Complete Works of Sir Thomas Browne: Volume 1: Religio Medici

The Complete Works of Sir Thomas Browne
General Editor: Claire Preston

The first truly complete edition of Browne presents in full all of his writings, in print and in manuscript. It situates Browne's natural philosophy, antiquarianism, and theology within the landscape of the mechanical and experimental philosophies already established or emergent in his lifetime. The eight volumes are organised in chronological order of composition to show this polymathic writer at work over a lifetime, revising and adjusting in a process of ongoing intellectual refinement. Each volume includes a full textual and critical notational apparatus, and ample historical and textual introductions, all intended to appeal to scholars and students alike.

Volume 1 presents the first comparative edition of Religio Medici ever to appear. It includes the 1643 authorized print version as well as the first manuscript witness and a representative of several middle-stage witnesses, to offer an authoritative overview of the evolution of this remarkable and influential work. The three textual witnesses are fully annotated textually and critically; the volumes include extensive general and textual introductions to a complex composition.