John Bulwer

John Bulwer
Engraving of John Bulwer by William Faithorne. Made around 1653 for the book Anthropometamorphosis
Born	John Bulwer (1606-05-16)16 May 1606 baptised London, England
Died	circa 1 October 1656(1656-10-01) (aged 50) London
Resting place	St Giles in the Fields, Westminster.
Nationality	English
Education	Probably went to Oxford.
Alma mater	Got an MD from an unknown European university
Occupation	Physician
Known for	writer of five works exploring the Body and human communication, particularly by gesture.
Title	Chirosopher
Spouse(s)	Woman only known as the "Widow of Middleton"
Children	Adopted daughter, named Chirothea Johnson
Parent(s)	Thomas Bulwer and Marie Evans
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John Bulwer (baptised 16 May 1606 – buried 16 October 1656 ) was an English physician and early Baconian natural philosopher who wrote five works exploring the Body and human communication, particularly by gesture. He was the first person in England to propose educating deaf people, the plans for an Academy he outlines in Philocophus and The Dumbe mans academie.

John Bulwer was born in London in 1606 and continued to work and live in the city until his death in October 1656 when he was buried in St Giles in the Fields, Westminster. He was the only surviving son of an apothecary named Thomas Bulwer and Marie Evans of St. Albans. On her death in 1638 John Bulwer inherited some property in St Albans from which he derived a small income. Although information about his education is unclear, there is evidence that he was probably educated in Oxford as an unmatriculated student in the 1620s. His known friends had nearly all been educated there and he supported William Laud and the High Church party during the Civil War. Later in his life, between 1650 and 1653, he acquired a Medicinae Doctor (M.D.) at an unknown European university. In 1634 he married a woman known only as the "Widow of Middleton" who predeceased him. No children from this marriage are known to have been born. Later in life Bulwer would adopt a girl named Chirothea Johnson, and, as he states in his will "bred her up from a child as my own". She may have been deaf.

During the English Civil War Bulwer stopped working as a physician and concentrated on his study and writing. All his written works were created between 1640 and until around 1653. In total Bulwer published five works, all of which were either early examples or the first of their kind.

Chirologia: or the naturall language of the hand. Composed of the speaking motions, and discoursing gestures thereof. Whereunto is added Chironomia: or, the art of manuall rhetoricke. Consisting of the naturall expressions, digested by art in the hand, as the chiefest instrument of eloquence. London: Thomas Harper. 1644.