English Miscellany, 18th Century

John Moore - Letter from John Smith to John Moore (in Mincing Lane, London) regarding advice for a stomach complaint, 14 December 1703.

John Willis - Receipted invoice signed "Jno Willis", with a printed heading, to Stokes & Co. (possibly Charles Stokes, bookseller, of Red Lyon, Fleet Street) from "Ye Old Shop at the Angel and Bible in Tower Street", 29 October 1736. Willis billed for: "Papers & Printing 2000 Directions for Lokyers [Lockyers] Pills" and a "Wood Cut for Do [Ditto]".

Anthony Askew - Letter to Dr. Mead, London, from Anthony Askew, Paris, regarding Greek literature, with some of the text in Greek, 2 April 1749 (postal stamp is for 27 March).

Lewis Way - Letter to an unnamed recipient (probably Lewis Way) from M. Roe, regarding the illness of Mrs. Edwin, and the visit of a child, 15 May 1755.

William Fergusson - Letter from William Ferguson [sic] sent from Bath, to Richard Oswald in London, regarding taking the waters at Bath for his health, and about Mrs. Mansons who has been made unwell by poor medical prescribing, 4 December 1764.

[J.] Gollop - Letter from [J] Gollop, sent from Amsterdam, to John Clare at Strode, near Bridport, regarding Clare becoming a tenant of Gollop, and on him being inoculated, 27 Feb 1767.

William White - Letter from William White sent from York, to John Coakley Lettsom in London, probably regarding the work of John Fothergill, 4 July 1784.

J. Burnaby - Letter from J. Burnaby, regarding the Glove Tax of 1785 and burial gloves, sent to J.H. Franks at Mortlake, Surrey, 12 July 1786.

1703-1786

1 file

Purchased from various booksellers between 2005 and 2006.

Moore, John (1658-1714) clothworker or cheesemonger, son of George Moore who was the brother of Sir John Moore (d. 1702, Lord Mayor and philanthropist). He lived with his uncle (in Mincing Lane) during his last years. He later acquired Kentwell Hall in Suffolk.

Willis, John (fl. 1736), printer and stationer.

Askew, Anthony (1722-1774), English physician and book collector. He travelled to Hungary, Athens, Constantinople and Italy acquiring books and manuscripts. In 1749, he became a member of the Royal Society and in 1750 began medical practice. In 1753, he became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, although is best known for being a classical scholar and bibliophile, particularly interested in Greek writing. He assembled a library known as the Bibliotheca Askeviana. Many of the items were later purchased by the British Museum.

Mead, Dr. Richard (1673-1754), physician to St. Thomas' Hospital, fellow of the Royal Society and physician to George II. Involved in the creation of the charity, the Foundling Hospital.

Way, Lewis (d. 1771), of the manor of Denham, Buckinghamshire. Director of the East India Company.

Fergusson, William (fl. 1764, deceased by 1770), chemist and druggist in London. Possibly a relative of Richard Oswald's (1705-1784) wife, Mary Ramsay (1719-1788). Also appears to have lived or worked from Ayr in Scotland, as he is known to have written from there in the 1760s.

Oswald, Richard (1705-1784), merchant and diplomat, best known for his part in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Paris between the Americans and the British in 1783. His mercantile career involved travelling in the southern American states and the Caribbean in the 1730s, trading in tobacco, horses, slaves and sugar. He moved into government contracting for troops in England and Germany, and undertook large-scale land acquisition in Caribbean plantations, East Florida and Scotland.

Mure, William, of Caldwell (1718–1776), author and politician. He was a longstanding member of Parliament for Renfrewshire, and Baron of the Scots Exchequer in 1761. Later he was Lord Rector of Glasgow in 1764 and 1765, and a friend of the Scottish philosopher and economist David Hume.

Hunter, James (fl. 1864-1773), Ayr merchant and banker who was cashier of the Ayr Bank of Douglas, Heron & Co. (founded 1769, crashed 1772, and replaced by Hunters & Co. in 1773).

Mill, John (1710-1771), merchant. A Scotsman who moved to London in the 1740s and entered into partnership with Richard Oswald.

Gollop, [J.] (fl. 1767), landowner.

Clare, John (fl. 1767).

White, William (1744-1790), Quaker physician of York. A prominent York Quaker, until 1784 he was on the committee for the undenominational Blue Coat School for poor boys. He was also a longstanding member of the Rockingham Club, which encouraged the interests of the agents and candidates of the Marquis of Rockingham in York. His publications included, An essay on disease of the bile (1771), Observations on the use of James's Fever Powder (1774), and Treatise on consumption published posthumously in 1792, as well as papers on air and effluvia and observations on the York bills of mortality.

Lettsom, John Coakley (1744–1815), physician, philanthropist and editor of the works of John Fothergill (1712-1780) who was a physician and chief founder of the Quaker school at Ackworth. After coming of age and inheriting his father's plantation in the West Indies in 1767, Lettsom freed his slaves, and went into practice in the Caribbean before returning to London and beginning a medical career. He studied at the University of Edinburgh in 1768, and graduated as a Medical Doctor in Leiden in 1769. In 1770 he became a licentiate of the College of Physicians and a fellow of the Society of Apothecaries. In 1773 he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society. He was one of the founders of the Medical Society of London in 1773, and became president of the Philosophical Society of London in 1812.

Burnaby, J. (fl. 1786).

Franks, J.H. (fl. 1786).