Call for Papers:
Sir Hans Sloane, The Greatest Physician-Naturalist of His Era

An International Conference
Commemorating the 350th Anniversary of His Birth
To be held at the
British Library
7-8 June 2010

Deadline: 15 December 2009

The year 2010 marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of the physician
Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). Well-known as one of the greatest
collectors of his age, he was also President of the Royal Society and
the Royal College of Physicians, the major patron of the Chelsea Physic
Garden, a physician to Queen Anne, George I and George II, and had many
other connections throughout British society, leaving his name to the
prestigious Sloane Square in London. His enormous network of
acquaintances and correspondents throughout the world established him as
probably the single most influential British 'scientist' between Isaac
Newton and Joseph Banks. After his death, Parliament purchased his
collections, which laid the foundation for what are now three
institutions: the British Library, British Museum, and Natural History
Museum.

A project has been generously funded by the Wellcome Trust to
electronically re-create the bulk of Sloane's voluminous but now
dispersed library, led by Alison Walker with the assistance of Shauna
Barrett and the direction of Prof Hal Cook. It is now online and being
continuously updated at www.bl.uk/catalogues/sloane. The project's two
host institutions, The British Library and The Wellcome Trust Centre for
the History of Medicine at UCL, are sponsoring a two-day conference on
Sloane and his collections.

We invite proposals on any aspect of the history and significance of
Sloane and his activities, such as: his medical practice and career; his
role in medical and scientific institutions; his travel and links to the
West Indies; his botanical and zoological collecting; his ethnographic
and antiquarian collecting; his prints, drawings and fine art; his books
and manuscripts; his links to global trade networks across and beyond
the British Empire. Papers on the development of the Sloane collections
after his lifetime will also be considered. Preference will be given to
studies that make use of the new online catalogue. Those attending the
conference will be responsible for organising their own travel and
accommodation.

Please send your proposal by no later than 15 December 2009, which
should be no more than one page in length, to Lauren Cracknell at The
Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, 183 Euston
Rd., London NW1 2BE, UK, or emailed to l.cracknellucl.ac.uk. Inquiries
may be directed to Hal Cook, via Lauren Cracknell, or to Alison Walker
alison.walkerbl.uk

Submitted by Hal Cook, Professor and Director, Wellcome Trust Centre for
the History of Medicine at UCL (h.cookucl.ac.uk)