The 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue of the Library of Sir Thomas Browne highlights the erudition of the physician, philosopher and encyclopedist, Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682). It also illustrates the proliferation, distribution and availability of books printed throughout 17th century Europe which were purchased by the intelligentsia, aristocracy, priest, physician and educated merchant-class.
Browne graduated from the University of Leiden in 1633 having previously studied at the Universities of Montpellier and Padua for his medical degree. [1] Upon his establishment in Norwich as a physician in 1637 he was able to begin a lifetime's bibliophilia, building a private library, acquiring and reading an estimated 1,500 titles. He was adept in five contemporary languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Danish; these languages as well as Greek and Hebrew and the predominant written form of the Renaissance, namely Latin, are all represented in his Library.
The 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue reflects the wide scope of Browne's interests. It includes many of the sources of his encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica which went through six editions (1646 to 1672); and established him as one of the leading intellects of 17th-century Europe.
Browne's erudite learning is reflected by the Classics of antiquity as well as history, geography, philology, philosophy, anatomy, theology, cartography, embryology, medicine, cosmography, ornithology, mineralogy, zoology, travel, law, mathematics, geometry, literature, both Continental and English, the latest advances in scientific thinking in astronomy, chemistry as well as esoteric topics such as astrology, alchemy, physiognomy and the Kabbalah are all represented in the Catalogue of his library contents. It was however not until 1986 that the Catalogue was first made widely available. The American scholar Jeremiah Stanton Finch, Dean Emeritus at Princeton University took on the task of indexing Browne's work during his retirement, [2] completing the indexing of the books of Sir Thomas and his son Edward Browne's libraries, "after many years in many libraries". [3] Finch noted that the Catalogue advertised books of sculpture and painting, which somehow were never delivered to the auction house. In the event, the auction held upon 8–10 January 1711 was attended by Jonathan Swift and buyers working on behalf of Sir Hans Sloane. Thus an unknown percentage of books auctioned from the Library of Sir Thomas Browne subsequently formed the foundation for the future British Library. [3]
The 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue records the omnivorous reading and bibliophilia which Browne engaged upon for roughly sixty years, it also exemplifies the observation:
Gerolamo Cardano was an Italian polymath whose interests and proficiencies ranged through those of mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, astronomer, philosopher, writer, and gambler. He became one of the most influential mathematicians of the Renaissance and one of the key figures in the foundation of probability; he introduced the binomial coefficients and the binomial theorem in the Western world. He wrote more than 200 works on science.
Gerrit Janszoon Vos, often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar and theologian.
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus was a German-born Dutch anatomist. He served a professor of medicine at the University of Leiden like his father Bernhard Albinus (1653–1721). He also published a large-format artistic atlas of human anatomy, with engravings made by Jan Wandelaar.
Johann Rudolf Glauber was a German-Dutch alchemist and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers. His discovery of sodium sulfate in 1625 led to the compound being named after him: "Glauber's salt".
Fortunio Liceti, was an Italian physician and philosopher.
Elzevir is the name of a family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the tallest and freshest copies of these tiny books.
John Jonston or Johnston was a Polish scholar and physician, descended from Scottish nobility and closely associated with the Polish magnate Leszczyński family. The standard author abbreviation Jonst. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Alexander Ross was a prolific Scottish writer and controversialist. He was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Charles I.
John Bond was an English physician and classical scholar who also served twice as Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton.
Thomas Wharton (1614–1673) was an English physician and anatomist best known for his descriptions of the submandibular duct and Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord.
Jacobus Revius was a Dutch poet, Calvinist theologian and church historian. His most renowned collection of poems, the Over-ysselsche Sangen en Dichten (1630), forms a high point of Dutch baroque. According to Pieter Geyl,
…the real spirit of Calvinism, in its unimpeachable austerity, in its ferocity as well as in its self-abnegation, was personified in Revius […]
Arnold Vinnius was one of the leading jurists of the 17th century in the Netherlands.
Sir Andrew Balfour was a Scottish doctor, botanist, antiquary and book collector, the youngest brother of the antiquarian Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet.
Georgius Hornius was a German historian and geographer, and professor of history at Leiden University from 1653 until his death.