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

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

. 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, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

and other writers, but the ''Essays'' have nevertheless remained in the highest repute. The 19th-century literary historian Henry Hallam 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 to republish them with extensive annotations 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. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's book ''Jesting Pilate'' took its epigraph, "''What is Truth?'' said jesting Pilate; 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 began in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division ...

. * 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 (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

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

Footnotes

External links

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

from '' The Cambridge History of English and American Literature'' * Richard Whately's 1857 edition of
Essays
' at

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