Selected Writings - Sir Thomas Browne

Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), said Coleridge, was 'rich in various knowledge, exuberant in conceptions and conceits; contemplative, imaginative, often truly great and magnificent in his style'. This selection of Browne's writings presents the full range of his exuberant enthusiasms and his richly textured, allusive language. Physician and philosopher, Browne lived through a period of intellectual ferment, and his works reflect the expanding horizons of the age. He was boundlessly curious about the world. Best known for Religio Medici and Urn Burial, he also wrote tracts, letters to antiquarians, notebooks and observations on natural history. John Evelyn, visiting Browne in 1671, called his house a 'cabinet of rarities', and Claire Preston's selection has that same quality. Here readers will encounter Browne discussing death and resurrection, sneezing, astronomy, ostriches, hieroglyphics, rainbows, and much else. The extracts are arranged thematically, and Browne's sonorous text is annotated, with a detailed introduction and list of further reading.