Serie WJ/1 - Correspondence of Sir William Jones

The Correspondence from William Jones to Samuel Davis consists of 37 letters collected into a brown leather bound book, approximately in date order. The introduction to the book states the letters are "chiefly concerning the Literature & Science of Asia; including some of the early history of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta." The correspondence reveals a lively communication from Jones to Davis and often concerning Davis interest in Indian astronomy.

Also within the book is a handwritten version of an introduction to these letters as printed in the "Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. III - Part I", 1831 in which all the letters were printed

The letters also contain one letter from Sir Joesph Banks to Samuel Davis thanking him for paper on the History of Astronomy which Banks had communicated to the Royal Society and remarks from a Mr Cavendish. These are handwritten and the letter is dated March 18th, 1790

The binding is broken and therefore care must be taken in using this material.

Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID