The exceptionally diverse writings of the physician and essayist Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) are in some way involved in almost every major intellectual trend of the 17th century. Surprisingly, this canonical writer has never been fully edited, and no earlier edition is in print. The 8-volume critical edition of his works, now in progress, is designed to remedy this fundamental need.

The edition's scope and ambition is groundbreaking: it will for the first time offer all Browne's printed works and all his manuscript remains (much of which has never been reproduced). 

The collaborative team of twelve editors includes two AHRC-funded post doctoral research associates; we also have two AHRC-funded PhD students. See the full details of the editorial team on our People page, as well as the volumes they are editing.

The project also includes two major events:

A conference, The Edition as Argument, 1550-1750, will took place on 16-17 July 2014 at Queen Mary University of London. The conference, on editorial methods, brought together editors from current or projected editions of early modern texts to celebrate the current golden age of scholarly editing and to consider its future development. A handbook of scholarly editing, drawing on the gathered expertise of the conference, is planned.

We are excited to be preparing a forthcoming public exhibition on Browne and collecting.

The exhibition is designed to introduce a non-specialist audience to the habits of thought associated with the early-modern cultures of curiosity, collecting, and enquiry, and with the nature of their scientific exchange networks, the intellectual universe of Sir Thomas Browne. Its centre-piece will be the reconstruction of a small cabinet of curiosities.