John Aubrey

John Aubrey (1626-1697) was an eminent English antiquarian and author. He was a friend of Anthony Woods who was also an antiquary. Though he is noted for his work Brief Lives, a collection of biographies of eminent people, he left a vast number of MSS; published one work, "Miscellanies," being a collection of popular superstitions; and preserved a good deal of the gossip of the period. He inherited estates in Wilts, Hereford, and Wales, all of which he lost by lawsuits and bad management. John Aubrey was intimate with all the literary men of the day.