The Essays Or Counsels, Civil and Moral. With a Table of the Colours of Good & Evil. Whereunto is added The Wisdom of the Antients -
Sir Francis Bacon
1680 - Printed by M. Clark, London - Enlarged by the Honourable Author himself
'One of the major political figures of his time, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served in the court of Elizabeth I and ultimately became Lord Chancellor under James I in 1617. A scholar, wit, lawyer and statesman, he wrote widely on politics, philosophy and science - declaring early in his career that 'I have taken all knowledge as my province'.’
An early edition of Bacon’s most famous work, in which he considers a diverse range of subjects, such as death and marriage, ambition and atheism, in prose that is vibrant and rich in Renaissance learning. Bacon believed that rhetoric - the force of eloquence and persuasion - could lead the mind to the pure light of reason, and his own rhetorical genius is nowhere better expressed than in these vivid essays'.
‘Deeper and more discriminating than any earlier, or almost any later, work in the English language’ - Henry Hallam.
Essays and Counsels consists of 58 essays on a diverse range of important topics including: Truth; Death; Love; Parents and Children; Envy; Superstition; Travel; Riches; Friendship; Youth and Age; ; Beauty; Studies; Honor and Reputation; Revenge; Cunning; Fortune; Anger; and Ambition.
Added to the Essays are the Colours of Good and Evil , and Wisdom of the Ancients, in which Bacon unveils the ancient wisdom behind Greek fables, thirty-one of which he retells here, suggesting that they contain hidden teachings on varied issues such as morality, philosophy, religion, civility, politics, science, and art.
With frontispiece portrait of Sir Francis Bacon engraved by F. H. Van Houe. Sir Francis Bacon’s ‘insistence on making science experimental and factual, rather than speculative and philosophical, had powerful consequences. He saw clearly the limitations of Aristotelian and scholastic methods". Bacon's influence on Locke and through him on subsequent English schools of psychology and ethics was profound. Leibniz, Huygens and particularly Robert Boyle were deeply indebted to him, as were the Encyclopedistes and Voltaire.’ – Printing and the Mind of Man.
‘Bacon’s education was grounded in the classical texts of ancient Greece and Rome, but he brought vividness and colour to the arid scholasticism of medieval book-learning. Whatever their subject, whether it is something as personal as ‘Friendship’ or as abstract as ‘Truth’, the essays combine a mixture of rhetoric and philosophy; and are perhaps the most complete and rounded examples of Bacon’s literary style.’ - from the Penguin Classics edition.
References: Printing and the Mind of Man, 119. Gibson 24a. Wing B288.
Provenance: Frank Wrangham with their small contemporary ink signature and indecipherable date to title page, later pencil name of a C (? Lazenby to front free endpaper,
Small octavo (binding size 15.6x10.9cm), pp. [1 title] [1] [2 dedication] [4 (’Elogies on the Illustrious Author’)] 222 [3 (’The Table’)] [1]; [1 title] [1] [9] [1] 28; [1 title] [1] [9 Preface] [1(’To the Book’)] 110 [2] [2 (’The Table’)] page 111, [1]. In contemporary tan calf boards, decorative corner pieces and rule in blind, neatly re-backed with later tan calf spine, decorated to match in blind, gilt lettering and brown morocco title label lettered and ruled in gilt. Condition: Very good, generally clean throughout, small chip to corner of frontispiece, neatly re-backed with new spine and title label. Ref: 112198 Price: HK$ 8,000
An early edition of Bacon’s most famous work, in which he considers a diverse range of subjects, such as death and marriage, ambition and atheism, in prose that is vibrant and rich in Renaissance learning. Bacon believed that rhetoric - the force of eloquence and persuasion - could lead the mind to the pure light of reason, and his own rhetorical genius is nowhere better expressed than in these vivid essays'.
‘Deeper and more discriminating than any earlier, or almost any later, work in the English language’ - Henry Hallam.
Essays and Counsels consists of 58 essays on a diverse range of important topics including: Truth; Death; Love; Parents and Children; Envy; Superstition; Travel; Riches; Friendship; Youth and Age; ; Beauty; Studies; Honor and Reputation; Revenge; Cunning; Fortune; Anger; and Ambition.
Added to the Essays are the Colours of Good and Evil , and Wisdom of the Ancients, in which Bacon unveils the ancient wisdom behind Greek fables, thirty-one of which he retells here, suggesting that they contain hidden teachings on varied issues such as morality, philosophy, religion, civility, politics, science, and art.
With frontispiece portrait of Sir Francis Bacon engraved by F. H. Van Houe. Sir Francis Bacon’s ‘insistence on making science experimental and factual, rather than speculative and philosophical, had powerful consequences. He saw clearly the limitations of Aristotelian and scholastic methods". Bacon's influence on Locke and through him on subsequent English schools of psychology and ethics was profound. Leibniz, Huygens and particularly Robert Boyle were deeply indebted to him, as were the Encyclopedistes and Voltaire.’ – Printing and the Mind of Man.
‘Bacon’s education was grounded in the classical texts of ancient Greece and Rome, but he brought vividness and colour to the arid scholasticism of medieval book-learning. Whatever their subject, whether it is something as personal as ‘Friendship’ or as abstract as ‘Truth’, the essays combine a mixture of rhetoric and philosophy; and are perhaps the most complete and rounded examples of Bacon’s literary style.’ - from the Penguin Classics edition.
References: Printing and the Mind of Man, 119. Gibson 24a. Wing B288.
Provenance: Frank Wrangham with their small contemporary ink signature and indecipherable date to title page, later pencil name of a C (? Lazenby to front free endpaper,
Small octavo (binding size 15.6x10.9cm), pp. [1 title] [1] [2 dedication] [4 (’Elogies on the Illustrious Author’)] 222 [3 (’The Table’)] [1]; [1 title] [1] [9] [1] 28; [1 title] [1] [9 Preface] [1(’To the Book’)] 110 [2] [2 (’The Table’)] page 111, [1]. In contemporary tan calf boards, decorative corner pieces and rule in blind, neatly re-backed with later tan calf spine, decorated to match in blind, gilt lettering and brown morocco title label lettered and ruled in gilt. Condition: Very good, generally clean throughout, small chip to corner of frontispiece, neatly re-backed with new spine and title label. Ref: 112198 Price: HK$ 8,000