Timothy Bright
Encyclopedia
Timothy Bright, M.D. was an English physician and clergyman, the inventor of modern shorthand
.
, 'impubes, æt. 11,' on 21 May 1561, and graduated B.A. in 1567-8. In 1572 he was at Paris, probably pursuing his medical studies, when he narrowly escaped the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
by taking refuge in the house of Francis Walsingham
. In his dedication of Animadversions on Scribonius (1584) to Sir Philip Sidney (1584), Bright remarks that he had only seen him once, on that occasion.
in 1584. He was one of those who were present on 1 October 1585 when the statutes of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, were confirmed and signed by Sir Walter Mildmay
, and delivered to Laurence Chaderton
, the first master of the college. The dedication to Peter Osborne of his Treatise on Melancholy is dated from 'litle S. Bartlemewes by Smithfield,' 23 May 1586. He occupied the house then appropriated to the physician to the hospital. He succeeded Dr. Turner in that office about 1586, and must have resigned in 1590, as his successor was elected on 19 September in that year.
, who on 5 July 1591 presented him to the rectory of Methley
in Yorkshire
, then void by the death of Otho Hunt, and on 30 December 1594 to the rectory of Barwick-in-Elmet
, in the same county. He held both these livings till his death; the latter seems to have been his usual place of abode; there, at least, he made his will, on 9 August 1615, in which he leaves his body to be buried where God pleases. It was proved at York on 13 November 1615.
He left a widow, whose name was Margaret, and two sons, Timothy Bright, barrister-at-law, of Melton-super-Montem in Yorkshire, and Titus Bright, who graduated M.D. at Peterhouse, Cambridge
, in 1611, and practised at Beverley
. He had also a daughter Elizabeth.
, and is now preserved in the Bodleian Library
. It is a small volume, in good preservation, but the shorthand signs are all written in ink which is faded. Other copies reside at the New York Public Library (defective), the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cambridge University (defective), Salisbury (2 - at least one defective), and the University of London (defective, according to Alston in 1966, but Keynes in 1962 insists it's complete). Another copy traced to John R. Gregg in New York by Keynes is reported lost. In fact, this copy is that at the NYPL.
In the dedication of this book to Queen Elizabeth, the author describes his invention:
Queen Elizabeth, by letters patent dated 26 July 1588, granted to Bright for a period of fifteen years the exclusive privilege of teaching and of printing books, 'in or by Character not before this tyme commonlye knowne and vsed by anye other oure subiects'. An elaborate explanation of Bright's system was given by Edward Pocknell in the magazine Shorthand for May 1884. The system has an alphabetical basis, bu the signs for the letters are not readily joined to one another. The alphabet was too clumsy to be regularly applied to the whole of a word, as was done fourteen years later by John Willis, whose scheme, explained in the 'Art of Stenographie' (1602), is the foundation of later systems of shorthand. Among the MSS. (No. 51, art. 57) is a copy of the book of Titus in 'characterie,' written by Bright himself in 1586. A Treatise upon Shorthand, by Timothye Bright, Doctor of Physicke, together with a table of the characters, was sold at the sale of Dawson Turner
's manuscripts in 1859. It had formerly belonged to Sir Henry Spelman
.
His first medical work (dated 1584) is in two parts: 'Hygieina, on preserving health', and 'Therapeutica, on restoring health.' In the part on poisons, where the flesh of the chameleon, that of the newt, and that of the crocodile are treated as three several varieties of poison, each requiring a peculiar remedy. Bright's preface implies that he lectured at Cambridge; he dedicates both parts to Lord Burghley, as chancellor of the university, and speaks as if he knew him and his family, and he praises the learning of Mildred Cecil, Lady Burghley.
His Treatise of Melancholie is as much metaphysical as medical. There is a chapter in which he discusses the question 'how the soule by one simple faculty performeth so many and diverse actions,' and illustrates his argument by a description of the way in which the complicated movements of a watch proceed from 'one right and straight motion'.
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
.
Early life
Bright was born in or about 1551, probably in the neighbourhood of Sheffield. He matriculated as a sizar at Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, 'impubes, æt. 11,' on 21 May 1561, and graduated B.A. in 1567-8. In 1572 he was at Paris, probably pursuing his medical studies, when he narrowly escaped the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
by taking refuge in the house of Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
. In his dedication of Animadversions on Scribonius (1584) to Sir Philip Sidney (1584), Bright remarks that he had only seen him once, on that occasion.
Physician
Bright graduated M.B. at Cambridge in 1574, received a license to practise medicine in the following year, and was created M.D. in 1579. For some years after this he appears to have lived at Cambridge, but was living at IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
in 1584. He was one of those who were present on 1 October 1585 when the statutes of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, were confirmed and signed by Sir Walter Mildmay
Walter Mildmay
Sir Walter Mildmay was an English statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of England under Queen Elizabeth I, and was founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
, and delivered to Laurence Chaderton
Laurence Chaderton
Laurence Chaderton was an English Puritan divine, and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.-Life:...
, the first master of the college. The dedication to Peter Osborne of his Treatise on Melancholy is dated from 'litle S. Bartlemewes by Smithfield,' 23 May 1586. He occupied the house then appropriated to the physician to the hospital. He succeeded Dr. Turner in that office about 1586, and must have resigned in 1590, as his successor was elected on 19 September in that year.
Clergyman and later life
Bright afterwards abandoned the medical profession and took holy orders. In 1588 he dedicated his treatise Characterie to Queen ElizabethElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, who on 5 July 1591 presented him to the rectory of Methley
Methley
Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. It nestles in the triangle formed by Leeds, Castleford and Wakefield, and is between the...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, then void by the death of Otho Hunt, and on 30 December 1594 to the rectory of Barwick-in-Elmet
Barwick-in-Elmet
Barwick-in-Elmet is a village east of the centre of but still part of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of only three places in the area to be explicitly associated with the ancient Celtic kingdom of Elmet, the others being Scholes-in-Elmet and Sherburn-in-Elmet. It is part of...
, in the same county. He held both these livings till his death; the latter seems to have been his usual place of abode; there, at least, he made his will, on 9 August 1615, in which he leaves his body to be buried where God pleases. It was proved at York on 13 November 1615.
He left a widow, whose name was Margaret, and two sons, Timothy Bright, barrister-at-law, of Melton-super-Montem in Yorkshire, and Titus Bright, who graduated M.D. at Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
, in 1611, and practised at Beverley
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...
. He had also a daughter Elizabeth.
Shorthand
Eight copies of Bright's Characterie (1588) are known to be in existence, but only four of them complete. One copy formerly belonged to the Shakespearean scholar Francis DouceFrancis Douce
Francis Douce was an English antiquary.-Biography:Douce was born in London. His father was a clerk in Chancery. After completing his education he entered his father's office, but soon quit it to devote himself to the study of antiquities...
, and is now preserved in the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
. It is a small volume, in good preservation, but the shorthand signs are all written in ink which is faded. Other copies reside at the New York Public Library (defective), the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cambridge University (defective), Salisbury (2 - at least one defective), and the University of London (defective, according to Alston in 1966, but Keynes in 1962 insists it's complete). Another copy traced to John R. Gregg in New York by Keynes is reported lost. In fact, this copy is that at the NYPL.
In the dedication of this book to Queen Elizabeth, the author describes his invention:
Queen Elizabeth, by letters patent dated 26 July 1588, granted to Bright for a period of fifteen years the exclusive privilege of teaching and of printing books, 'in or by Character not before this tyme commonlye knowne and vsed by anye other oure subiects'. An elaborate explanation of Bright's system was given by Edward Pocknell in the magazine Shorthand for May 1884. The system has an alphabetical basis, bu the signs for the letters are not readily joined to one another. The alphabet was too clumsy to be regularly applied to the whole of a word, as was done fourteen years later by John Willis, whose scheme, explained in the 'Art of Stenographie' (1602), is the foundation of later systems of shorthand. Among the MSS. (No. 51, art. 57) is a copy of the book of Titus in 'characterie,' written by Bright himself in 1586. A Treatise upon Shorthand, by Timothye Bright, Doctor of Physicke, together with a table of the characters, was sold at the sale of Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner was an English banker, botanist and antiquary.-Life:Turner was the son of James Turner, head of the Gurney and Turner's Yarmouth Bank and Elizabeth Cotman, the only daughter of the mayor of Yarmouth, John Cotman. He was educated at North Walsham Grammar School, Norfolk and at Barton...
's manuscripts in 1859. It had formerly belonged to Sir Henry Spelman
Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.-Life:...
.
Works
- An Abridgment of John Foxe's "Booke of Acts and Monumentes of the Church", London, 1581, 1589, 4to; dedicated to Sir Francis Walsingham.
- Hygieina, id est De Sanitate tuenda, Medicinæ pars prima, London, 1581, 8vo; dedicated to Lord Burghley.
- Therapeutica; hoc est de Sanitate restituenda, Medicinæ pars altera; also with the title Medicinæ Therapeuticæ pars: De Dyscrasia Corporis Humani, London, 1583, 8vo; dedicated to Lord Burghley. Both parts reprinted at Frankfort, 1688-9, and at Mayence 1647.
- In Physicam Gvlielmi Adolphi Scribonii, post secundam editionem ab autore denuò copiosissimè adauctam, & in iii. Libros distinctam, Animaduersiones, Cambridge, 1584, 8vo; Frankfort, 1593, 8vo; dedication to Sir Philip Sidney, dated from Ipswich.
- A Treatise of Melancholie, Containing the cavses thereof, & reasons of the strange effects it worketh in our minds and bodies: with the phisicke cure, and spirituall consolation for such as haue thereto adioyned an afflicted conscience, London (Thomas Vautrollier), 1586, 8vo; another edition, printed the same year by John Windet. This is said to be the work which suggested Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.
- Characterie. An Arte of shorte, swifte, and secrete writing by character. Inuented by Timothe Bright, Doctor of Phisicke. Imprinted at London by I. Windet, the Assigne of Tim. Bright, 1588. Cum priuilegio Regiæ maiestatis. Forbidding all others to print the same, 24mo.
- Animadversiones de Traduce, in Goclenius's Ψυχολογία, Marpurg, 1590, 1594, 1597.
His first medical work (dated 1584) is in two parts: 'Hygieina, on preserving health', and 'Therapeutica, on restoring health.' In the part on poisons, where the flesh of the chameleon, that of the newt, and that of the crocodile are treated as three several varieties of poison, each requiring a peculiar remedy. Bright's preface implies that he lectured at Cambridge; he dedicates both parts to Lord Burghley, as chancellor of the university, and speaks as if he knew him and his family, and he praises the learning of Mildred Cecil, Lady Burghley.
His Treatise of Melancholie is as much metaphysical as medical. There is a chapter in which he discusses the question 'how the soule by one simple faculty performeth so many and diverse actions,' and illustrates his argument by a description of the way in which the complicated movements of a watch proceed from 'one right and straight motion'.