An annotated translation of Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Vulgar and common errors on animals in the 17th Century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2178-6224v18i1p17-35Keywords:
Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia, Animals, ElephantAbstract
In 1646, the English physician Thomas Browne (1605-1682) published the Baconian-inspired encyclopedic work Pseudodoxia Epidemica, also known as Vulgar Errors. Browne discussed what would be pervasive errors on various topics, including animals. Besides explaining the origin of each conception, he discussed ideas and observations of other authors and, in many cases, presented his experiments and observations. He took eyewitness testimony as decisive. We offer a contextualized and commented translation of Chapter 1 of Book III of Pseudodoxia, in which Browne analyzed the view that the elephant has no joints.
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