Cuarter XIII. 
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (2np Part). 
1665. JoHN Eveyn. 
John Evelyn, though not an ornithologist, was a virtuoso 
of great talents, and has some claim to be considered the 
founder of the Royal Society, while his visit to Norwich, where 
he made the acquaintance of a kindred spirit in Sir Thomas 
Browne, is almost historical. Evelyn kept a careful journal, - 
and in October 1671 he puts down as follows: “ Next morning 
[October 17th] I went to see Sir Thomas Browne, with whom 
I had some time corresponded by letter, though I had never 
seen him before ; his whole house and garden being a paradise 
and cabinet of rarities, and that of the best collection, especially 
medals, books, plants and natural things. Amongst other 
curiosities, Sir Thomas had a collection of the eggs of all the 
fowl and birds he could procure, that country (especially the 
promontory of Norfolk) being frequented, as he said, by several 
kinds which seldom or never go farther into the land, as Cranes, 
Storks, Eagles, and variety of water-fowl. He led me to see all 
the remarkable places of this ancient city...” Sir T. 
Browne’s collection of eggs and the dried “cases” of the 
Stork and other birds in his cabinet of rarities have long since 
perished, and a hundred and twenty years ago his house was 
also demolished, but some carving from it is still preserved. 
From Evelyn’s description it appears to have had a garden 
behind, but it must have been a small one.* 
Recording a visit to Charles the Second’s London mena- 
gerie or rather collection of waterfowl, Evelyn says :— 
“ February 9th [1665]. Dined at my Lord Treasurer’s. 
. I went to St. James’ Park, where I saw various animals, 
* Browne’s library of books, which doubtless embraced many treasures, 
and his MSS. were kept together until 1830, and then sold; his copy of 
Justus Lipsius, presented in 1666 to the City of Norwich, is still preserved in 
the Free Library. 
