Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

THOMAS CORY ATE (1577 ?-1617)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 211 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

THOMAS See also:CORY See also:ATE (1577 ?-1617)  , See also:English traveller and writer, was See also:born at Odcombe, See also:Somersetshire, where his See also:father, the Rev . See also:George Coryate, See also:prebendary of See also:York See also:Cathedral, wasrector . Educated at See also:Westminster school and at See also:Oxford, he became a See also:kind of See also:court See also:fool, eventually entering the See also:household of See also:Prince See also:Henry, the eldest son of See also:James I . In 1611 he published a curious See also:account of a prolonged walking tour undertaken in 16o8, under the See also:title of Coryate's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in See also:France, See also:Italy, &c . At the command of Prince Henry, verses in See also:mock praise of the author, and in-tended originally to persuade some bookseller to undertake the publication of the Crudities, were added to the See also:volume . These commendatory verses, written in a number of See also:languages, and some in a mixture of languages, by See also:Ben See also:Jonson, See also:Donne, See also:Chapman, See also:Drayton and others, were afterwards published (1611) by them-selves as the Odcombian Banquet . The See also:book contains a clear and interesting account of Coryate's travels, and, being the first of its kind, was extremely popular . It is now very rare, and the copy in the Chetham library is said to be the only perfect one . In the same See also:year was published a second volume of a similar kind, Coryats Crambe, or his Coleworte twice Sodden . In 1612 he set out on another See also:journey, which also was mostly performed on See also:foot . He visited See also:Greece, the See also:Holy See also:Land, See also:Persia and See also:India; from See also:Agra and See also:Ajmere he sent See also:home an account of his adventures . Some of his letters were published in 1616 under the title of Letters from Asmere, the Court of the See also:Great See also:Mogul, to several Persons of Quality in See also:England, and some fragments of his writings were included in See also:Purchas his Pilgrimes in 1625 .

Coryate was a curious and observant traveller; he gives accounts of See also:

inscriptions he had copied, of the antiquities of the towns he passed through, and of See also:manners and customs, from the See also:Italian See also:pronunciation of Latin to the new-fangled use of forks . He acquired a knowledge of See also:Turkish, See also:Persian and Hindustani in the course of his travels, and on being presented by the English See also:ambassador, See also:Sir See also:Thomas See also:Roe, to the Great Mogul, he delivered a speech in Persian . His journeys were performed at small expense, for he says that he spent only three pounds between See also:Aleppo and Agra, and often lived " competently " for a See also:penny a See also:day . Coryate died at See also:Surat in 1617 . Coryate's Crudities, with his letters from India, was reprinted from the edition of 1611 in 1776, and at the See also:Glasgow University See also:Press (2 vols., 1905) . The Odcombian Banquet was ridiculed by See also:John See also:Taylor, the See also:Water Poet, in his Laugh and be See also:Fat, or a Commentary on the Odcombian See also:Banket (1613) and two other satires .

End of Article: THOMAS CORY ATE (1577 ?-1617)
[back]
THOMAS CORWIN (1794-1865)
[next]
WILLIAM JOHNSON CORY (1823-1892)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.