Doctor, linguist, scientist, natural historian, and writer of what is probably the most remarkable prose in the English language, Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82) was a virtuoso in learning whose many interests form a representative portrait of his age. To understand the period which we more usually refer to as the Civil War, the Restoration, or the Scientific Revolution, we need to understand parts of the intellectual and spiritual background that are often neglected and which Browne magnificently figures forth.