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Over 100 letters sent to French sailors, but never delivered, have been read for the first time since they were written in 1757-8.  ̽��ֱ��letters include heart-breaking love letters and evidence of family quarrels. ̽��ֱ��letters were seized by Britain’s Royal Navy during the Seven Years’ War and forgotten about until historian Renaud Morieux studied them.

̽��ֱ��collection comprises 47 books and pamphlets owned and annotated by the philosopher Mary Astell (1666–1731), viewed by many as “the first English feminist”. Her hand-written notes reveal, for the first time, that Astell engaged with complex natural philosophy including the ideas of René Descartes.

250 years ago, over one-fifth of Londoners had been treated for syphilis by their 35th birthday, historians have calculated.

On International Stammering Awareness Day (22 October), a new study reveals that Britain’s first speech therapists emerged at least a century earlier than previously thought.