Books by Thomas Browne

The proverb "Where there are three physicians there are two atheists" summed up the public perception of seventeenth century physicians. But, as the reader of Religio Medici will testify, Sir Thomas Browne, M.D., was anything but an atheist. Browne qualified as a doctor in Europe and travelled widely across the continent, living among many different Christian sects. At the age of thirty, he set down his thoughts on religion, a work that was meant for private circulation only, but when a critically annotated version was printed without his permission in 1642, Browne felt obliged to publish an authorised edition the following year. As a singularly candid piece of introspection, Religio Medici broke the mould of seventeenth century works on religion and catapulted its author to fame across Europe. The book analyses what faith and Church doctrine mean to a post-reformation Christian heavily influenced by the rationalists of the 1600s. Divided into two parts, the first looks at faith and the second at charity, but much ground is covered within these two concepts - death, heaven, hell, judgement, resurrection and even music. Browne refutes the cavil of the day about physicians by arguing that reason and religious faith are perfectly compatible. God, after all, is the immanent power behind all things, both those that man has "worked out" and those that are beyond his reasoning powers. When the limits of rational thought are reached, Browne is happy to rely on faith and to revel in God's mysteries and uncertainties - although he points out that his views will change over time (according to "the dictates of my own reason") as new facts and perspectives come to light. It is this refreshing approach that sets Religio Medici apart as a work that continues to delight and inform the modern debate on religion and science.

A scholarly edition of an essay by Sir Thomas Browne. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

Originally published in 1958, this book contains the texts of two 1658 works by Sir Thomas Browne, Urne Burial and The Garden of Cyrus. Appendices and illustrative figures are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Sir Thomas Browne and philosophy.

Originally printed in 1904 as a limited edition of two hundred and fifty copies, this book contains a reprint of the 1716 edition of Sir Thomas Browne's Christian Morals. Brown offers a range of advice on subjects such as charity, true goodness and justice.

As a self-portrait of a mind and soul and a prominent landmark in the history of ideas, Religio Medici proved a document of inexhaustible interest and persisting value; and ever since its first publication in 1642 it has exerted a powerful influence on its readers.

Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia and The Garden of Cyrus