Aubrey, John (1626-1697), was an English author best known for his collection of biographies now known as Brief Lives. Aubrey was also a noted antiquarian (student or scholar of ancient things).
Aubrey began writing his biographies in 1667. By 1693, he had prepared pieces on more than 400 individuals, many of whom Aubrey knew personally. Among the most prominent figures in Aubrey’s collection are the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the architect Sir Christopher Wren, and the scientist Robert Boyle. Aubrey’s biographies are intimate, filled with vivid details, and revealingly honest. In their unpublished form, he called them “minutes of lives.” They are not scholarly works. Aubrey based much of the material on gossip and his personal observation. But taken as a whole, Brief Lives provides a colorful portrait of English society in the later 1600’s. Many of the biographies were first collected and published as Lives of Eminent Men in 1813, more than 100 years after Aubrey’s death. The most authoritative collection was published in 1898 as Brief Lives.
Aubrey was born on March 26, 1626, to a wealthy family of landowners in Easton Piercy in Wiltshire. He developed an interest in ancient history as a young man and became an expert in ancient ruins and monuments in England. His studies of architectural history are important contributions to the field. Aubrey also studied the sciences, especially astronomy, navigation, and mathematics. In 1663, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, England’s leading scientific organization.
Although Aubrey left many lengthy studies on British architectural antiquities, folklore, and natural history, he published only one book, Miscellanies (1696). The work is a collection of investigations into supernatural topics, such as ghosts, omens, and prophecies. Aubrey died on June 7, 1697.
