Limited Editions Club The Essays of Francis Bacon

Sir Francis was born in London, and studied at Cambridge (two unhappy years) and Gray's Inn (1576), and was called to the bar in 1582. Becoming an MP in 1584, he was knighted by James I in 1603. He was in turn solicitor general (1607), attorney general (1613), privy counsellor (1616), Lord Keeper (1617), and Lord Chancellor (1618). Having little if no inheritance from his father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Francis was frequently in debt. It is not surprising that complaints were made that he accepted bribes from suitors in his court, and in 1621 he was publicly accused before his fellow peers, fined, imprisoned, and banished from Parliament and the court. He died in London in 1626 deeply in debt. What one needs to understand about the writings of Sir Francis is that he had an extraordinarily keen legal mind, so he wrote with precision, like a well-calibrated clock. He revised this collection of 57 essays, several times, and they are generally regarded as among the most beautiful of written works in the English language. In fact, one could peruse these essays and find paragraph after paragraph in a prose which, should one transpose it into blank verse, would rival even the lines of Shakespeare.

With his essays, Bacon blazed a new trail, showing man to man, as man really is. Avoiding the usual dependence on religious experience, he determined that natural experience seemed more influential for the study of man. To Bacon, Truth was to be found in Things as Things existed in Nature. Planning our beautiful edition, Bruce Rogers selected a type based upon Janson types. Rogers re-drew the characters for his version, and had them especially cut by the Lanston Monotype Company.

Rogers went to the well, the Worthy Paper Company, for paper that has a mellow tone, a fine opacity and a pleasant feeling of lightness in the fingers. As the pages are deckled, no two are the same. Also, headlines appear in bold color, in a large size of the Garamond type. An additional decoration is brought to the pages through a series of large initial letters, which begin the various Essays and which were drawn by Mr. The printing of the sheets was performed under the Rogers supervision at the Printing House of William E.

For the binding, we are indebted to the iconic Russell-Rutter bindery for a spine covered with a staunch linen, and sides covered with a tough brown paper upon which is printed a design drawn by Mr. This is copy number 551 OF ONLY 1100 COPIES, and is signed by Bruce Rogers. The offer includes both the four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter and the prepublication announcement.

In this condition, with relative scarcity, and beautiful display of the printed word, a serious book collector will sleep well with his/her investment. Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

This item is in the category "Books & Magazines\Antiquarian & Collectible". The seller is "629north61ststreet" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Year Printed: 1944
• Topic: Essays
• Binding: spine is linen buckram/sides are decorated paper
• Region: late 16th, early 17th century England
• Illustrator: decorations by bruce Rogers
• Author: Sir Francis Bacon
• Subject: Philosophy
• Publisher: Limited Editions Club
• Place of Publication: Press of William E.
  Ridge's Sons/NY
• Special Attributes: Collector's Edition, Inscribed, Limited Edition, Numbered

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