Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths, also known simply as Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Vulgar Errors, is a work by Thomas Browne challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common errors and superstitions of his age. It first appeared in 1646 and went through five subsequent editions, the last revision occurring in 1672. The work includes evidence of Browne's adherence to the Baconian method of empirical observation of nature, and was in the vanguard of work-in-progress scientific journalism during the 17th-century Scientific Revolution. Throughout its pages frequent examples of Browne's subtle humour can also be found.
Title page of a 1646 copy of Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errors
Table of contents page for the 1646 copy of Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errors
First page of the 1646 copy of Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errors
Sir Thomas Browne was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a deep curiosity towards the natural world, influenced by the Scientific Revolution of Baconian enquiry and are permeated by references to Classical and Biblical sources as well as the idiosyncrasies of his own personality. Although often described as suffused with melancholia, Browne's writings are also characterised by wit and subtle humour, while his literary style is varied, according to genre, resulting in a rich, unique prose which ranges from rough notebook observations to polished Baroque eloquence.
Sir Thomas Browne (c. 1641–1650), attributed to Joan Carlile
Lady Dorothy Browne and Sir Thomas Browne (c. 1641–1650), by Joan Carlile
Browne's house in Norwich
Browne's skull, as illustrated in Charles Williams's The Measurements of the Skull of Sir Thomas Browne (1895)