The Annotations upon the _Religio Medici_, which were always reprinted with the text during the seventeenth century, are here restored. They will appeal to a certain class of readers which has a right to be considered. It is to be regretted that every quotation given in these pages has not been verified. Several have been corrected; but to have worked through them all, in these busy days, would have been a labour of some years, which it is not possible to devote to the purpose. It has been thought best to leave these passages therefore, in the main, as they stand.[1] The portrait of Sir Thomas Browne here prefixed is reproduced from the engraving published in 1672 with the edition of the _Religio Medici_ and _Pseudodoxia Epidemica_. C.S. _August, 1903._ [1] The quotation, now corrected, from Montaigne, on p. xxii, is a typical example of the pitfall into which one is liable to stumble. The passage there cited is in chapter xl. of the French author's later arrangement: a clear indication of the edition of the _Essais_ used by the author of the Annotations. What is one to make of the readings in Lucretius on p. xxv? No light is thrown upon these difficulties by the edition of Browne's works published in 1686. Wilkin did not reprint the Annotations, except in selection. CONTENTS PAGE PREFATORY NOTE BY THE EDITOR, v ANNOTATIONS UPON 'RELIGIO MEDICI,' ix A LETTER SENT UPON THE INFORMATION OF ANIMADVERSIONS, 1 TO THE READER. 3 RELIGIO MEDICI, 7 PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA, 113 TO THE READER, 115 THE FIRST BOOK: 1. Of the Causes of Common Errors, 121 2. A further Illustration of the same, 127 3. Of the second cause of Popular Errors; the erroneous disposition of the People, 132 4. Of the nearer and more Immediate Causes of Popular Errors, 140 5. Of Credulity and Supinity, 147 6. Of Adherence unto Antiquity, 152 7. Of Authority, 161 8. A brief enumeration of Authors, 168 9. Of the Same, 178 10. Of the last and common Promoter of false Opinions, the endeavours of Satan, 182 11. A further Illustration, 193