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Early Drafts of the Garden of Cyrus
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
Although the original MSS of most of Sir Thomas Browne's published works have disappeared, a number of fragments and drafts of passages of The Garden of Cyrus have survived in his loose papers and notebooks, now in the British Museum and Bodleian. In editing Browne's miscellaneous writings a few years ago Keynes noted the resemblance of several fragments to portions of the printed essay, but aside from his brief annotations this material has remained unexplored.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1940
References
1 The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (London, 1928–31), v, 204, 341, 352.
2 Sloane MS. 1866, fol. 6; Works, v, 203–205. Cf. iv, 85, 96–98. For the above and ensuing quotations from the notebooks fresh transcriptions have been made, differing in some respects from Keynes's text. Illegible words and letters are indicated by dots; deleted words are given in parentheses; letters obviously omitted in error are supplied in brackets.
3 Sloane MS. 1875, fol. 100; Works, v, 340–341. Cf. iv, 85–98.
4 Hints of the quincunx theme may also be detected in another group of notes on plant structure, which reveal Browne's interest in geometrical patterns in nature and his eagerness to discover arrangements of five (Sloane MS. 1875, ff. 73–85; Works, v, 363–372). The irregular handwriting and the haphazard crowding of the pages indicate that these notes were written at varying intervals.
5 Sloane MS. 1882, fol. 1 r. This is one of four pages omitted by Keynes (Works, v, 353–356): fol. 1 r. and v., fol. 4 v., and fol. 5 r. Fol. 1 r. and fol. 4 v. are reproduced here; fol. 5 r., which will be referred to briefly but not reproduced, is half torn away; fol. 1 v. contains only six lines, nearly illegible. Corrections of my transcriptions will be welcomed.
6 Cf. Works, iv, 91, 116–117.
7 Cf. Works, iv, 94 and v, 352, 364, 367.
8 Cf. Works, iv, 94 and v, 366, 364, 365.
9 Ff. 4–9; Works, v, 353–356. Cf. iv, 88–91, 102.
10 These passages attracted the attention of the scientifically-minded Dr. Henry Power, an admirer and student of Browne. He wrote Browne at some length regarding the specific meaning of these passages, and Browne promptly replied. See Works, vi, 288–295.
11 Sloane MS. 1882, fol. 4 v. This passage was apparently written on a later occasion than the other passages in this section of the MS, for with the exception of the half dozen lines on fol. 1 v. it is the only one written on the verso. Mr. H. I. Bell, Keeper of the MSS, British Museum, suggests that the leaves of this MS were used, or intended to be used, on one side only, and that the verso entries were made with a different ink, and possibly with a different pen.
12 This passage provides excellent illustration of Dr. Johnson's penetrating remark about Browne: “On whatever subject he employed his mind, there immediately started up so many images before him, that he lost one by grasping the other.” (Christian Morals. … With a life of the author, by Samuel Johnson [London: 1756], p. lii.)
13 Fol. 5 r. As less than half of this folio remains, it did not seem worth reproducing here. The fragment at the bottom is as follows: “physick may plead … act of (plung) god … sleepe & chiru … second passage of … up the ribbe of Ada … the Antiquitie.” Beside the passage, in the margin of the page, are the words: “three parts of this act,” and three words in Greek, probably those cited in the margin of the printed text. Cf. the latter part of the MS above, and Works, iv, 69; also cf. a similar passage in “Plants mention'd in Scripture,” Works, v, 4. The fragment at the top of the folio relates to the sprouting of “oates” and rye; it corresponds roughly to the paragraph in The Garden of Cyrus beginning “The seminal nebbe” (Works, iv, 89–90), and evidently is a draft of that passage.