{"product_id":"2026100008679-secondhand-brief-lives","title":"Brief Lives","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Very good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Slipcase: Good\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the gossipy salons of seventeenth-century England emerges one of history's most captivating collections of biography — John Aubrey's Brief Lives chronicles the lives of over four hundred of the most remarkable men and women of his age, from Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare to Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Hobbes. Compiled with an irrepressible curiosity and a journalist's eye for the telling detail, these miniature portraits present their subjects with startling intimacy, capturing eccentricities, scandals, and moments of genius that formal histories invariably omit. Edited with scholarly care by Richard Barber, this Folio Society edition draws upon existing contemporary portraits to offer a selection that is both visually enriched and historically grounded.\n\nAubrey's prose style is deceptively casual — anecdotal, digressive, and alive with personality — yet it represents a landmark in the development of biographical writing in the English tradition. Brief Lives stands as an irreplaceable primary source for the intellectual and cultural life of seventeenth-century Britain, read as much for its historical value as for the sheer pleasure of its company. For anyone who has ever wondered what the great minds of the past were truly like behind their monuments and monuments, Aubrey's unguarded sketches offer an answer that is as surprising as it is unforgettable.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50572439224539,"sku":"2026100008679-SECONDHAND","price":25.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/7913b46a-8d5d-484f-815b-31045aedb580.png?v=1791166540","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100008679-secondhand-brief-lives","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}