Nathan Drake (15 January 1766 – 7 June 1836), English essayist and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, at the family home in Precentor's Court, as the son of Nathan Drake, an artist. He is known for a book summing up knowledge of Shakespeare available at the time.

Biography

Drake was apprenticed to a doctor in York in 1780, and in 1786 proceeded to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

, where he took his degree as MD in 1789. In 1790 he set up as a general practitioner at Sudbury, Suffolk, where he became an intimate friend with

John Mason Good John Mason Good (25 May 1764 – 2 January 1827), English writer on medical, religious and classical subjects, was born at Epping, Essex. John Good's parents were the Nonconformist minister Revd Peter Good and Sarah Good, the daughter of anothe ...

(died 1827). In 1792, Drake relocated to Hadleigh, where he died in 1836.

Bibliography

Drake's works include several volumes of literary essays and some papers contributed to medical periodicals. However, Drake's prime work was ''Shaksperiana: or, Sketches of Shakespeare's character and genius... Now first collected... by Nathan Drake, etc.'', i. e. ''Shakespeare and his Times, including the Biography of the Poet, Criticisms on his Genius, and Writings; a new Chronology of his Plays; a Disquisition on the Object of his Sonnets; and a History of the Manners, Customs and Amusements, Superstitions, Poetry and Elegant Literature of his Age'', 2 vols, 1817. The titles of its editions give the scope of this ample study, which has the merit, says G. G. Gervinus, "of having brought together for the first time into a whole the tedious and scattered material of the editions and the many other valuable labours of Tyrwhitt,

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

, Ritson, etc." on Shakespeare. An important medical work of Drake's is ''On the Use of Digitalis in Consumption'' (five papers published in the ''Medical and Physical Journal'', London, 1799–1800). His ''Literary Hours'' (1798) were highly popular early in the 19th century (4th ed., 1820). Drake is also credited with discovering the merits of the poet

Henry Neele Henry Neele (29 January 1798 – 7 February 1828) was an English poet and literary scholar. He was also a practising attorney in the West End of London. Early life Neele was the son of Samuel John Neele (1758–1824), a cartographer, engraver, ...

.ODNB entry on Neele
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Notes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Nathan 1766 births 1836 deaths People from York 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century English medical doctors 18th-century English medical doctors English essayists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 18th-century essayists 19th-century essayists Medical doctors from Yorkshire

Biography

Bibliography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links