Henry Peacham (born 1546)

The Complete Gentleman by Henry Peacham (1622). Engraving by Francis Delaram.

Henry Peacham is the name shared by two English Renaissance writers who were father and son.

The elder Henry Peacham (1546–1634) was an English curate, best known for his treatise on rhetoric titled The Garden of Eloquence first published in 1577. He lived at Leverton-in-Holland, in Lincolnshire.

His son, Henry Peacham (b. 1578, d. in or after 1644) was a poet and writer, known today primarily for his book, The Compleat Gentleman, first printed in 1622. It is presented as a guidebook on the arts for young men of good birth. In it, he discusses what writers, poets, composers, philosophers, and artists a gentlemen should study in order to become well-educated. Because he mentions a large number of contemporary artistic figures, he is often cited as a primary source in studies of Renaissance artists.

A representative passage from The Compleat Gentleman:

"For composition, I prefer next Ludovico de Victoria, a most judicious and a sweet composer: after him Orlando di Lasso, a very rare and excellent Author, who lived some forty years since in the court of the Duke of Bavier."

Further reading

The Elder

• Shawn Smith, "Henry Peacham the Elder," The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 236: British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500–1660, First Series, Detroit: Gale, 2001, pp. 188–201.
• Willard R. Espy, The Garden of Eloquence: A Rhetorical Bestiary, New York: Dutton, 1983
• Alan R. Young, "Henry Peacham, Author of The Garden of Eloquence (1577): A Biographical Note," Notes and Queries, vol. 24, 1977, pp. 503–507

The Younger

• Edward Chaney, The Evolution of English Collecting (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2003)
• John Horden, "Peacham, Henry (b. 1578, d. in or after 1644)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004
• Alan R. Young, Henry Peacham, Boston: Twayne, 1979.

References

• Peacham, Henry (1954) [1593]. The Garden of Eloquence. Gainesville, Fla.: Softcover: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints. p. 280. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
• Peacham, Henry (1664). The worth of a penny: or, A caution to keep money. London: S. Griffin, for William Lee, 1664. p. 40. Retrieved 24 March 2010.

External links

• Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence (at silva rhetoricae – A guide to rhetoric, by Dr. Gideon Burton, Brigham Young University).