Book_, _A.W.
His Panorama_, _A.W. among the Mormons_, and _A.W. in England_.

BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS (1705-1760).--Is remembered as the author of some
clever imitations of contemporary poets on the theme of _A Pipe of
Tobacco_, somewhat analogous to the _Rejected Addresses_ of a later day.
He also wrote a Latin poem on the immortality of the soul. B., who was a
country gentleman and barrister, had great conversational powers. He was
a friend of Dr. Johnson.

BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605-1682).--Physician and miscellaneous and
metaphysical writer, _s._ of a London merchant, was _ed._ at Winchester
and Oxf., after which he studied medicine at various Continental univs.,
including Leyden, where he _grad._ He ultimately settled and practised at
Norwich. His first and perhaps best known work, _Religio Medici_ (the
Religion of a Physician) was _pub._ in 1642. Other books are _Pseudodoxia
Epidemica: Enquiries into Vulgar Errors_ (1646), _Hydriotaphia, or
Urn-burial_ (1658); and _The Garden of Cyrus_ in the same year. After his
death were _pub._ his _Letter to a Friend_ and _Christian Morals_. B. is
one of the most original writers in the English language. Though by no
means free from credulity, and dealing largely with trivial subjects of
inquiry, the freshness and ingenuity of his mind invest everything he
touches with interest; while on more important subjects his style, if
frequently rugged and pedantic, often rises to the highest pitch of grave
and stately eloquence. In the Civil War he sided with the King's party,
and was knighted in 1671 on the occasion of a Royal visit to Norwich. In
character he was simple, cheerful, and retiring. He has had a profound if
indirect influence on succeeding literature, mainly by impressing
master-minds such as Lamb, Coleridge, and Carlyle.

There is an ed. of B.'s works by S. Wilkin (4 vols., 1835-6), _Religio
Medici_ by Dr. Greenhill, 1881. _Life_ by Gosse in Men of Letters Series,
1903.

BROWNE, WILLIAM (1590?-1645?).--Poet, _b._ at Tavistock, _ed._ at Oxf.,
after which he entered the Inner Temple. His poems, which are mainly
descriptive, are rich and flowing, and true to the phenomena of nature,
but deficient in interest. Influenced by Spenser, he in turn had an
influence upon such poets as Milton and Keats. His chief works were
_Britannia's Pastorals_ (1613), and _The Shepheard's Pipe_ (1614).

BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT (1806-1861).--Poetess, was the _dau._ of
Edward Barret