This authoritative edition brings together an extensive collection of Bacon's writing - the major prose in full, together with sixteen other pieces not otherwise available - that reveals the essence of his work and thinking.
Francis Bacon held some of the highest public offices in the land and in his spare time studied natural philosophy and a wide variety of other subjects. His systematic classification of all branches of knowledge became the basis for all later constructions, and his EssaysEssays are unsurpassed in their observations on society and human behavior. This extensive anthology includes the major English literary works on which his reputation rests: The Advancement of Learning, The EssaysThe Advancement of Learning, The Essays (1625, as well as the earliest version of 1597), and the posthumously published Utopian fable The New AtlantisThe New Atlantis (1626). In addition it reprints other works which illustrate Bacon's abilities in politics, law, theology, and poetry.
A special feature of the edition is its extensive annotation which identifies Bacon's sources and allusions, and elucidates his vocabulary.
Sir Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban KC, son of Nicholas Bacon by his second wife Anne (Cooke) Bacon, was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Although his political career ended in disgrace, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific revolution. Bacon was knighted in 1603, created Baron Verulam in 1618, and Viscount St Alban in 1621.
There are some scholars who believe that Bacon's vision for a Utopian New World in North America was laid out in his novel The New Atlantis, which depicts a mythical island, Bensalem, in the Pacific Ocean west of Peru. He envisioned a land where there would be greater rights for women, the abolishing of slavery, elimination of debtors' prisons, separation of church and state, and freedom of religious and political expression. Francis Bacon played a leading role in creating the British colonies, especially in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Newfoundland.
Thomas Jefferson considered Francis Bacon to be one of the three greatest men who ever lived, "Bacon, Locke and Newton" were "the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception." Francis Bacon's influence can also be seen on a variety of religious and spiritual authors, and on groups that have utilized his writings in their own belief systems.
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