John Earle

John Earle (born 1601?, York, Eng.—died Nov. 17, 1665) was an Anglican clergyman, best known as the author of Micro-cosmographie. Or, A Peece of the World Discovered; in Essayes and Characters (1628; enlarged 1629 and 1630). An outstanding book of “characters,” it avoids didacticism and displays genuine personalities, such as a “child,” a “Good old Man,” a “young raw Preacher,” and a “Grave Divine.” It is alive with its humour, perception, and epigrammatic brilliance. Earle’s...