John Earle--or Earles, as he signed his name--was an Anglican clergyman who is chiefly known for his Micro-cosmographie. Or, A Peece of the World discovered; in Essayes and Characters (1628), an influential book of "characters"--the short, witty descriptions of types of men and women that were popular in the second decade of the seventeenth century. Micro-cosmographie is one of the best collections of characters in English.

Earle was born in 1600 or 1601 in York, where his father, Thomas Earles, was registrar to the archbishop's court. In 1618 Earle entered Oxford University as a commoner at Christ Church; he received his B.A. degree in 1619 and was elected probationary fellow at Merton College. He received his M.A. in 1624 and his D.D. in 1640. In 1631 he served as proctor to the university. He was also chaplain to Philip, Earl of Pembroke, who at the time was chancellor of Oxford. In the...