Compiled as material for Anthony Wood's histories of Oxford University, this text contributes to the oral history of Elizabethan and Stuart England. It parades statesmen, poets, philosopers and scientists, Raleigh and Bacon, Shakespeare and Milton, and Boyle and Halley. They, together with less well known figures, are brought to life in the recorded memories of a vast circle of Aubrey's acquaintance and from the personal knowledge of an author who revelled in the variety of human nature and in the intimate, specific and sometimes scandalous aspects of his subjects' lives.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
John Aubrey (1626-1697) was a member of the Royal Society and pioneered the study of archaeology. His writings on antiquities, particularly Stonehenge and Avebury, remain of interest today, but he is best known for his Brief Lives.
John Buchanan-Brown is an editor, biographer, and translator. He edited Aubrey's Three Prose Works.
Michael Hunter is the author of John Aubrey and the Realm of Learning. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London.
John Buchanan-Brown is an editor, biographer, and translator. He edited Aubrey's Three Prose Works.
Michael Hunter is the author of John Aubrey and the Realm of Learning. He is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London.
From AudioFile
Aubrey (1626-97) was an antiquarian and bon vivant who took little time out from his partying to finish any of his projects. So someone else had to publish Brief Lives after his death. A random sampling of interesting personages, Lives is filled with gossipy anecdotes about the famous and not-so-famousÐthe sort of thing that makes for juicy conversation with one's drinking partners. If you want the lowdown on Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, et al.Ðhere's the place to get it. The distinguished actor Brian Cox portrays Aubrey sitting with us before the hearth of an evening. He thus does a fine job of delivering the author's personality, but a hit-or-miss job with the content. At times he seems to cough up words without understanding them. Naxos's signature bridges of period music are, as usual, a definite plus. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A unique gleaning of 17th century English history and gossip,
By A Customer
This review is from: Brief Lives (Modern History) (Paperback)
Because its author never completed most of the entries for this biographical work, and never published it, what he did set down about his varied noble and ignoble subjects is uncensored, gossipy, perhaps unsubstantiated, and delightful. If you like browsing in Pepys' diary, or are fascinated by English life in the 17th century, this is the book to leave about for the occasional free moment.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rambling 17th century gossip,
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This review is from: Brief Lives (Modern History) (Paperback)
It's fun reading this collection of digressive informal anecdotes about famous (and some obscure) Englishmen. If you enjoyed "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (where some of thc characters appear) you'd like this. As a primary source for information it gets less reliable the further back it goes. Aubrey was born in 1626 so his accounts of Shakespeare and Elizathans are a generation removed, but he had met Harvey and Penn and had been through the Civil War and the rule of Cromwell.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Sir! I have according to your desire, putt in writing these Minutes of Lives, tumultuarily, as they occurr'd to my thoughts; or as occasionally I had information of them: they may easily be reduced into order at your leisure by numbring them with red figures, according to time and place etc. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
life writt, owne chardge, ingeniose man, thirteen yeares, dyeing day, great witt, severall yeares, funerall sermon, hath writt, good witt, chiefe justice, sine prole, younger yeares, forty yeares, thirty yeares, little booke, twenty yeares, pulled downe, great acquaintance, three yeares, ten yeares, five yeares, two yeares, great deale, many yeares Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sir John, Sir William, Anno Domini, Sir Thomas, Anthony Wood, Sir Henry, Thomas Hobbes, King Charles, Sir Robert, Ben Johnson, King James, Queen Elizabeth, Bishop of Sarum, Seth Ward, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Aubrey, Royall Societie, John Dee, Sir Kenelme, William Aubrey, Duke of Buckingham, Royal Society, Christ Church, Isaac Barrow, John Selden New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Sir! I have according to your desire, putt in writing these Minutes of Lives, tumultuarily, as they occurr'd to my thoughts; or as occasionally I had information of them: they may easily be reduced into order at your leisure by numbring them with red figures, according to time and place etc. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
life writt, owne chardge, ingeniose man, thirteen yeares, dyeing day, great witt, severall yeares, funerall sermon, hath writt, good witt, chiefe justice, sine prole, younger yeares, forty yeares, thirty yeares, little booke, twenty yeares, pulled downe, great acquaintance, three yeares, ten yeares, five yeares, two yeares, great deale, many yeares Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sir John, Sir William, Anno Domini, Sir Thomas, Anthony Wood, Sir Henry, Thomas Hobbes, King Charles, Sir Robert, Ben Johnson, King James, Queen Elizabeth, Bishop of Sarum, Seth Ward, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Aubrey, Royall Societie, John Dee, Sir Kenelme, William Aubrey, Duke of Buckingham, Royal Society, Christ Church, Isaac Barrow, John Selden New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 104
books:
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23
books
cite this book:
See all 23 books citing this book
- Sir Walter Raleigh: Gold Was His Star by Reginald Wood on page 52, page 263, and page 272
- Circulation of Blood and Other Writings (Everyman's Library) by William Harvey on page 140, page 144, and page 335
- Sir Philip Sidney (The Oxford Authors) by Philip Sidney on page 131, and page 150
- Three Prose Works (Centaur Classics) by John Aubrey in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- The Natural History of Wiltshire by John Aubrey in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
See all 104 books this book cites
- The Literary and Cultural Spaces of Restoration London by Cynthia Wall in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Curiosity: A Cultural History of Early Modern Inquiry by Barbara M. Benedict on page 263
- Curiosity: A Cultural History of Early Modern Inquiry by Barbara M. Benedict in Back Matter
- Shakespeare, Law, and Marriage by B. J. Sokol in Back Matter
- The Popular Culture of Shakespeare, Spenser and Jonson (Routledge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture) by Mary Ellen Lamb in Back Matter
See all 23 books citing this book
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