Edward Browne 1642-1708

Edward BROWNE 1642-1708

Biographical Note

Born in Norwich; son of the physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682). Graduated MB from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1663; MD 1670. He moved to London in 1664, continuing his medical education under the tutelage of Christopher Terne (1620/21-1673), physician at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. He was made fellow of the Royal Society in 1668, president of the Royal College of Physicians in 1675 and became physician to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1682. He travelled widely on the continent and found considerable fame as the author of travel narratives.

Books

An auction catalogue of Edward and his father, Sir Thomas Browne's, joint library, 8.1.1711 lists 2377 lots. Edward Bernard's Catalogi manuscriptorum, 1697, lists Edward Browne as owning 28 manuscripts.

Sources

• Alston, R. C. Inventory of sale catalogues 1676-1800. St Philip, 2010.
• Finch, J. A catalogue of the libraries of Sir Thomas Browne and Dr Edward Browne, his son. A facsimile reproduction with introduction, Leiden, 1986.
• Gwynn, L. The library of Sir Thomas Browne, unpublished PhD thesis, Queen Mary University London, 2016.
• Richmond, G. Sir Thomas Browne’s library, Antiquarian Book Monthly Review 4 (1977), 2-9.
• Strien, Kees van. "Browne, Edward (1644–1708), physician and traveller." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Thornton, J. Dr Edward Browne (1642-1708) as a bibliophile, Library World 54 (1952-3), 69-73.