Sir Thomas Browne (; 19 October 1605 – 19 October 1682) was an English
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
. His writings display a deep curiosity towards the
natural world
''Natural World'' is a strand of British wildlife documentary programmes broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British televis ...
, influenced by the
scientific revolution
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...
of
Baconian enquiry and are permeated by references to
Classical and
Biblical sources as well as the idiosyncrasies of his own personality. Although often described as suffused with
melancholia
Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...
, Browne's writings are also characterised by wit and subtle humour, while his literary style is varied, according to genre, resulting in a rich, unique
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...
which ranges from rough notebook observations to polished
Baroque eloquence.
Biography
Early life
Browne was born in the parish of
St Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
,
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
, in London on 19 October 1605, the youngest child- having an elder brother and two elder sisters- of Thomas Browne, a
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
merchant from
Upton, Cheshire, and Anne Browne, the daughter of Paul Garraway of
Lewes,
Sussex. The Browne family lived at Upton for several generations, "evidently people of some importance" who "intermarried with families of position in that neighbourhood", and were
armigerous
In heraldry, an armiger is a person entitled to use a heraldic achievement (e.g., bear arms, an "armour-bearer") either by hereditary right, grant, matriculation, or assumption of arms. Such a person is said to be armigerous. A family or a cl ...
. Browne's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, was daughter of Henry Birkenhead,
Clerk of the Green Cloth to
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
and
Clerk of the Crown for the counties of
Cheshire and
Flintshire
, settlement_type = County
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
. Browne's father died while he was still young, and his mother married Sir Thomas Dutton (1575–1634), of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
and of
Isleworth,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, by whom she had two daughters.
Browne was sent to school at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
. In 1623, he went to
Broadgates Hall of
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
. Browne was chosen to deliver the undergraduate oration when the hall was incorporated as
Pembroke College in August 1624. He graduated from Oxford in January 1627, after which he studied medicine at
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
and
Montpellier universities, completing his studies at
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
, where he received a
medical degree
A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...
in 1633. He settled in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
in 1637 and practised medicine there until his death in 1682.
In 1641, he married Dorothy Mileham (1621–1685), of
Burlingham St Peter, Norfolk. She bore him ten children, six of whom died before their parents.
Literary works
Browne's first literary work was ''
Religio Medici'' ''(The Religion of a Physician)'' which was circulated as a
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
among his friends. It surprised him when an unauthorised edition appeared in 1642, since the work included several unorthodox religious speculations. An authorised text appeared in 1643, with some of the more controversial views removed. The expurgation did not end the controversy: in 1645,
Alexander Ross attacked ''Religio Medici'' in his ''Medicus Medicatus'' ''(The Doctor, Doctored)'' and, in common with much Protestant literature, the book was placed upon the Papal ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' in the same year.
In 1646 Browne published his encyclopaedia, ''
Pseudodoxia Epidemica
''Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common ...
, or, Enquiries into Very many Received Tenents, and commonly Presumed Truths'', the title of which refers to the prevalence of false beliefs and "vulgar errors". A sceptical work that debunks a number of legends circulating at the time in a methodical and witty manner, it displays the
Baconian side of Browne—the side that was unafraid of what at the time was still called "
the new learning". The book is significant in the
history of science because it promoted an awareness of up-to-date scientific journalism.
Browne's last publication during his lifetime were two philosophical Discourses which are closely related to each other in concept. The first, ''
Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, or a Brief Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk'' (1658), inspired by the discovery of some 40 to 50
Anglo-Saxon pots in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, resulted in a literary meditation upon death, the
funerary
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...
customs of the world and the ephemerality of fame. The other discourse in the
diptych
A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...
is antithetical in style, subject-matter and imagery. ''
The Garden of Cyrus, or The Quincuncial Lozenge, or Network Plantations of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, and Mystically Considered'' (1658) features the
quincunx
A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (d ...
which is used by Browne to demonstrate evidence of
the Platonic forms in art and nature.
Later life and knighthood
In ''Religio Medici'', Browne confirmed his belief, in accordance with the vast majority of seventeenth century European society, in the existence of
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s and
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
. He attended the 1662
Bury St Edmunds witch trial, where his
citation of a similar trial in Denmark may have influenced the jury's minds of the guilt of two accused women, who were subsequently executed for witchcraft.
In 1671
King Charles II, accompanied by the
Court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
, visited Norwich. The courtier
John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's diary, or ...
, who had occasionally corresponded with Browne, took good use of the royal visit to call upon "the learned doctor" of European fame and wrote of his visit, "His whole house and garden is a paradise and Cabinet of rarities and that of the best collection, amongst Medails, books, Plants, natural things".
During his visit, Charles visited Browne's home. A
banquet was held in
St Andrew's Hall for the royal visit. Obliged to honour a notable local, the name of the Mayor of Norwich was proposed to the King for
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
hood. The Mayor, however, declined the honour and proposed Browne's name instead.
Death and aftermath
Browne died on 19 October 1682, his 77th birthday, and was buried in the chancel of
St Peter Mancroft
St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich. It was originally established by the then Earl of East Anglia, Ralph de Gael between ...
, Norwich. His skull was removed when his lead coffin was accidentally re-opened by workmen in 1840. It was not re-interred in St Peter Mancroft until 4 July 1922 when it was recorded in the
burial register as aged 317 years. Browne's
coffin plate, which was stolen the same time as his skull, was also eventually recovered, broken into two halves, one of which is on display at St Peter Mancroft. Alluding to the commonplace opus of
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
it reads, ''Amplissimus Vir Dns. Thomas Browne, Miles, Medicinae Dr., Annos Natus 77 Denatus 19 Die mensis Octobris, Anno. Dni. 1682, hoc Loculo indormiens. Corporis Spagyrici pulvere plumbum in aurum Convertit.'' — translated from Latin as "The esteemed Gentleman Thomas Browne, Knight, Doctor of Medicine, 77 years old, died on the 19th of October in the year of Our Lord 1682 and lies sleeping in this coffin. With the dust of his alchemical body he converts lead into gold". The origin of the invented word
''spagyrici'' is from the Greek ''spao'' to tear open + ''ageiro'' to collect, a signature neologism coined by
Paracelsus to define his medicine-oriented alchemy; the origins of
iatrochemistry
Iatrochemistry (; also known as chemiatria or chemical medicine) is a branch of both chemistry and medicine. Having its roots in alchemy, iatrochemistry seeks to provide chemical solutions to diseases and medical ailments.
This area of scien ...
, being first advanced by him.
Browne's coffin-plate verse, along with the collected works of Paracelsus and several followers of the Swiss physician listed in his library, are evidence that although sometimes highly critical of Paracelsus, nevertheless, like the 'Luther of Medicine', he believed in
palingenesis,
physiognomy
Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the genera ...
,
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
,
astrology
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
and the
kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
.
The
Library of Sir Thomas Browne was held in the care of his eldest son Edward until 1708. The auction of Browne and his son Edward's libraries in January 1711 was attended by
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
. Editions from the library were subsequently included in the founding collection of the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
[''A Facsimile of the 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue of Sir Thomas Browne and his son Edward's Libraries. Introduction, notes and index by J.S. Finch'' (E.J. Brill: Leiden, 1986) Page 7]
Autobiography
On 14 March 1673, Browne sent a short autobiography to the antiquarian
John Aubrey
John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the '' Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist ...
, presumably for Aubrey's collection of ''
Brief Lives
''Brief Lives'' is a collection of short biographies written by John Aubrey (1626–1697) in the last decades of the 17th century.
Writing
Aubrey initially began collecting biographical material to assist the Oxford scholar Anthony Wood, who ...
'', which provides an introduction to his life and writings.
:...I was born in
St Michael's Cheap in London, went to school at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
, then went to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, spent some years in foreign parts, was admitted to be a ''Socius Honorarius'' of the
College of Physicians A college of physicians is a national or provincial organisation concerned with the practice of medicine.
{{Expand list, date=February 2011
Such institutions include:
* American College of Physicians
* Ceylon College of Physicians
* College of Phy ...
in London, Knighted September 1671, when the King
Charles II, the Queen and Court came to Norwich. Writ ''
Religio Medici'' in English, which was since translated into Latin, French, Italian, High and Low Dutch,''
Pseudodoxia Epidemica
''Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common ...
, or Enquiries into Common and Vulgar Errors'' translated into Dutch four or five years ago. ''
Hydriotaphia, or Urn Buriall.'' ''
Hortus Cyri, or de Quincunce.'' Have some miscellaneous tracts which may be published...(Letters 376)
Literary influence
Browne is widely considered one of the most original writers in the English language. The freshness and ingenuity of his mind invested everything he touched with interest; while on more important subjects his style, if frequently ornate and Latinate, often rises to the highest pitch of stately eloquence. He has a
paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
ical and ambiguous place in the
history of ideas
Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...
, as equally, a devout Christian, a promoter of the new
inductive science, and an adherent of ancient
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
learning. For these reasons, one literary critic succinctly assessed him as "an instance of scientific reason lit up by mysticism in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
". However, the complexity of Browne's labyrinthine thought processes, his highly stylised language, along with his many allusions to Biblical, Classical and contemporary learning, along with esoteric authors, are each contributing factors for why he remains obscure, little-read, and, thus, misunderstood.
Browne appears at No. 69 in the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
''s list of top cited sources. He has 775 entries in the OED of first usage of a word, is quoted in a total of 4131 entries of first evidence of a word, and is quoted 1596 times as first evidence of a particular meaning of a word. Examples of his coinages, many of which are of a scientific or medical nature, include 'ambidextrous', 'antediluvian', 'analogous', 'approximate', 'ascetic', 'anomalous', 'carnivorous', 'coexistence', 'coma', 'compensate', 'computer', 'cryptography', 'cylindrical', 'disruption', 'ergotisms', 'electricity', 'exhaustion', 'ferocious', 'follicle', 'generator', 'gymnastic', 'hallucination', 'herbaceous', 'holocaust', 'insecurity', 'indigenous', 'jocularity', 'literary', 'locomotion', 'medical', 'migrant', 'mucous', 'prairie', 'prostate', 'polarity', 'precocious', 'pubescent', 'therapeutic', 'suicide', 'ulterior', 'ultimate' and 'veterinarian'.
The influence of his literary style spans four centuries.
*In the 18th century,
Samuel Johnson, who shared Browne's love of the
Latinate
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, wrote a brief ''Life'' in which he praised Browne as a faithful Christian and assessed his prose thus:
*In the 19th century Browne's reputation was revived by the
Romantics
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
.
Thomas De Quincey
Thomas Penson De Quincey (; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his '' Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quinc ...
,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...
, and
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...
(who considered himself the rediscoverer of Browne) were all admirers. Carlyle was also influenced by him.
*The American novelist
Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
, heavily influenced by his style, deemed him a "crack'd
Archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
."
*The
epigraph of
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
's "
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination".
C. Auguste Du ...
" (1841) is from Browne's ''
Hydriotaphia'' (Chap. 5): "What song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, although puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture".
* The novelist
Joseph Conrad prefaced his 1913 novel ''
Chance
Chance may refer to:
Mathematics and Science
* In mathematics, likelihood of something (by way of the Likelihood function and/or Probability density function).
* ''Chance'' (statistics magazine)
Places
* Chance, Kentucky, US
* Chance, Mary ...
'' with a quotation by Browne:
* The English author
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
wrote two short essays about him, observing in 1923, "Few people love the writings of Sir Thomas Browne, but those that do are the salt of the earth."
In the 20th century those who have admired Browne include:
* The American natural historian and
palaeontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
Stephen Jay Gould.
* The
theosophist
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
Madame Blavatsky.
* The Scottish psychologist
R. D. Laing
Ronald David Laing (7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989), usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, the experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment o ...
, who opens his work ''The Politics of Experience'' with a quotation by him : " thus is man that great and true Amphibian whose nature is disposed to live not only like other creatures in divers elements, but in divided and distinguished worlds."
* The composer
William Alwyn
William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.
Life and music
William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins ...
wrote a
symphony in 1973 based upon the rhythmical cadences of Browne's literary work ''
Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial''.
* The American author
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...
includes a quote from ''Religio Medici'' in the preface to the third in his
Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...
novels, ''
Further Tales of the City'', first published in 1982.
* The Canadian physician
William Osler
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...
(1849–1919), the "founding father of modern medicine", was a well-read admirer of Browne.
* The German author
W. G. Sebald wrote of Browne in his semi-autobiographical novel ''
The Rings of Saturn
''The Rings of Saturn'' (german: Die Ringe des Saturn: Eine englische Wallfahrt - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the ...
'' (1995).
* The
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
writer
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
alluded to Browne throughout his literary writings, from his first publication, ''Fervor de Buenos Aires'' (1923) until his last years. He described Browne as "the best prose writer in the English language". Such was his admiration of Browne as a literary stylist and thinker that late in his life (Interview 25 April 1980) he stated of himself, alluding to his self-portrait in "
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" (1940):
* In his short story "
The Celestial Omnibus", published in 1911,
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...
makes Browne the first "driver" that the young protagonist encounters on the magical omnibus line that transports its passengers to a place of direct experience of the
aesthetic sublime reserved for those who internalise the experience of poetry, as opposed to those who merely acquire familiarity with literary works for snobbish prestige. The story is an allegory about true appreciation of poetry and literature versus pedantry.
* In ''North Towards Home'',
Willie Morris
William Weaks Morris (November 29, 1935 – August 2, 1999) was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' tradem ...
quotes Sir Thomas Browne's ''Urn Burial'' from memory as he walks up Park Avenue with
William Styron
William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.
Styron was best known for his novels, including:
* '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed fi ...
: "'And since death must be the Lucina of life, and even Pagans could doubt, whether thus to live were to die; since our longest sun sets at right descensions, and makes but winter arches, and therefore it cannot be long before we lie down in darkness and have our light in ashes...' At that instant I was almost clipped by a taxicab, and the driver stuck his head out and yelled, 'Aincha got eyes in that head, ya bum?'"
* William Styron prefaced his 1951 novel ''
Lie Down in Darkness'' with the same quotation as noted above in the remarks about Willie Morris's memoir. The title of Styron's novel itself comes from that quotation.
* Spanish writer
Javier Marías
Javier Marías Franco (20 September 1951 – 11 September 2022) was a Spanish author, translator, and columnist. Marías published fifteen novels, including '' A Heart So White'' (''Corazón tan blanco,'' 1992'')'' and '' Tomorrow in the Battle ...
translated two works of Browne into Spanish, ''Religio Medici'' and ''Hydriotaphia''.
*The British ornithologist
Tim Birkhead has said of Browne:
Portraits and influence in the visual arts
* The
National Portrait Gallery in London has a contemporary portrait by
Joan Carlile
Joan Carlile or Carlell or Carliell (c. 1606–1679), was an English portrait painter. She was one of the first British women known to practise painting professionally. Before Carlile, known professional female painters working in Britain were ...
of
Sir Thomas Browne and his wife Dorothy, probably completed between 1641 and 1650.
* More recent sculptural portraits include
Henry Alfred Pegram's 1905 statue of Sir Thomas contemplating with urn in Norwich. This statue occupies the central position in the Haymarket beside St Peter Mancroft, not far from the site of his house. Unveiled on 19 October 1905, it was moved from its original position in 1973.
* In 1931 the English painter
Paul Nash was invited to illustrate a book of his own choice, Nash choose Sir Thomas Browne's ''Urn Burial'' and ''The Garden of Cyrus'', providing the publisher with a set of 32 illustrations to accompany Browne's Discourses. The edition was published in 1932. A pencil drawing by Nash called "Urne Buriall: Teeth, Bones and Hair" is held by Birmingham Museums Trust.
* In 2005 a small standing figure in silver and bronze, commissioned for the 400th anniversary of Browne's birth, was sculpted by Robert Mileham.
*In 2016 the artists
Peter Rodulfo and
Mark Burrell elected Browne as honorary ''Great-Grandfather'' of the
North Sea Magical Realists art-movement. Simultaneously they realised in painting items taken from Browne's ''
Musaeum Clausum'' in its ''Rarities in Pictures'' section. (Rodulfo # 3, Burrell # 12).
Publications
:*''
Religio Medici'' (1643)
:*''
Pseudodoxia Epidemica
''Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common ...
'' (1646–72)
:*''
Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial'' (1658)
:*''
The Garden of Cyrus'' (1658)
:*''
A Letter to a Friend'' (1656; pub. 1690)
:*''
Christian Morals'' (1670s; pub. 1716)
:*''
Musaeum Clausum'' Tract 13 from Miscellaneous Tracts first pub. 1684
See also
Library of Sir Thomas Browne
See also
*
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
*
Johannes Kepler
*
Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...
*
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some i ...
*
Hermeticism
Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth). These teachings are containe ...
*
The Garden of Cyrus
*
Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial
*
Library of Sir Thomas Browne
References
Sources
* Reid Barbour and Claire Preston (eds), ''Sir Thomas Browne: The World Proposed'' (Oxford, OUP, 2008).
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*Wilding, Michael, 'Dragons Teeth: Literature in the English Revolution' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987)
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External links
* Website which acts as a portal to Browne-related media. Information on Norwich-based, national and international events listed.
Sir Thomas Browne Organisationat the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, a comprehensive site with the complete works mentioned above, plus the minor works;
Samuel Johnson's ''Life of Browne'',
Kenelm Digby
Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, he is d ...
's ''Observations on Religio Medici'', and
Alexander Ross's ''Medicus Medicatus''; and background material, such as many of Browne's sources.
Quotations by Sir Thomas Brownea
Quotidiana.org
* Various essays on Browne a
Aquarium of Vulcan*
ttp://www.umilta.net/browne.html Spiritual and literary affinity between Julian of Norwich and Sir Thomas Browne
Prayer and Prophecy in Browne's life and writings
*
*
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Sir Thomas Browne Quotesa
Convergence"Sir Thomas Browne: The Man And The Physician"by A. Batty Shaw, ''
British Medical Journal'' (Clinical Research Edition), Vol. 285, No. 6334 (Jul. 3, 1982), pp. 40–42
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Thomas
English science writers
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1605 births
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17th-century Christian mystics
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