. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . he had twelve children. In 1642appeared his wonderful little book entitled Reiigio Medici; it seems tohave been published without his authorit3. It immediately attractedmuch attention, and called forth the strictures of Sir Kenelm Digby,to which Browne replied in the preface to the first authorizededition (1643). A Latin translation spread the fame of the book onthe Continent, and also provoked attacks on its authors orthodoxy,the usual fate of religious works of this period. Though a Royalistin sympathy, Browne continued his literar
. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . he had twelve children. In 1642appeared his wonderful little book entitled Reiigio Medici; it seems tohave been published without his authorit3. It immediately attractedmuch attention, and called forth the strictures of Sir Kenelm Digby,to which Browne replied in the preface to the first authorizededition (1643). A Latin translation spread the fame of the book onthe Continent, and also provoked attacks on its authors orthodoxy,the usual fate of religious works of this period. Though a Royalistin sympathy, Browne continued his literary labours, and avoidedtaking any part in the Civil War. In 1646, he produced PsetidodoxiaEpidemica, a refutation of popular errors. Being a work of im-mense erudition, it was hardly calculated to appeal to the vulgar,but it established his reputation for inexhaustible knowledge, andprocured him the burdensome compliment of being made therecipient of inquiries on scientific subjects from numerous cor-respondents, among whom was John Evelyn, the diarist. The. SIR THOMAS BROWNE From llic portrait belonging to the Royal College of Physicians Painter iinkrown SIR THOMAS BROWNE 217 same quality of learning is conspicuous in Brownes next publication,Hydriotaphia, or Urn Burial, which appeared in 1658. In this hediscusses the burial customs which have been prevalent amongdifterent races and in different countries, thus founding a branchof archaeological study which has since borne amazing fruits. Thewidth of his reading is remarkable—even Dante is familiar to him—while the peroration on death and immortality, with which the essayconcludes, is perhaps the finest passage in the whole of Browneswritings. Lastly, he produced in the same year The Garden ofCyrus; or the Qiiincuncial Lozenge, a fantastic treatise on gardening,tracing its development from the horticulture of Eden downwards,mainly with reference to plantation in the form of a quincunx, whichhe regarded as possessing magical
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