Napier, Richard (1559-05-04 - 1634-04-01)

Richard Napier was born on 4 May 1559 at Exeter. He matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford on 20 December 1577, at the age of eighteen, graduating B.A. in 1584 and proceeding M.A. in 1586. From 1580 until 1590, he was a fellow of Exeter College. Shortly after leaving Oxford, he was instituted to the rectory of Great Linford, Buckinghamshire, holding this living until his death. Napier's extracurricular interests included alchemy and astrological medicine. On 1 April 1634, Richard Napier died at Great Linford; he was buried two weeks later. Elias Ashmole later acquired his library, in addition to Simon Forman's library, the entirety of which had been bequeathed to Napier. See Ofer Hadass, Medicine, Religion, and Magic in Early Stuart England: Richard Napier's Medical Practice (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2018).