Brief Lives is a collection of short biographies written by John Aubrey in the last decades of the seventeenth century. Aubrey initially began collecting biographical material to assist the Oxford scholar Anthony Wood, who was working on his own collection of biographies. With time, Aubrey's biographical researches went beyond mere assistance to Wood and became a project in its own right. This is an article on biographies. ... John Aubrey. ... Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood (December 17, 1632 - November 28, 1695) was an English antiquary. ...

Aubrey was careful, wherever possible, to seek out and talk with those who had been acquainted with his subjects. His sociable nature and his wide circle of friends helped him in this pursuit. At his death, Aubrey left his biographical writings in chaotic order. It has been the task of later editors to organize the manuscripts (held at the Bodleian Library) into readable form. A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges Oxford University Libraries Service (OULS) comprises over 30 of the University of Oxfords central and faculty libraries: from the world-famous Bodleian Library, established 400 years ago, to the modern digital library ventures. ...

Aubrey's Brief Lives has been loved for generations for its colorful gossipy tone and for the glimpses it provides of the unofficial sides of its subjects. Aubrey's use of informants and his eye for the unusual provides much more vivid pictures than a biography based on documents could. He is frank but never malicious. Look up Gossip in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The word gossip may refer to: the act of spreading news from person to person, especially rumors or private information: see chat the news spread through the act of gossiping While gossip forms one of the oldest and (still) the most common...

The Brief Lives includes biographies of such figures as Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, John Dee, Sir Walter Raleigh, Edmund Halley, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. There have been many modern editions. Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, spy, freemason and essayist. ... Robert Boyle The Honourable Robert Boyle (January 25, 1627 - December 30, 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ... A sixteenth century portrait of John Dee, artist unknown. ... Alternatively, Professor Walter Raleigh was a scholar and author circa 1900. ... Edmond Halley. ... Benjamin Jonson (June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Patrick Garland wrote and directed a play Brief Lives that was based on Aubrey's work of the same title.

External link

• A few of the Brief Lives can be found at mym's Aubrey Shrine