Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, or Urne-Buriall

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)

Domains

Anthropology
Philosophy (any)
Religion and Spirituality (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1658

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Commentary / Criticism (literary)

Resources

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“Who knows the fate of his bones, or how often he is to be buried? Who hath the oracle of his ashes, or whither they are to be scattered?” Thomas Browne's

Urne-Buriall

(1658), a brief essay on the subject of fragmentation, dissolution, loss, and the failure of record, approaches its themes from the point of view of the practising naturalist, antiquarian, and moralist. Its evidence is marshalled from such diverse fields as ancient history, folklore, anecdote, physic, and theology to produce a resonant and complex meditation on human vanity. For all its recondite and at times eccentric learning, it is one of the most extraordinary prose works in the English language, a work whose very sound still rings clearly and distinctly from a century of magnificent prose.

By the time of its

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1415 words

Citation: Preston, Claire. "Hydriotaphia, or Urne-Buriall". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4625, accessed 26 November 2024.]