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Henry Peacham (born 1578)

English writer and engraver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Peacham (born 1578)
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Henry Peacham (born 1578, d. in or after 1644) was an English poet and writer, known today primarily for his book, The Compleat Gentleman, first printed in 1622.

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The Complete Gentleman by Henry Peacham (1622). Engraving by Francis Delaram.

Biography

Son of Henry Peacham the Elder, a clergyman, Peacham was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] In 1603, at the age of twenty-five the younger Peacham was a schoolmaster at Kimbolton Grammar School. In 1612 he published a book of printed emblems called Minerva Britanna, based on a manuscript which is believed to have been presented to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1610.[2]

Peacham's The Compleat Gentleman is presented as a guidebook on the arts for young men of good birth. In it, he discusses what writers, poets, composers, philosophers, and artists gentlemen should study in order to become well-educated. Because he mentions a large number of contemporary artistic figures, he is often cited as a primary source in studies of Renaissance artists.

A representative passage from The Compleat Gentleman:

"For composition, I prefer next Ludovico de Victoria, a most judicious and a sweet composer: after him Orlando di Lasso, a very rare and excellent Author, who lived some forty years since in the court of the Duke of Bavier."
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Page from Minerua Britanna or A garden of heroical deuises, 1612
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Notes

References

Further reading

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