The New International Encyclopædia/Drake, Nathan

DRAKE, (1766-1836). An English physician and author. He was born at York, and was educated at Edinburgh. After a short residence at Sudbury he removed, in 1792, to Hadleigh, Suffolk, where he became prominently known as a physician and essayist. He was a versatile and very prolific author. His more important works include: Shakespeare and His Times (1817), in which the accumulated material of previous editions and annotations was for the first time collated and presented in its entirety; and On the Use of Digitalis in Consumption (five papers published in the Medical and Physical Journal, London, 1799-1800). His Literary Hours (1798) were exceedingly popular early in the nineteenth century (4th ed. 1820).