Originally printed in 1906 as a limited edition of two hundred and fifty copies, this book contains the essays of Francis Bacon, drawn from the edition of 1625. Bacon covers a variety of topics in his essays, including cunning, atheism, love and goodness. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Bacon's work or seventeenth-century philosophy.

This authoritative edition was originally published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together an extensive collection of Bacon's writing - the major prose in full, together with sixteen other pieces not otherwise available - togive the essence of his work and thinking.Although he had a distinguished career as a lawyer and statesman, Francis Bacon's lifelong goal was to improve and extend human knowledge. In The Advancement of Learning (1605) he made a brilliant critique of the deficiencies of previous systems of thought and proposed improvements to knowledge inevery area of human life. He conceived the Essays (1597, much enlarged in 1625) as a study of the formative influences on human behaviour, psychological and social. In The New Atlantis (1626) he outlined his plan for a scientific research institute in the form of a Utopian fable. In addition tothese major English works this edition includes 'Of Tribute', an important early work here printed complete for the first time, and a revealing selection of his legal and political writings, together with his poetry.A special feature of the edition is its extensive annotation which identifies Bacon's sources and allusions, and glosses his vocabulary.