Sir Thomas Browne

Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

Born 19 Oct 1605
Died 19 Oct 1682
Activity 1642-1682

Places

Born in England
Active in England; France; Italy; Netherlands

Activities

Primary

Autobiographer
Essayist
Religious writer

Other

Moralist
Natural scientist
Travel writer

Resources

Browne's Works

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Thomas Browne was born in Cheapside, London in 1605, a few weeks before the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, and a few months after the publication of Francis Bacon's

The Advancement of Learning

. He was the fourth child of five and the only son of Thomas Browne and Anne Garroway. Both sides of the family claimed gentility. The father, a successful mercer, died in 1613, when his son was eight years old, and Anne Browne soon after married Sir Thomas Dutton (a somewhat reckless military man remembered only for having killed a senior officer in a duel). The estate bequeathed by Thomas Browne to his widow, children, and others was left in the execution of Anne Dutton and her brother-in-law Edward Browne, but owing to the Duttons' mismanagement Edward later successfully applied to the Court of…

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2556 words

Citation: Preston, Claire. "Sir Thomas Browne". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=609, accessed 26 November 2024.]