245-262.

Sloan, Kim (2012) ‘Sloane’s Pictures and drawings in frames and Books of miniature & painting, design, &c’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collection. The British Library, London, pp.168-189. 

The British Library today holds many useful tools for thinking about the provenances of its collection. Shelfmarks can be helpful: BL MS nos 1-4100 are Sloane’s manuscripts; there is also a series of albums of drawings which are  BL Add Ms 5018-27 and 5214-5308, some of which have been digitized on the BL website.

A number of albums were transferred at various times to the British Museum, to Prints and Drawings, the Middle East, and the Asia departments.  See the attached pdf, from Antony Griffiths and Reginald Williams, The Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, User’s Guide, 1987.

All the drawings in the Sloane albums in the British Museum are recorded individually on the British Museum’s Collections Online reached via the main BM website.

A transcript of all ‘Min’ (standing for ‘Books of Miniatures’) entries made in the original catalogues by Sloane and his amaneunses can be downloaded here. A transcript of BL Catalogue of Add MSS vols 20-21 can be downloaded here. A published index to the Sloane manuscripts in the British Library can be found here. If you use any of these resources, we request that you cite this source, using the authors names, the title of the document, date, and a url to the page on Reconstructing Sloane.

Sloane’s albums of drawings are also discussed in Sloan, Kim (2012) ‘Sloane’s Pictures and drawings in frames and Books of miniature & painting, design, &c’ in Alison Walker, Arthur MacGregor, Michael Hunter, From Books to Bezoars. Sir Hans Sloane and his Collection. The British Library, London, pp.168-189.