Francis Bacon

This reprint comprises the works and letters by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) in the most complete edition, which is also recognized as being the best edition, with its introductions, explanatory annotations and indexes. The introductions contain information on the history of the origins and the editions of each of the works as well as on its position as a whole among Bacon's works. An English translation has been added to the Latin works. The edition is rounded off with the biography of Bacon written by James Spedding.

One of the major political figures of his time, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served in the court of Elizabeth I and ultimately became Lord Chancellor under James I in 1617. A scholar, wit, lawyer and statesman, he wrote widely on politics, philosophy and science - declaring early in his career that 'I have taken all knowledge as my province'. In this, his most famous work, he considers a diverse range of subjects, such as death and marriage, ambition and atheism, in prose that is vibrant and rich in Renaissance learning. Bacon believed that rhetoric - the force of eloquence and persuasion - could lead the mind to the pure light of reason, and his own rhetorical genius is nowhere better expressed than in these vivid essays.

Keine ausf hrliche Beschreibung f r "Neu-Atlantis" verf gbar.

Keine ausf hrliche Beschreibung f r "Das Neue Organon (Novum Organon)" verf gbar.

(Zu dem Werke über die beste Staatsverfassung) Ich schäme mich beinahe, liebster Petrus Ägidius, Dir dieses Büchlein über den Staat von Utopia erst nach fast einem Jahre zuzusenden, das Du zweifellos schon nach sechs Monaten erwartet hast, da du ja wußtest, daß in diesem Werke die Mühe des Erfindens für mich wegfiel und ich auch über die Einteilung nicht nachzudenken, sondern nur das wiederzugeben brauchte, was ich mit Dir zusammen genauso wie Du den Raphael erzählen hörte.

It is impossible to ascertain the motive which determined Bacon to give to the supposed author the name of "Valerius Terminus-Of the Interpretation of Nature", or to his commentator, of whose annotations we have no remains, that of Hermes Stella. It may be conjectured that by the name Terminus he intended to intimate that the new philosophy would put an end to the wandering of mankind in search of truth, that it would be the TERMINUS AD QUEM in which when it was once attained the mind would finally acquiesce.