Brief Lives, Vol. 2

A lively collection of brief portraits, this volume gathers John Aubrey’s short sketches of the people who shaped mid‑17th‑century England. From the modest engineer who first proposed bringing water from Ware to London, to learned clerics, school founders, and local magistrates, each entry offers a snapshot of a life once lived in the streets, churches, and courts of the age. Aubrey’s own handwritten notes and the occasional anecdote give the biographies an immediacy that feels more like a conversation than a formal history.

The edition presents the original manuscript pages alongside a clear, modern reading, allowing listeners to hear the cadence of Aubrey’s observations while following a polished narration. Its concise, often witty tone reveals how reputation, patronage, and everyday ambition intertwined in a period of rapid change. Ideal for anyone curious about the personal stories behind the larger events of the Restoration era, the work invites you to meet the ordinary and extraordinary figures who populated Aubrey’s world.