Evelyn continues - Next morning, I went to see Sir Thomas Browne (with whom I had some time corresponded by letter, though I had never seen him before); his whole house and garden being a paradise and cabinet of rarities; and that of the best collection, especially medals, books, plants, and natural things.
John Evelyn’s description of Thomas Browne’s house as ‘a paradise and cabinet of rarities’ supplies us with clues to the contents of Browne’s Haymarket home.
Even Browne's garden house or shed seems stately and indicative of his wealth. It stood until as late as 1962 when it was demolished for new shops, roughly where the Lamb Inn and what is now Primark stands.
Browne's notebooks includes verse inspired by a painting once in his parlour by Peter Paul Rubens. It depicts the gods Jupiter and Mercury visiting humble cottage dwellers who are preparing to kill a fattened goose for their visitors. Rubens painting celebrates the virtue of hospitality and its greater Christian tributary Charity, and as such it informs those visiting the family home of their deeply-held Christian values.
In correspondence to his father Edward mentions another painting once in the family home which depicts the Greek myth of the Fall of Icarus. Equally moralistic to Ruben’s painting, this time warning of the danger of carelessness in youth and the consequence of not heeding parental advice. The parlour painting may have resembled or even have been this Dutch painting dating from 1637.
Browne’s collection of curios, would in all probability, have been exhibited within a single room. It may have resembled this reconstruction of the Danish polymath Olaf Worm’s collection. Browne's collection would have featured a display case of coins, various stuffed birds including a pelican, birds eggs, a swordfish's head, an elephant’s leg bone, part of a whale's skull and an ancient Egyptian statuette with magnetic properties.
Although his home, paintings and curios have long since vanished, there’s one document which gives us vital insights into Doctor Browne’s many interests, the 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue, which lists the contents of his library. It wasn't however, until 1986 that a facsimile was published of it, edited by the American scholar Jeremiah Finch, ‘after many years in many libraries’.
Browne’s eldest son Edward (above) became President of the Royal College of Physicians. More adventurous, but less wide-ranging in his interests, Edward Browne’s books are mostly those relating to his profession, along with French literature and travelogues. Edward Browne was himself a great traveller and the catalogue lists a 1699 publication in which he engagingly narrates his observations while travelling through Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thessaly and Austria. We can also safely assume that any book listed in the Catalogue dated after 1682, the year of Thomas Browne’s death were purchased by Edward Browne.
Secondly, although the Catalogue advertises that books on sculpture and painting were to be sold, none arrived at the auction house for unknown reasons. Almost thirty years passed from Thomas Browne's death in 1682 until the auction and during that time, especially from 1708, the year of Edward Browne's death, until 1711, any number of people, servant, visitor or relative, especially Edward's son young Thomas, who met his death falling off his horse while intoxicated, may have slipped a book aside, especially one of the lavishly illustrated and costly books on sculpture or art. [1]
Nevertheless, the books listed as once in Dr. Browne’s library are extraordinary in diversity of their subject matter. Books on – anatomy, antiquities, Biblical scholarship, botany, cartography, chemistry, embryology, geography, history, law, English and continental literature, mineralogy, optics, ornithology, philology, philosophy, theology, travel and zoology as well as esoteric topics such as alchemy, astrology and the kabbalah are all listed as once in Browne's library. A high percentage of books listed are in Latin, the predominant language of academics throughout the Renaissance, as well as books in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Browne claimed that his first book Religio Medici was written without the assistance of any good book, however there’s one book which he consistently refers to throughout his psychological self-portrait, the Bible. One cannot under-estimate the enormous influence which the Bible wielded upon him in religion and spirituality. The King James Bible was first published in 1611 just when young Thomas had barely mastered his ABC. Its stately strophes, cadences and parallelisms greatly influenced his literary style, notably in certain passages of Urn-Burial.
Any selection of books is bound to be subjective. For this introductory essay I’ve selected a few first on natural history, optics and astronomy and finally on alchemy, ancient Egypt and China.
Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646) is a vast work of over two hundred thousand words. An enormous number of books are referenced in it, it many of which are listed in the catalogue.
In the second of the seven books of Pseudodoxia Browne writes on magnetism and electricity, frequently referencing William Gilbert's influential book ‘On magnetism’ (1600). The frontispiece of Gilbert’s book (above) depicts a natural philosopher and a mariner, together they are united in the magnet which always points North. Used in navigation, the magnetic compass made sea-faring, exploration and over-sea trade easier throughout the seventeenth century. [2]
The early English scientist Gilbert also experimented with static electricity in the form of Amber. Because amber is called elektron in Greek, and electrum in Latin, Gilbert decided to name the phenomenon of static by the adjective electricus. However, because Browne chose to write in English and not Latin as Gilbert, it’s the Norwich doctor who is credited with introducing the words ‘electrical’ and ‘electricity’ into English language.
Thomas Muffett’s 'Theatre of Tiny Animals' is also consulted in Pseudodoxia Epidemica. Muffett (1533-1604) was an English naturalist and physician who supplemented material which he'd inherited from Edward Wooton and the Swiss naturalist Gesner for his book which was ready for publication by 1590. However, due to the expense of its wood-cut illustrations and a general lack of interest in natural science in England at the time, it wasn’t published until many years after his death, in 1634. [3]
The Italian naturalist Guillaume Rondelet (1507-1566) is also referenced in Pseudodoxia. Rondelet was a professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier, one of the three Continental universities which Browne attended for his medical degree. In his book On Fishes (1544) Rondelet compared the swim bladders of freshwater and marine fish. Like other natural philosophers of his day, he made no distinction between fish and marine mammals such as seals and whales, or crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters. He did however discover that humans share certain anatomical similarities with dolphins. [4]
The most extensive work on birds in Browne’s day was by the Italian naturalist Ulysees Aldrovandi (1522-1605). His Ornithologia (above) is a comprehensive study of birds, complete with detailed illustrations. Aldrovandi’s natural history books are well-represented in Browne's library and he himself was a keen bird fancier. At one time or another he kept an owl, a Golden Eagle, a cormorant, a Bittern and even an ostrich. His participation in the sport of falconry in particular points to his animal handling skills. It takes some ability to handle big birds such as eagles. Some of the birds he kept were eventually dissected, examined anatomically, cleaned and sent to a taxidermist. The fate of this stuffed bird collection however was sealed when in 1667 Norwich's city council ordered its destruction, a precautionary measure to eliminate any potential harbingers of disease in the wake of the Plague which had recently decimated the City's population. [5]
Incidentally, Browne is credited with introducing the word ‘incubation’ into English language. Its also from his visiting local wetland habitats and repeated use of the phrase 'broad waters' in his Natural history notes that the geographical term 'Norfolk Broads' in all probability originates.
A number of books on optics, that is the scientific study of sight and the behaviour of light are listed in the catalogue, including the Belgian mathematician and physicist François Aiguilon’s 'Six Books of Optics, useful for philosophers and mathematicians alike'.
Aiguilon's book is notable for containing the principles of stereographic projections. One of the most important uses of stereoscopic projection was in the representation of celestial charts which were increasingly necessary for accurate navigation, exploration and trade-routes, especially for the Dutch and British nations, the two rival Empire building sea-faring nations of the 17th century.
Aguilon (1567-1617) commissioned the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens to illustrate his book. Throughout his study on optics Rubens depicts three cherubs who act as heavenly guides who reveal the properties of optical phenomena to the devout enquirer. [6]
The German polymath Athanasius Kircher’s book on optics 'The Great Art of Light and Shadow' was printed in 1646. Its frontispiece (above) depicts a personification of the sun, with the symbols of the zodiac covering his body, below him sits a double-headed eagle. On his right a woman personifying the moon is covered in stars, below her sits two peacocks. Rays of light hit various lenses reflective of Kircher's optical discoveries. The frontispiece also depicts the hierarchy of Kircher's sources of knowledge in descending order of reliability. At its top are sacred authority and reason, below are inferior forms of knowledge, the senses (aided by instruments) and profane authority. Kircher's book is significant for its inclusion of the first printed illustration of the planet Saturn. [7]
Optics held both a scientific and mystical dimension for Natural philosophers such as Browne. With its emphasis upon Light and Dark, the visible and invisible worlds and the deceptive nature of appearances optics easily lends itself to moral teachings. Optical imagery is found in the sacred texts of all world religions, including Christianity notably in Saint Paul's famous imagery of 'seeing through a glass darkly'.
In Browne’s lifetime which spanned the greater part of the 17th century, two optical instruments were developed which fundamentally revolutionized understanding of the universe and the complexity of organic life, the telescope and slightly later, the microscope.
The Italian astronomer Galileo's Duo Sistema mundo or two world systems features a dialogue between two characters who discuss and credibility of the long held Earth centred universe and the new Copernican theory of a Sun-centred Universe. Galileo’s book supported the Copernican or heliocentric view of the Universe and was a fundamental challenge to the authority of the Bible. Humanity, but especially the authority of the Church was undermined. Western consciousness had to face up to a painful truth, perhaps Earth was not the centre of the Universe after all, our new cosmic address might simply be the third rock from the sun, itself one among thousands of new stars which the invention of the telescope now revealed. [8]
At the conclusion of Religio Medici Browne seems reluctant to accept the Copernican sun-centred universe, declaring- ‘there is no happiness under (or as Copernicus will have it, above) the Sun. Nevertheless, his copy of Galileo’s revolutionary work is a first edition from 1635. [9]
One astronomer in particular who has a close affinity to Browne’s scientific perspective is the German astronomer and mathematician, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630).
A fruitful comparison can be made between Kepler to Browne. Kepler’s lifetime like Browne's spanned a watershed in scientific thought. Kepler augmented his rational inductive science and the astronomical discoveries of Galileo with Neoplatonic and Pythagorean ideas. His astronomical discoveries were as much structured upon precise mathematical calculation as deeply held theological beliefs and God-given revelation.
Kepler’s scientific perspective, just like Browne’s, was a complex fusion of Christian awe of the Creation, precise scientific analysis, and concepts originating from the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Pythagoras. Browne just like Kepler believed in two, quite contrasting sources of knowledge. In addition to natural forms of knowledge obtained through reason, hypothesis, deduction and experiment, he also believed in supernatural sources of knowledge such as astrology. While Kepler extolled the virtues of the number six in his study of snowflakes, the mysteries of the number five is explored in Browne’s Garden of Cyrus. Kepler is also credited with introducing the astrological and astronomical aspect of the Quincunx to denote planets 150 degrees apart.
Kepler’s On the New Star in the Foot of the Serpent Handler (1606) reported on the new star which was observable in the night-sky from October 1604 to October 1605. The new star or supernova, now known as Kepler’s supernova, raised serious questions about the Creation, such as whether the stars were truly fixed and whether the Universe was changeable, making it an important book in 17th century astronomy. [10]
Although its not listed in the Catalogue Browne must have perused the pages of the Polish astronomer Hevelius’ Atlas of the Moon (above) to state-
'And therefore the learned Hevelius in his accurate Selenography, or description of the Moon, hath well translated the known appellations of Regions, Seas and Mountains, unto the parts of that Luminary: and rather then use invented names or humane denominations, with witty congruity hath placed Mount Sinai, Taurus,… the Mediterranean Sea, Mauritania, Sicily, and Asia Minor in the Moon'. [11]
Helvius’s book may have been one of the books which somehow never made it to the auction house. Incidentally, the word ‘Selenography’ meaning the mapping of the moon’s lunar geography is recorded by the Oxford Dictionary as first used by Browne.
In his lifetime Browne witnessed the cataclysmic events of the English Civil war, the defeat of the Royalist cause, the subsequent execution of King Charles in 1649 and the establishment of the Protectorate and Commonwealth of Cromwell. During this proto-Republic period many Royalist supporters withdrew from society in order not to draw too much attention to themselves. Many retreated into a private world of reading or gardening or even simply whittled time away whittling wood.
Crowell’s Protectorate saw a liberalisation of printing press licences and a relaxation of censorship laws, these factors along with a general Endzeitpsychosis, anxiety of the world's end and Millenarium expectation, resulted in a surge of esoteric publications. Indeed the 1650s saw the greatest interest in esoteric literature that England has ever witnessed and books of an esoteric nature from this decade are well represented in Browne’s library. Its against a background of intense social and personal anxiety about the future that Browne penned his diptych discourses Urn Burial and The Garden of Cyrus (1658).
Jacques Gaffarell’s Unheard of Curiosities (above) is an early example of esoteric literature from this decade. First published in France in 1629 and in English translation in 1650, Jacques Gaffarel’s book was enormously popular in its day. In his book the librarian to Cardinal Richelieu supplies his reader with a celestial map in which the stars of the night sky are connected to each other, not through the stories of Greek myth but through the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Browne clearly knew of this book for in The Garden of Cyrus he alludes to ‘the strange cryptography of Gaffarel in his starrie booke of heaven’. In doing so he introduced the word ‘cryptography’ meaning the art of inventing and decoding hidden communications into English language.
The Oxford antiquarian Elias Ashmole (1617-92) was among the first to test the waters of the new liberalisation of printing press licenses and relaxation of censorship laws. In 1650 he published albeit under an anagrammatic name, a translation of Arthur Dee’s anthology of alchemical literature known as Fasicuclus Chemicus. Its frontispiece (above) is framed on the left by the instruments of learning and on the right the weapons of war. Ashmole’s own astrological birth-chart is thrust into view by a mysterious hand which obscures the profile of a sculptural bust. At its top, the trickster figure of Mercurius god of communication and revelation sits upon a stool flanked by King Sol with symbolic beast of lion, and Queen Luna sitting upon a lobster-like creature. The frontispiece also features a secret visual allusion to its translator in the form of an ash tree and a mole.
Arthur Dee was the eldest son of the Elizabethan mathematician and astrologer John Dee (1527-1608). Arthur Dee was a remarkable man, not least for surviving 14 harsh Moscow winters while serving as a physician to Czar Mikhail, founder of the Romanov dynasty. After his wife’s death Dee returned to England and opted to live in Norwich for his retirement where he became a neighbour and friend to Thomas Browne then living at Tombland. Arthur Dee was none too pleased with Ashmole's unsolicited translation of his anthology and wrote to him –
‘I am sorry you or any man should take pains to translate any book of that art into English, for the art is vilified so much already by scholars that do daily deride it, in regard they are ignorant of the principles. How then can it any way be advanced by the vulgar? But to satisfy your question, you may be resolved that he who wrote Euclid's Preface was my father. The 'Fasciculus', I confess, was my labour and work.'
On his death in 1651 Arthur Dee bequeathed a number of alchemical manuscripts to Browne who wrote in his correspondence to Elias Ashmole of Arthur Dee -
'he was a persevering student in Hermetical philosophy and had no small encouragement, having seen projection made; And with the highest asseverations he confirmed unto his death, that he had ocularly, undeceivably, and frequently beheld it in Bohemia. [12]
In much later correspondence to Ashmole Browne wrote
'Dr. Arthur Dee was a young man when he saw this projection made in Bohemia, but he was so inflamed therewith that he fell early upon that study, and read not much all his life but books of that subject; [13]
The literary critic Peter French noted-
‘Little is known of this son of Dee's; one cannot help but wonder however, how much he may have influenced Browne, who was one of the seventeenth century's greatest literary exponents of the type of occult philosophy in which both the Dee's were immersed'. [14]
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The 1650s also saw an enormous interest in the Swiss physician-alchemist Paracelsus (1493 -1541) whose writings are a conglomerate of practical advice on chemistry, proto-psychology and mystical Christian theology. Paracelsus urged his fellow physicians to experiment with Nature’s properties and the new Spagyric medicine which he taught, the beginning of modern-day chemical medicine no less, exerted a profound influence upon alchemists, early scientists and physicians alike. The 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue lists not only the complete works of Paracelsus, but also many books by his followers, including Gerard Dorn. The large number of books by Paracelsian physicians in Browne’s library suggests that the Norwich physician held far more than a casual interest in Paracelsian medicine. [16]
Paracelsus was fond of inventing new words to describe his alchemical form of medicine and in this context its worthwhile taking a quick look at a verse inscribed upon Sir Thomas Browne's Coffin plate, one surviving half of which is on display at the church of Saint Peter Mancroft.
The Paracelsian word, spagyric the name of Swiss alchemist-physician's distinctive brand of medicine can be seen engraved upon it. The word spagyric was invented by Paracelsus from the fusing together of the Greek words Spao, to tear open, and ageiro, to collect. Browne’s coffin-plate inscription alludes to the commonplace quest of alchemy, the transformation of metals, which for spiritual alchemists such as himself signified a far deeper goal - the transformation of the base matter of man to acquire spiritual gold –Translated the inscription reads – ‘Sleeping here the dust of his spagyric body converts the lead to gold’. Although often highly critical of esoteric aspects of Paracelsus, Browne’s coffin-plate is perhaps the strongest evidence of his adherence to Paracelsian medicine.
There's one illustration which expresses how Browne may have felt during the 1650s; it can be found in the Theatrum Chemicum. [17] The six doorstep size tomes of the Theatrum Chemicum were printed over several decades of the 17th century and they remain the most comprehensive anthology on alchemy ever published. A woodcut illustration in the first volume of the Theatrum Chemicum depicts the adept or hermetically-inclined philosopher experiencing the initial stage of the alchemical process known as the Nigredo, under the influence of the black, malefic planet Saturn, commonly associated with melancholy, Time and old age (below). Browne would easily have recognised this psychic state and may well have identified with this illustration, confessing in Religio Medici, 'I was born in the planetary hour of Saturn and I think I have a piece of that leaden planet in me'. [18]
Browne must have perused his edition of the Theatrum Chemicum extremely closely for somewhere in the 800 pages by the Belgian philosopher Gerard Dorn featured in its first volume, he found an astral image which he liked and borrowed in order to triumphantly assert at the apotheosis of Urn-Burial - 'Life is a pure flame and we live by an invisible sun within us'.
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The frontispiece to the Italian polymath Mario Bettini's Beehives of Univeral Mathematical Philosophy (1656) is a fitting visualization of the overall mood-music of the discourse The Garden of Cyrus. [19]
Like The Garden of Cyrus Bettini’s frontispiece (above) alludes to artificial, natural and mystical aspects of scientific enquiry. This particular frontispiece is in fact from a latter second edition of Bettini’s work and a very early example of colour printing. Although Bettini’s book is predominately on optics, geometry and perspective it also includes scientific ideas contrary to general opinion, mathematical paradoxes, geometrical problems not yet solved, curious machines and engines, optical illusions, games and tricks as well as studies in geometry and perspective.
The foreground of Bettini’s frontispiece features mathematical, optical and geometric instruments in vases as if cultivated plants. In the centre of a Villa courtyard a peacock stands upon a sphere and displays its feathers as water flows from its feathered eyes, creating a streaming fountain. The alchemical deity Mercurius, god of communication and revelation stands aloft a pyramid of beehives holding an armillary sphere. Ten bees in quincunx formation hover beside him. A spider’s web can also be seen.
Peacocks are often encountered in optical and alchemical literature, primarily because the 'multiple eye' symbolism of their feathers evoke watchfulness. The iridescent gleam of the peacock's feathers also appealed to optical study.
Bettini’s book includes chapters on the Holy Grail of optics, the camera obscura, the scientific precursor to photography, as well as examination of the mathematics and geometry of the spider’s web. Likewise, in The Garden of Cyrus fleetingly mentions ‘pictures from objects which are represented, answerable to the paper, or wall in the dark chamber’ and 'the mathematicks of the neatest Retiary Spider.’
One book above all others seems to have fascinated Browne in the 1650s decade, the Jesuit priest Athanasius Kircher’s greatest work, Oedipus Egypticus or The Egyptian Oedipus. [20]
The frontispiece to The Egyptian Oedipus depicts a youthful looking Kircher successfully answering the Sphinx's riddle. The three door-step sized volumes of Kircher's Egyptian Oedipus are a triumph of the printing press, taking four years in total to print. In Oedipus Aegyptiacus Kircher sets out to explore the esoteric traditions of theosophical systems of Zoroaster, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato and the Hebrew Cabala.
Athanasius Kircher (1602-80) was an archaeologist, an avid collector of scientific experiments and geographical exploration, he probed the secrets of the subterranean world, deciphered ancient languages and experimented with optics and magnetism. Kircher's books are well-represented in Browne’s library and his influence upon the Norwich doctor was considerable. For example, Browne conceded to Kircher's authority, altering many of his own speculations upon Egyptian hieroglyphics, declaring -
'But no man is likely to profound the Ocean of that Doctrine, beyond that eminent example of industrious Learning, Kircherus’.[21]
In his early work The Magnetic Art (1631) [22] Kircher explored different forms of magnetism. He believed that human relationships, love, sex and music all held magnetic properties because of their ability to exert an invisible attraction. In The Magnetical Art the Italian polymath reproduced notated music which he claimed could cure those bitten by the tarantella spider when performed. Browne seldom if ever questioned even the wildest of Kircher's ideas, stating in Pseudodoxia-
‘Some doubt many have of the Tarantula, or poisonous Spider of Calabria, and that magical cure of the bite thereof by Musick. But since we observe that many attest it from experience: Since the learned Kircherus hath positively averred it and set down the songs and tunes solemnly used for it; Since some also affirm the Tarantula itself will dance upon certain stroaks, whereby they set their instruments against its poison; we shall not at all question it. [23]
Browne was attracted to all kinds of secret, hidden forms of knowledge whether in the form of anagrams, riddles, codes, cryptograms, or symbolic as in the Hebraic kabbalah, as well as astrology and alchemy, but above all else it was the hieroglyphs (sacred writings) of ancient Egypt which fascinated him most.
Thomas Browne's study of ancient Egypt was multi-faceted; as a doctor he naturally took an interest in its medicine, as a devout Christian he knew that the Old Testament books Genesis and Exodus are set in Egypt. Crucially, in common with almost all 16th and 17th century alchemists and hermetically-inclined philosophers he believed ancient Egypt was home to the mythic Hermes Trismegistus as well as the birthplace of alchemy and where long-lost transmutations of Nature were once performed. And indeed, the early civilization skills of baking, brewing and metalwork, as well as cosmetics and perfumery were all once very closely guarded secrets.
Kircher’s The Egyptian Oedipus includes a detailed reproduction of the Bembine Tablet. Named after Cardinal Bembo, an antiquarian who acquired it after the sack of Rome in 1527, the Bembine Tablet is an important example of ancient metallurgy, its surface being decorated with a variety of metals including silver, gold, copper-gold alloy and various base metals. The Rosetta Stone of its age, many antiquarians attempted and failed to decipher its hieroglyphs. However, the Bembine Tablet has long since been identified as a Roman work dating from circa 250 CE, and a copy of a much earlier ancient Egyptian artefact. Its not, as both antiquarians believed, a work originating from ancient Egypt whatsoever.
The engraved drawing of the Bembine Tablet in Oedipus Egypticus seems to have fascinated Browne for he alludes to it no less than three times in The Garden of Cyrus. First, in a fine example of how Christian scholars attempted to ‘Christianize’ pagan beliefs and artefacts, stating-
'he that considereth the plain crosse upon the head of the Owl in the Laterane Obelisk, or the crosse erected upon a picher diffusing streams of water into two basins, with sprinkling branches in them, and all described upon a two-footed Altar, as in the Hieroglyphics of the brasen Table of Bembus; will hardly decline all thought of Christian signality in them'.
Its mentioned once more in The Garden of Cyrus (chapter 3) -
'We shall not affirm that from such grounds, the Egyptian Embalmers imitated this texture yet in their linnen folds the same is observable among their neatest mummies, in the figures of Isis and Osyris,and the Tutelary spirits in the Bembine Tablet'.
But perhaps best of all - Browne may have felt convinced of the archetypal nature of his quincuncial network when detecting that the engraved drawing of the Bembine Tablet depicts an Egyptian god who is decorated in a network pattern identical to his discourse's frontispiece. (Figure on bottom row, second from left). He hastily mentions it in Cyrus thus -
'Nor is it to be overlooked how Orus the hieroglyphic of the world is described in a Network covering. from the shoulder to the foot'.
Predating Greek and Latin script Egyptian hieroglyphics were once believed to contain hidden wisdom. The Egyptian Ankh symbol (above) is the most frequent and easily recognisable symbol of all Egyptian hieroglyphs. Sometimes referred to as the key of life and symbolic of eternal life, the Coptic church of Egypt inherited the ankh symbol as a form of Christian cross. Like other Hermetically inclined philosophers Browne attempted to reconcile pagan wisdom to Christianity, thus in The Garden of Cyrus he declared-
‘We will not revive the mysterious crosses of Egypt, with circles on their heads, in the breast of Serapis, and the hands of their Geniall spirits, not unlike the characters of Venus, and looked on by ancient Christians, with relation unto Christ'.
But the much simpler truth is that although Christian scholars believed ancient Egyptian symbols such as the Ankh symbol anticipated Christianity and the Coming of Christ in fact Christianity borrowed and adapted aspects of Egyptian theology and symbols for their own use.
In essence, Browne justified the study of so-called pagan, pre-Christian antiquities and beliefs in exactly the same manner as the Italian Renaissance scholars Marsilio Ficino (1433-99) and his successor, Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) by giving credence to a Prisca Theologia, a single, true theology which threaded through all religions and whose wisdom was believed to be passed down in a golden chain of mystics and prophets including Zoroaster, the Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Plato along with the Hebraic figures of King Solomon and Moses. For devout Christians the Hebrew prophet Moses in particular was a strong link in this golden chain, Browne for one believing Moses to be 'bred up in the hieroglyphicall schooles of the Egyptians'. But above all others, it was Hermes Trismegistus, the first and wisest of all pagan prophets who was revered by hermetic philosophers such as Browne. Modern scholarship however has now determined the mythic figure of Hermes Trismegistus to be an amalgam of the Egyptian god Theuth or Thoth and the ancient Greek god of revelation, Hermes. Even when the Swiss scholar Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614) conclusively proved that Hermetic texts were written after Christ's era and not before, Christian scholars none the less continued to appropriate hermetic teachings for their own agenda and persisted in belief that Hermes Trismegistus or ‘thrice greatest’ on account of his being the greatest priest, philosopher and king, was a contemporary of Moses who anticipated the coming of Christ. Such imaginative comparative religion not only justified the study of philosophers such as Plato, but also sanctioned the antiquity, wisdom and superiority of the Bible to devout Christians.
Kircher’s Egyptian Oedipus includes detailed illustrations of Egyptian mummies. Browne mentions his interest in Egyptian mummies in his medical essay A Letter to a Friend (pub. post 1690) stating in what may be one of the world’s earliest dental jokes.
'The Egyptian Mummies that I have seen, have had their Mouths open, and somewhat gaping, which affordeth a good opportunity to view and observe their Teeth, wherein 'tis not easie to find any wanting or decayed: and therefore in Egypt, where one Man practised but one Operation, or the Diseases but of single Parts, it must needs be a barren Profession to confine unto that of drawing of Teeth, and little better than to have been Tooth-drawer unto King Pyrrhus, who had but two in his Head'.
The pyramids, mummies and hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt are frequently encountered throughout the discourses Urn-Burial and The Garden of Cyrus as is imagery closely relating to optics.
In many ways optical imagery is a fundamental template of the diptych discourses. Urn-Burial opens in the depths of the subterranean world, it investigates archaeological finds which are hidden in the earth. The religious beliefs of those going into the darkness of death are examined in it, the enquirer or adept is said to be ‘lost in the uncomfortable night of nothing’. Browne laments that men remain in the dark to their own moral darkness until death. The discourse includes superb medical-optical imagery in which two infants not yet born and in the darkness of the womb discuss the world they are about to enter. Plato’s famous cave of shadows and human illusion is also mentioned.
While Urn-Burial explores the invisible world of death, The Garden of Cyrus explores the visible, living worlds of Nature and Art. In its dedicatory epistle Browne informs his patron that he's encouraged to write after meeting blind men who have the ability to discuss not only sight but also growth. The discourse opens with the dazzle of ‘shooting rays and 'diffused Light’ of the Sun and Moon on the fourth day of Creation, the effect of the Sun and Moon's rays upon plant growth is discussed, along with how the visual or optic nerve functions in eyesight. The workings of the camera obscura are also alluded to. Even disturbed, distorted ways of seeing in human perception are included with the word ‘hallucination’ being introduced into the English language.
The Garden of Cyrus features dozens of sharp-sighted and perspicacious botanical observations. As well as using his eyes to study and examine Nature, Browne was also deeply appreciative of simply contemplating Nature and Art, as he wittily informs readers of Religio Medici - ‘I can look a whole day with delight upon a handsome picture, though it be but of an horse’.
Throughout Cyrus Browne attempts to enlighten his reader on the beauty of Nature. The word 'elegant' frequently occurs in the essay. Visual examples of how the archetypal symbols of order, the number five and the quincunx pattern are generously supplied to the reader 'artificially, naturally and mystically' as prime evidence of God's intelligent design and universal interconnectivity. Though little understood throughout the centuries The Garden of Cyrus remains the greatest work of hermetic philosophy in the canon of English literature. Taken together the diptych discourses are unique as a literary work. Polarity, in particular, optical imagery involving Darkness and Light are fundamental to their construction. United they form a Cosmic vision and are a rare example of an alchemical mandala in World literature.
With the restoration of Monarchy in 1660 Browne must have felt a sober joy. Only two years earlier he'd reassured readers of The Garden of Cyrus of the imminent return of social Order, prophetically declaring – 'All things began in Order, so shall they end and so shall they begin again'.
When King Charles II visited Norwich in 1671 Doctor Browne was rewarded with a knighthood, not only for the European fame of Religio Medici and Pseudodoxia, but also for his unwavering support of the Royalist cause.
In his old age Browne became more than ever interested in far-off lands. His geographical curiosity was stimulated with the publication of Kircher’s China Illustrated (1667). [24]
Being based in Rome Kircher had access to reports from Jesuit missionaries as far afield as Peru and China. His China illustrata was a work of encyclopaedic breadth. It included accurate maps as well as mythical creatures, and drew heavily on reports by Jesuits returning to Rome who had visited China. Kircher emphasized the Christian elements of Chinese history, both real and imagined and highlighted the early presence of Nestorian Christians in China. However, he also claimed the Chinese were descended from the sons of Biblical Ham and that Chinese characters originated from Egyptian hieroglyphs!
Browne references China illustrated in correspondence dated 1679 to his son Edward in what must be an early recorded mention of the medicinal herb Ginseng. His citing of a specific page number of China illustrated suggests that Edward Browne also had access to a copy of Kircher’s book.
Deare Sonne, - You did well to observe Ginseng. All exotick rarities, especially of the east, the East India trade having encreased, are brought in England, and the profit made thereof. Of this plant Kircherus writeth in his China illustrata, pag. 178, cap. "De Exoticis China plantis". [25]
Kircher’s book on China was a valuable source of information about China for over two centuries. In a single illustration aspects of Chinese botany, horticulture, costume and customs, as well as architecture, are all faithfully recorded in an eyewitness account of a social gathering and feast upon the giant 'polomie' jackfruit.
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But the Dutch artists who were commissioned to illustrate Kircher’s ground-breaking book didn’t always get it right. Written reports, like Chinese whispers, can be misread as the exaggerated size of a pet Chinese squirrel illustrated below shows !
In his old age Browne penned his solitary work of fiction, Museum Clausum or the Sealed Museum (circa 1675) an inventory of lost, imagined and rumoured books, paintings and objects. Its testimony to his holding an extraordinary imagination as well as his sly sense of humour in his old age.
One of Browne’s greatest admirers in the 20th century was Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1996). The Argentinian author, famous for quips such as describing the Falklands war as, ‘two bald men fighting over a comb’ once declared, ‘to write vast books is a laborious task, much better is to write a summary as if those books actually existed’. Borges short-cut advice was anticipated centuries earlier by Browne in Musuem Clausum which includes strange book titles such as-
* A Sub Marine Herbal, describing the several Vegetables found on the Rocks, Hills, Valleys, Meadows at the bottom of the Sea.
* The Roman philosopher Seneca’s correspondence to Saint Paul
* The Works of Confucius, the famous philosopher of China, translated into Spanish.
Finally, Browne has some interesting things to say about books and libraries in his Christian Morals (circa 1675). Its as if he had the relatively new Millennium library in Norwich, risen from the ashes of the old Central library in mind, that he rapturously declares-
‘What libraries of new Volumes aftertimes will behold, and in what a new world of Knowledge the eyes of our posterity may be happy, a few Ages may joyfully declare.’ [26]
But its also in this advisory essay that Browne cautions on the dangers of too much reliance upon books and book-learning, moralistically stating-
‘They who do most by books who could do much without them, and he that owes himself unto himself is the substantial man’. [27]
Browne's precocious self-awareness in Religio Medici defined himself a Microcosm or Little World. His extraordinary library with its ancient Greek and Roman authors, Medieval theologians, Renaissance philosophers, travellers accounts of distant lands, scientific discoveries by European polymaths and mystical symbolism of alchemists is also a Microcosm, a little world of 17th century knowledge and a veritable paradise of books.
Notes
[1] A Facsimile of the 1711 Sales Auction Catalogue of Sir Thomas Browne and his son Edward's Libraries. Introduction, notes and index by J.S. Finch pub. E.J. Brill: Leiden, 1986
[2] Sales Catalogue page 19 no. 94
[3] S.C. page 18. no. 51
[4] S.C. page 18 no.49
[5] S.C. page 18 no. 28
[6] S.C. page 28 no.12
[7] S.C. page 8 no. 89
[8] S.C. page 29 no. 50
[9] Religio Medici Part 2:15
[10] Sales Catalogue page 29 no. 18
[11] Pseudodoxia Epidemica Book 6 chapter 14
[12] Bibl. Bodleian MS No. 1788 Dr. Browne to Mr Elias Ashmole 25 January 1658
[13] Bibl. Bodleian Ashmole MS 1788 Dr. Thomas Browne to Elias Ashmole March 1674
[14] John Dee: The World of an Elizabethan Magus, by Peter J. French Pub. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1972
[15] S.C. page 47 no. 56
