Thomas Browne, Letter to a Friend, upon the Occasion of the Death of his Intimate Friend

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

First circulation or publication c. 1656

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Account/ study
Didactic
Non-Fiction
- Letter(s)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Although published posthumously in 1690, Thomas Browne’s

A Letter to a Friend

was written much earlier, in late 1650s. It opens as a condolence letter to a local landowner on the death of a mutual friend, a gifted young man named Robert Loveday of Chediston in Suffolk. It is Browne’s sad task announce the death to the recipient as well as condole with him.

Browne had been called in to consult on Loveday’s advanced case of consumption. In his character as doctor, Browne brings his wide medical knowledge to a discussion of the course of the disease in the patient – his unmistakable mortal symptoms, the unfounded but hopeful diagnoses by members of Loveday’s family, and the results of the autopsy. This medical structure, which roughly follows the prescribed elements of the

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

673 words

Citation: Preston, Claire. "Letter to a Friend, upon the Occasion of the Death of his Intimate Friend". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 July 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4013, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Thomas Browne, Letter to a Friend, upon the Occasion of the Death of his Intimate Friend

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback