Rawdon Brown
Encyclopedia
Rawdon Brown was a historical scholar.
He spent his life at Venice in the study of Italian history, especially in its relation to English history. He came to Venice in 1833 to find the gravestone of Thomas Mowbray, the banished Duke of Norfolk mentioned in Shakespeare's play Richard II. In 1838 he bought the Palazzo Dario
, but sold it four years later due to lack of funds. However, he remained in Venice for most of his life, and John Ruskin
met him there and enjoyed a warm friendship with him. His great work, to which he gave some twenty years, was done for the British government on Venetian state papers in the Frari, particularly on the reports of Venetian ambassadors to England, projecting the publication of A Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives of Venice and Northern Italy. This was unfinished
when Brown died at Venice in 1883, but some further work was done on it by his executor George Cavendish-Bentinck
, before in 1889 the completion of the work was taken over by Horatio Brown
(no relation).
He spent his life at Venice in the study of Italian history, especially in its relation to English history. He came to Venice in 1833 to find the gravestone of Thomas Mowbray, the banished Duke of Norfolk mentioned in Shakespeare's play Richard II. In 1838 he bought the Palazzo Dario
Palazzo Dario
Palazzo Dario is a palace in Venice, northern Italy, situated on the Grand Canal of Venice at the mouth of the Rio delle Torreselle in the Dorsoduro sestiere on the Campiello Barbaro...
, but sold it four years later due to lack of funds. However, he remained in Venice for most of his life, and John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
met him there and enjoyed a warm friendship with him. His great work, to which he gave some twenty years, was done for the British government on Venetian state papers in the Frari, particularly on the reports of Venetian ambassadors to England, projecting the publication of A Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives of Venice and Northern Italy. This was unfinished
Unfinished work
An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
when Brown died at Venice in 1883, but some further work was done on it by his executor George Cavendish-Bentinck
George Cavendish-Bentinck
George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck PC, JP , was a British barrister and Conservative politician. An MP from 1859 to 1891, he served under Benjamin Disraeli as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade from 1874 to 1875 and as Judge Advocate General from 1875 to 1880.-Background and...
, before in 1889 the completion of the work was taken over by Horatio Brown
Horatio Brown
Horatio Robert Forbes Brown was a Scottish historian who specialized in the history of Venice and Italy.Born in Nice, he grew up in Midlothian, Scotland, was educated in England at Clifton and Oxford, and spent most of his life in Venice, publishing several books about the city...
(no relation).
Works
- Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII (1854)
- Calendar of State Papers in the Archives of Venice (6 volumes, published 1864-1886)