John Aubrey

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John Aubrey.

John Aubrey (born March 12, 1626 in Easton Piers or Percy, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire , † June 7, 1697 in Oxford ) was a British archaeologist and author . He is particularly known for his collection of short biographies, which he published under the title Brief Lives .

Live and act

Born to a wealthy family, Aubrey was sent to Malmesbury to attend Latin school. He was tutored by Robert Latimer , whose students included Thomas Hobbes , whom Aubrey met at Latimer's house and whose biography he was later to write. Subsequently, Aubrey went to Oxford to Trinity College . In 1642 his studies were interrupted by the English Civil War. In 1646 he joined the Middle Temple Bar Association , but was never called to court as a barrister . During a trip he discovered the Avebury Stone Circles , which piqued his interest. In 1652 his father Richard Aubrey died, leaving him with great goods and debts.

Aubrey was introduced to famous contemporaries. Because of his good memory, he memorized their quirks and remembered the gossip that was said about them. This should help him a lot later when writing the short biographies.

In 1663 Aubrey became a member of the Royal Society . He gradually lost property through several lawsuits and had to leave his home in Easton Piers in 1670. From then on he lived on the hospitality of his friends.

He began collecting biographical information for Anthony Wood , whom Aubrey had met in Oxford and who was just writing his work Athenae Oxonienses . In 1680 he announced his own collection of biographies. In order to gather as much information as possible, he let Wood verify this information. It is reported that Aubrey wrote his texts in the houses of the people described in the morning while they were recovering from the previous night. These lines, which he referred to as Schediasmata , were gradually supplemented with new information, piquant details and the latest gossip.

At first, the manuscript was only used by Wood for his book. However, because most of the people described were still alive and Wood feared lawsuits over the description, Wood deleted some passages or entire articles from the work. So it was that Aubrey complained to Wood in 1692. It took a long time before the wild notes, written together without any recognizable order, now stored in the Bodleian Library , brought into readable form and published.

He later got the idea to describe the history of his homeland under the title History of Northern Wiltshire . However, since he believed that he would not be able to finish the work during his lifetime, he gave his notes and manuscripts to Thomas Tanner in 1695 , who would later become Bishop of Norwich and Ely .

He died of a stroke during a trip in June 1697 .

Works

Most of his works, such as the Brief Lives , Life of Mr. Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury or Architectonica Sacra (see also Celtic ideology ), were only published posthumously . The Brief Lives , long ridiculed for their pointed representations and lurid scandal stories , are now considered to be an important part of the research into its time and the British nation of that time.

literature

  • Ruth Scurr : John Aubrey: My Own Life . Chatto and Windus, 2015
  • Oliver Lawson Dick: Life: An Attempt; John Aubrey and His Century . Translated from the English by Robin Cackett. Wagenbach, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-8031-3540-0 .
  • Aubrey, John . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 2 : Andros - Austria . London 1910, p. 891 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Aubrey, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British archaeologist and author
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1626
PLACE OF BIRTH Easton Piers, or Percy, at Malmesbury , Wiltshire
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1697
Place of death Oxford