We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

John Aubrey: my own life
(Book)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Author:
Published:
New York : New York Review Books, [2016].
Physical Desc:
xxiv, 518 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Status:
Central
BIOGRAPHY Aubrey, J. 2016
Description
Born on the brink of the modern world, John Aubrey was witness to the great intellectual and political upheavals of the seventeenth century. He knew everyone of note in England—writers, philosophers, mathematicians, doctors, astrologers, lawyers, statesmen—and wrote about them all, leaving behind a great gift to posterity: a compilation of biographical information titled Brief Lives, which in a strikingly modest and radical way invented the art of biography.
Aubrey was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1626. The reign of Queen Elizabeth and, earlier, the dissolution of the monasteries were not too far distant in memory during his boyhood. He lived through England’s Civil War, the execution of Charles I, the brief rule of Oliver Cromwell and his son, and the restoration of Charles II. Experiencing these constitutional crises and regime changes, Aubrey was impassioned by the preservation of traces of Ancient Britain, of English monuments, manor houses, monasteries, abbeys, and churches. He was a natural philosopher, an antiquary, a book collector, and a chronicler of the world around him and of the lives of his friends, both men and women. His method of writing was characteristic of his manner: modest, self-deprecating, witty, and concerned above all with the collection of facts that would otherwise be lost to time.
John Aubrey, My Own Life is an extraordinary book about the first modern biographer, which reimagines what biography can be. This intimate diary of Aubrey’s days is composed of his own words, collected, collated, and enlarged upon by Ruth Scurr in an act of meticulous scholarship and daring imagination. Scurr’s biography honors and echoes Aubrey’s own innovations in the art of biography. Rather than subject his life to a conventional narrative, Scurr has collected the evidence—the remnants of a life from manuscripts, letters, and books—and arranged it chronologically, modernizing words and spellings, and adding explanations when necessary, with sources provided in the extensive endnotes. Here are Aubrey’s intricate drawings of Stonehenge and the ancient Avebury stones; Aubrey on Charles I’s execution (“On this day, the King was executed. It was bitter cold, so he wore two heavy shirts, lest he should shiver and seem afraid”); and Aubrey on antiquity (“Matters of antiquity are like the light after sunset—clear at first—but by and by crepusculum—the twilight—comes—then total darkness”). From the darkness, Scurr has wrested a vibrant, intimate account of the life of an ingenious man.
Also in This Series
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Central
BIOGRAPHY Aubrey, J. 2016
On Shelf
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Book
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781681370422, 1681370425

Notes

General Note
"New York Review Books"
General Note
John Aubry did not leave a diary. This biography is written in the form that diary might have taken.
General Note
Originally published: 2015.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 475-487) and index.
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Scurr, R. (2016). John Aubrey: my own life. New York, New York Review Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Scurr, Ruth. 2016. John Aubrey: My Own Life. New York, New York Review Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Scurr, Ruth, John Aubrey: My Own Life. New York, New York Review Books, 2016.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Scurr, Ruth. John Aubrey: My Own Life. New York, New York Review Books, 2016.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
22fb5d21-b6ff-803d-a5ce-3c419b088e7c
Go To GroupedWork

Record Information

Last Sierra Extract TimeMar 15, 2024 09:00:08 PM
Last File Modification TimeMar 15, 2024 09:00:28 PM
Last Grouped Work Modification TimeMar 28, 2024 02:11:39 AM

MARC Record

LEADER01688pam 2200421 i 4500
001ocn932385722
003OCoLC
00520160906072917.0
008160325r20162015nyua     b    001 0beng  
010 |a 2016009388
020 |a 9781681370422
020 |a 1681370425
040 |a DLC|b eng|e rda|c DLC|d YDXCP|d BTCTA|d BDX|d OCLCF|d GK8|d OCL|d IMmBT
042 |a pcc
043 |a e-uk-en
049 |a JRSA
05000|a DA93.A8|b S38 2016
08200|a 942.0072/02|a B|2 23
1001 |a Scurr, Ruth,|e author.
24510|a John Aubrey :|b my own life /|c Ruth Scurr.
264 1|a New York :|b New York Review Books,|c [2016]
300 |a xxiv, 518 pages :|b illustrations ;|c 24 cm
336 |a text|b txt|2 rdacontent
337 |a unmediated|b n|2 rdamedia
338 |a volume|b nc|2 rdacarrier
500 |a "New York Review Books"
500 |a John Aubry did not leave a diary. This biography is written in the form that diary might have taken.
500 |a Originally published: 2015.
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 475-487) and index.
5050 |a England's collector -- Wiltshire -- Oxford -- War -- Learning -- Restoration -- Stone, water, fire -- Work -- Surrey -- Penury -- The popish plot -- Brief lives -- More lives and deaths -- Manuscripts -- Transcriptions -- Crepusculum -- Aubrey's afterlife.
60010|a Aubrey, John,|d 1626-1697.
650 0|a Antiquarians|z England|v Biography.
655 7|a Biographies.|2 lcgft
907 |a .b24348508
932 |a BIOGRAPHY Aubrey, J. 2016
945 |y .i74620927|i 33029101960953|l cenag|s -|k |u 11|x 1|w 0|v 4|t 3|z 09-19-16|o -
948 |a WDP Featured List (01/17)
998 |e -|d a |f eng|a cen