Browne's Collection: a 'Cabinet of Rarities'

Full title: Érik Desmazières, Portrait of Sir Thomas Browne, etching, aquatint, and roulette (2012). Click on 'image metadata' above to find out more. 
 

 

Browne had a remarkably inquisitive mind. He questioned existing beliefs through his own observations and experiments. In the process, he assembled an eclectic collection of natural specimens. After a visit to Browne’s house in 1671, John Evelyn described it as,
 

Browne’s library contained a wide variety of books, from classical authors to the latest scientific publications. These included the works of Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and Robert Hooke.