Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici Letter to a Friend &c and Christian Morals. Edited b y W.A. Greenhill.
1910. London: Macmillan, 1910.
Sm. 8vo, lvi, 392 pp. Full red morocco, gilt-lettered backstrip, gilt edges, a de luxe gift binding by Ramage in fine condition.
§ "A spiritual testament and early psychological self-portrait. Published in 1643 after an unauthorized version was distributed the previous year, it became a European best-seller which brought its author fame at home and abroad...Throughout Religio Medici Browne uses scientific imagery to illustrate religious truths as part of his discussion on the relationship of science to religion... The book strongly influenced the prominent physician William Osler in his early years. Osler, who is considered the "father of modern medicine", is said to have learned it by heart..." Virginia Woolf and Carl Jung also reference it as influential in their work. (Wikipedia).
Dorothy L. Sayers in her novel Gaudy Night has Harriet Vane discover that Peter Wimsey is reading Religio Medici. It helps her better understand his character and motivations.
Patricia Highsmith’s novel Strangers on a Train references a morocco-bound copy of the work, and Guy reflects on his favorite passages.
In Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, the sad, spinsterish church-lady, Mildred Lathbury has a copy on her bedside table. Item #125143
Price: $100.00