William Osler promoted the value of the writings of the popular medical essayist John Brown to the medical community. He wrote:

"To the medical student the writings of Dr. John Brown have this special value - they impress him with the necessity of a wider culture than that which is merely professional. The 'Horae subsecivae', which I first read when a student in London in 1872-73, made a lasting impression, and my interest in Locke and Sydenham date from the reading of the essay that gave the title to the volume. A present from my class-mate and dear friend, Arthur Browne --himself sealed mentally and morally of the fellowship of Sir Thomas and Charles Lamb, it stimulated my love general literature.

"That Brown's fine spirit, perturbed with spiritual doubts, should have descended into the hell so vividly described by Burton [in Anatomy of melancholy] is an inexplicable tragedy; but it is comforting to know that the clouds passed and there was sun-shine at the close" (Osler, Bibliotheca Osleriana, 4396). Digital facsimile of the first and various editions from the Hathi Trust at this link.