Synopses & Reviews
With deft, picturesque prose, Aubrey presents biographical sketches for an intriguing and colorful parade of statesmen, poets, philosophers, and scientists, including Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Thomas Hobbes, and Rene Descartes, as well as a host of lesser known but equally fascinating figures. This anecdotal, gossipy collection brings to life the tumultuous world of Elizabethan and Stuart England and its revolutions in politics, science and morality. At the same time, Aubrey revels in the sheer variety of human nature and in the detailed, intimate, and sometimes scandalous aspects of his subjects' lives. An antiquarian, Aubrey began his collection as source material for his friend Anthony Wood's histories of Oxford University. In this new edition, more faithful to the original text than previous versions, Brief lives emerges as a revolution in the art of English biography, a mixture of entertainment and erudition, and a lively portrait of an age.
Synopsis
John Aubrey's racy portraits of the great figures of 17th-centuryEngland stand alongside Pepys's diary as a vivid evocation of theperiod. Aubrey was born in 1626, the son of a Wiltshire squire; at theage of 26 he inherited a family estate encumbered with debt, andfinally went bankrupt in the 1670s. From then on he led a sociable, rootless existence at the houses of friends -- from Oxford and theMiddle Temple --pursuing the antiquarian studies which had alwaysobsessed him. At his death in 1697 he left a mass of notes andmanuscripts, among them the material for Brief Lives. He nevermanaged to put even a single life into logical order; all we have arethe raw materials, scribbled down --tumultuously as they occurred to mythoughts'. With this full, modern English edition, whichreproduces Aubrey's words as closely as possible, Richard Barberintroduces us to Aubrey and his world, tells how the Lives cameinto being and enables many new readers to enjoy this eccentricmasterpiece.
Synopsis
Full edition in modern spelling of Aubrey's racy portraits of greatfigures of 16-17c England, from Sir Walter Raleigh to John Milton.
John Aubrey's racy portraits of the great figures of 17th-centuryEngland stand alongside Pepys's diary as a vivid evocation of the period. Aubrey was born in 1626, the son of a Wiltshire squire; at the age of 26 he inherited a family estate encumbered with debt, and finally went bankrupt in the 1670s. From then on he led a sociable, rootless existence at the houses of friends - from Oxford and the Middle Temple -pursuing the antiquarian studies which had always obsessed him. At his death in 1697 he left a mass of notes and manuscripts, among them the material for Brief Lives. He never managed to put even a single life into logical order; all we have are the raw materials, scribbled down - tumultuously as they occurred to my thoughts'.
With this full, modern English edition, which reproduces Aubrey's words as closely as possible, Richard Barber introduces us to Aubrey and his world, tells how the Lives came into being and enables many new readers to enjoy this eccentric masterpiece.