] ''Essayes: Religious Meditations. Places of Perswasion and Disswasion. Seene and Allowed'' (1597) was the first published book by the

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

. The ''Essays'' are written in a wide range of styles, from the plain and unadorned to the epigrammatic. They cover topics drawn from both public and private life, and in each case the essays cover their topics systematically from a number of different angles, weighing one argument against another. While the original edition included 10 essays, a much-enlarged second edition appeared in 1612 with 38. Another, under the title ''Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall'', was published in 1625 with 58 essays. Translations into French and Italian appeared during Bacon's lifetime. In Bacon's Essay, "Of Plantations" published in 1625, he relates planting colonies to war. He states that such plantations should be governed by those with a commission or authority to exercise martial law.

Critical reception

Though Bacon considered the ''Essays'' "but as recreation of my other studies", he was given high praise by his contemporaries, even to the point of crediting him with having invented the essay form. Later researches made clear the extent of Bacon's borrowings from the works of

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a lit ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

and other writers, but the ''Essays'' have nevertheless remained in the highest repute. The 19th-century literary historian

Henry Hallam Henry Hallam (9 July 1777 – 21 January 1859) was an English historian. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he practised as a barrister on the Oxford circuit for some years before turning to history. His major works were ''View of th ...

wrote that "They are deeper and more discriminating than any earlier, or almost any later, work in the English language". The ''Essays'' stimulated

Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, ...

to republish them with annotations, somewhat extensive, that Whately extrapolated from the originals.

Aphorisms

Bacon's genius as a phrase-maker appears to great advantage in the later essays. In ''Of Boldness'' he wrote, "If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill", which is the earliest known appearance of that proverb in print. The phrase " hostages to fortune" appears in the essay ''Of Marriage and Single Life'' – again the earliest known usage.

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

's book ''Jesting Pilate'' took its epigraph, "''What is Truth?'' said jesting

Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

; and would not stay for an answer", from Bacon's essay ''Of Truth''. The 1999 edition of '' The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'' includes no fewer than 91 quotations from the ''Essays''.

Contents listing

The contents pages of Thomas Markby's 1853 edition list the essays and their dates of publication as follows: * ''Of Truth'' (1625) * ''Of Death'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Unity in Religion/Of Religion'' (1612, rewritten 1625) * ''Of Revenge'' (1625) * ''Of Adversity'' (1625) * ''Of Simulation and Dissimulation'' (1625) * ''Of Parents and Children'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Marriage and Single Life'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Envy'' (1625) * ''Of Love'' (1612, rewritten 1625) * ''Of Great Place'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Boldness'' (1625) * ''Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Nobility'' (1612, rewritten 1625) * ''Of Seditions and Troubles'' (1625) * ''Of Atheism'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Superstition'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Travel'' (1625) * ''Of Empire'' (1612, much enlarged 1625) * ''Of Counsels'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Delays'' (1625) * ''Of Cunning'' (1612, rewritten 1625) * ''Of Wisdom for a Man's Self'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Innovations'' (1625) * ''Of Dispatch'' (1612) * ''Of Seeming Wise'' (1612) * ''Of Friendship'' (1612, rewritten 1625) * ''Of Expense'' (1597, enlarged 1612, again 1625) * ''Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Regiment of Health'' (1597, enlarged 1612, again 1625) * ''Of Suspicion'' (1625) * ''Of Discourse'' (1597, slightly enlarged 1612, again 1625) * ''Of Plantations'' (1625) * ''Of Riches'' (1612, much enlarged 1625) * ''Of Prophecies'' (1625) * ''Of Ambition'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Masques and Triumphs'' (1625) * ''Of Nature in Men'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Custom and Education'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Fortune'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Usury'' (1625) * ''Of Youth and Age'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Beauty'' (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Deformity'' (1612, somewhat altered 1625) * ''Of Building'' (1625) * ''Of Gardens'' (1625) * ''Of Negotiating'' (1597, enlarged 1612, very slightly altered 1625) * ''Of Followers and Friends'' (1597, slightly enlarged 1625) * ''Of Suitors'' (1597, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Studies'' (1597, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Faction'' (1597, much enlarged 1625) * ''Of Ceremonies and Respects'' (1597, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Praise'' (1612, enlarged 1625) * ''Of Vain Glory'' (1612) * ''Of Honour and Reputation'' (1597, omitted 1612, republished 1625) * ''Of Judicature'' (1612) * ''Of Anger'' (1625) * ''Of Vicissitude of Things'' (1625) * ''A Fragment of an Essay of Fame'' * ''Of the Colours of Good and Evil''

Recent editions

* Michael J. Hawkins (ed.) ''Essays'' (London: J. M. Dent, 1973). No. 1010 in

Everyman's Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division of Weidenfeld & N ...

. * Michael Kiernan (ed.) ''The Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985). Vol. 15 of The Oxford Francis Bacon. * John Pitcher (ed.) ''The Essays'' (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985). In the

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the West ...

series. * Brian Vickers (ed.) ''The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral'' (New York: Oxford University Press). In the

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...

series.

Footnotes

External links

Searchable online text of the ''Essays''

Original Scan of the University of Toronto
(including Meditationes Sacræ)

from ''

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature'' is an encyclopedia of literary criticism that was published by Cambridge University Press between 1907 and 1921. Edited and written by an international panel of 171 leading scholars and ...