BROWNE, Silt Thomas, English prosaist, scholar and physician : b. 19 Oct. 1605, London, parish of Saint Michael, Cheapside; d. Norwich, 19 Oct. 1682. His father, who had been a mer cer at Upton, in Cheshire, and came of an ancient and honorable family, died early; and Browne's mother soon married Sir Thomas Dutton. Browne received his early education at Winchester College, and in 1623 was sent as a fellow-commoner to Broadgate Hall (now Pembroke College) Oxford. Here he was graduated B.A., in June 1626, and M.A. 11 June 1629. Early becoming interested in the natural sciences, he devoted most of his time at Oxford to the study of medicine, and for some time after graduation practised medicine in Oxford shire. Later on, he accompanied his stepfather to Ireland on a tour of inspection of its forts and castles. After this, Browne continued his travels through France and Italy, spending some time at the celebrated schools of physic at Mont pellier and Padua, and doubtless acquiring some of the "six languages" which, ((besides the jar gon and patois of several provinces,* he later stated that he understood. On his way back to England he traveled through Holland, where in 1633 the University of Leyden conferred upon him the degree of doctor of medicine. After his return, he established himself as a physician at Shipden Hall, near Halifax. He was much "resorted to for his skill in physic," and spent his leisure hours in study and contemplation.
At Shipden Hall,
Browne composed the beautiful contemplative soliloquy known as the
Because of the "daring skepticism" which it combined with "implicit faith in revelation," it was placed in the Index Expurgatorius of the Catholic Church. Between 1642 and 1881, the treatise ran through 33 English editions.
In 1637 Browne had moved to Norwich, where he practised medicine and pursued his literary studies till his death. On 10 July 1637, he was incorporated doctor of physic at Ox ford. He married, 1641, Dorothy, 4th daughter of Edward Mileham, of Burlingham Saint Peter. She bore him 12 children, and survived him three years. Throughout the civil wars he remained at heart a Royalist, and ever re gretted what he called "the horrid murther of King Charles I.)) But his calm spirit "quietly rested tinder the drums and tramplings" of the revolution, and he took no active part in the upheaval of the times.
Browne's reputation for learning and re search was greatly increased in 1646 by the publication of his elaborate work, 'Pseudodoxia Epidemica: or, Enquiries into very many re ceived tenets and commonly presumed truths, which examined prove but Vulgar and Common Errors.' This treatise is encyclopedic in scope, and must have grown to its final extent through many years of slow accretion. It was soon translated into Dutch, German and French; and attracted no little attention among scholars by the vast and recondite learning it displayed. Browne's advice and assistance soon became sought by scholars engaged in scientific and antiquarian pursuits. Among the best-known men of the time who sought his acquaintance was John Evelyn, with whom in 1658 he began a correspondence which lasted through his life. In October 1671, Evelyn journeyed to Norwich to visit Browne; and wrote, in his diary, an account of Browne's surroundings. The house and garden were "a paradise and cabinet of rarities, and that of the best collections, espe cially medals, books, plants and natural things? Evelyn noticed particularly Browne's extensive collection of birds' eggs.