A site dedicated to the life and work of Sir Thomas Browne who
was born 19 October 1605 in London and died 19 October 1682 in Norwich
Sir Thomas Browne DayIn 1682, Thomas Browne died on his birthday, 19 October. We are working to establish 19th October as an annual Sir Thomas Browne Day in Norwich, and further across the country. The idea is to organise events to mark the day and to stimulate interest in Browne, increase people's knowledge about Browne and his commitment to curiosity and investigation, learning and thought.
In 2018 Sir Thomas Browne day fell within the Norwich Science Festival which is an appropriate time to celebrate and establish a day dedicated to him. A number of places in Norwich have references or artefacts connected with Browne. With the aid of some funding from The Norwich Freemen's Trust (formerly Town Close Trust) we will be developing some learning resources for both adults and children, and running some events during the summer holidays at Norwich Castle Museum as well as more activities in October - last year there was a whole week of different ways of celebrating and learning more about Sir Thomas Browne. Please get in touch if you want to get involved in any of these activities. Supported by the
Sir Thomas Browne Facebook page
A Thomas Browne Society?
A new Thomas Browne Society is proposed, bringing together enthusiasts and experts from around the globe. If you are interested in the development of a Society please sign up here
Help the Thomas Browne ProjectIf you would like to make a donation to the Thomas Browne Project to support the development and maintenance of this site and evens, please donate by using the button above
Articles
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NewsThomas Browne Day 2018 went off very well. It was a beautiful autumnal day and we spent a nice time on Hay Hill talking to people who, for the most part, didn't know much about Browne. There was a good turn-out for Barbara Miller's talk and tour in St Peter Mancroft Church and Kevin Faulkner recited several pieces on Hay Hill underneath the statue of the man himself, in 17th century costume.
In the evening, a well-attended talk about the literary style of Thomas Browne by George Szirtes was extremely well received. There is a transcript of George's talk here and we will shortly be loading up a filmed version for those that weren't able to come in person. The talk was followed by a discussion between George, Lucy Ward (write2screen) and Anna Wyatt (UEA). The word 'Spagyricci (a Paracelsian neologism) inscribed upon the remaining half of Browne's coffin-plate in the care of the church of St. Peter Mancroft, has two meanings according to Martin Ruland's 1612 lexicon of alchemy. SPAGIRIA --- The Spagyric Art, is that which treats of the separation of the pure from the impure, so that after the refuse matter has been rejected, the virtue which remains can operate. It is the Art of Distilling and Separating. But a much better definition, more appropriate for a Coffin-plate and Browne's exemplary character is - SPAGIRUS– Any man who can separate the true from the false, set the good apart from the bad, and the pure from the impure, rejecting duality and cleaving to unity. 
New in Norwich - Talking Statues are a project which animates some of the statues in Norwich and our very own friend Thomas Browne will be one of them. The statues launched on Saturday 8 September 2018 - here's a link to the EDP article - and watch this space for updates!
To 'hear' a statue, find it and then with your smartphone ( you may have to download a QR code scanner app) scan the code on the sticker in front of the statue. When you are ready, hit 'go' on your screen and the statue will phone you and tell you about himself or herself. Unfortunately it is not a two-way conversation but well worth the trouble. Sir Thomas Browne's piece was written by George Szirtes and voiced by Adam Buxton. New publications
For many years now it has been difficult to find the writings of Thomas Browne, except in second hand shops. A new edition of Browne has recently come out in paperback from Oxford University Press, at a wholly affordable price. Thomas Browne, Selected Writings, edited by Kevin Killeen, contains all of Browne’s major writings, Religio Medici, Urn-Burial, and The Garden of Cyrus, and generous selections from Pseudodoxia Epidemica, as well as a selection of writings published after his death.
The volume is part a new series, ‘21st Century Oxford Authors’, and is ‘lightly modernised’ – the original spelling is generally retained, but punctuation is clarified when necessary. It includes an introduction to Browne, explanatory notes and commentary at the end of the book. Kevin Killeen is a lecturer in English Literature at the University of York, and is part of the team editing The Complete Works of Sir Thomas Browne, in 8 volumes, also from Oxford University Press, albeit in expensive format. He has written extensively on Browne, including the prize-winning Biblical Scholarship, Science and Politics in Early Modern Culture: Thomas Browne and The Thorny Place of Knowledge (2009). https://global.oup.com/academic/product/thomas-browne-9780198797654?lang=en&cc=gb 
Photo Sarah Cocke
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For Sir Thomas Browne Day 19 October 2018 A blog post on Browne by Kevin Faulkner entitled 'Dr. Browne's Ethereal Salt' was published on October 19th with a new, world-first insight into an item listed in Browne's 'Museum Clausum' . A link to the essay is here A Glass of Spirits made of Æthereal Salt, Hermetically sealed up, kept continually in Quick-silver; of so volatile a nature that it will scarce endure the Light, and therefore onely to be shown in Winter, or by the light of a Carbuncle, or Bononian Stone'. From Museum Clausum 
Talking Statues - find out more hereAn newspaper article about C&A stores and the Haymarket/Hay Hill with the Thomas Browne statue in the centre
Tell us your Old Wives' TalesWe are collecting your Old Wives' Tales and Curious Questions. Why?
Click here to find out 
Musaeum Clausum - a work by Jules Allen and Phyllis Williams
His whole house and garden is a paradise and Cabinet of rarities and that of the best collection, amongst Medails, books, Plants, natural things 
'The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne
in the 21st Century' Now out in paperback and available from bookshops, Amazon and on Kindle etc Hugh Aldersey Williams' book about Sir Thomas Browne was published by Granta and launched at The Book Hive Norwich in 2015. See more here Those national repugnances doe not touch me, nor doe I behold with prejudice the French, Italian, Spaniard, or Dutch; but where I find their actions in balance with my Countrey-mens, I honour, love, and embrace them in the same degree; 
Norwich-born Kevin Faulkner has been performing as Browne for 20 years. As a 21st anniversary celebration he performed on Hay Hill on 19 October 2017
‘We are not magisterial in opinions, nor have we dictator-like obtruded our conceptions, but in the humility of enquiries or disquisitions, have only proposed them unto more ocular discerners.’ Useful links about Sir Thomas
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne Links to other resources about Sir Thomas will be posted here
Listen to Professor Claire Preston and Hugh Aldersey Williams discussing Thomas Browne on BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking, originally broadcast on Tuesday 5th May 2015.
EDP article about Sir Thomas Browne Day www.edp24.co.uk/features/celebrating-true-norwich-great-sir-thomas-browne-1-5237996
Free Thinking
Here is a link to a recording of the Free Thinking edition about Sir Thomas Browne - interesting listen www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05sy6qv |
About Sir Thomas Browne
Sir Thomas Browne lived and worked in Norwich from 1636 until his death in 1682. He was a physician, philosopher, botanist and writer and was very important in England at the time. He was well-liked in Norfolk, well-travelled and educated, religious and respected. There are traces of his time in Norwich all over the city and this site will tell you about his life and where to find out more about him.
If you have images, facts, documents or stories which you would like to add to this site, please email [email protected] for consideration
If you have images, facts, documents or stories which you would like to add to this site, please email [email protected] for consideration
The Man
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His Work
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Homage to Thomas Browne
Artists Anne and Patrick Poirier
The sculpture work on Hay Hill is an Homage to Thomas Browne, made by French husband and wife team of artists, Anne and Patrick Poirer. It was intended to be a set of street furniture, a kind of living room for the city (the Poiriers tend not to make art for simply looking at).
It was a major public art commission, installed in 2007 and paid for by Arts Council England East, Norwich City Council with a contribution by Norfolk County Council. Read more here |
About this site: this embryonic site has just been started by an informal Thomas Browne Appreciation Society to enable people to get to know Sir Thomas Browne better by collecting information relating to him in one place. We have received some funding to enable us to develop the site and will also be launching a crowd-funding campaign to develop further. Please bookmark and come back regularly for new content. .