Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral [Paperback]

Francis Bacon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992

Contents: Of Truth; Death; Unity in Religion; Revenge; Adversity; Simulation and Dissimulation; Parents and Children; Marriage and Single Life; Envy; Love; Great Place; Boldness; Goodness, and Goodness of Nature; Nobility; Seditions and Troubles; Atheism; Superstition; Travel; Empire; Counsel; Delays; Cunning; Wisdom for a Man's Self; Innovations; Dispatch; Seeming Wise; Friendship; Expense; The True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates; Regimen of Health; Suspicion; Discourse; Plantations; Riches; Prophecies; Ambition; Masques and Triumphs; Nature in Men; Custom and Education; Fortune; Usury; Youth and Age; Beauty; Deformity; Building; Gardens; Negotiating; Followers and Friends; Suitors; Studies; Faction; Ceremonies and Respects; Praise; Vain Glory; Honor and Reputation; Judicature; Anger; Vicissitude of Things; A Fragment of an Essay of Fame; On Death.

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About the Author

Brian Vickers is Professor of English Literature and Director of the Centre for Renaissance Studies at the ETH, Zurich. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564592286
• ISBN-13: 978-1564592286
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,433,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading, but footnotes excessive in this edition, March 10, 2004

By 

Micah Newman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Francis Bacon was an observant and insightful student of human society and human nature, as reflected in most of the essays here. The perspective *is* a bit bourgeois, but I guess Bacon can't help having been a nobleman. A lot of the later essays in the book seem to be along the lines of "how to put people to good use." Included also in this volume is a quite detailed biographical sketch at the beginning, and some extra material with aphoristic sketch-like versions of a few of the essays, plus the "Antitheses of Things," which is quite interesting.

The language is essentially Shakespearean, which I always enjoy reading, as it gives one the sense of watching as phrases and words are coined before your eyes (Shakespeare coined INNUMERABLE words and phrases in his works, and Bacon does a few here too, actually, according to the Explanatory Notes); a refreshing change from modern language, where we basically speak in cliches. The problem is, this edition (Oxford's World's Classics) has SO MANY "translational" footnotes explaining his 17th-century word usage, that it's quite distracting and unnecessary. One has to learn to basically ignore them most of the time. The Explanatory Notes collected at the end are quite indispensable for dealing with Bacon's penchant for endless streams of Latin quotes and likely-obscure-to-the-modern-reader classical references, but the footnotes are just ridiculous. I'd guess one could reasonably assume that anyone who'd pick up this book in the first place would not need to be told that "contrariwise" means "on the contrary," "mark" means "observe," "magnanimity" means "noble, generous feelings," "overlaid" means "burdened"... I could go on and on. I don't know if other editions have as thorough Explanatory Notes as this, though; if they do I'd go with that over this edition.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, August 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

There are few writers I have read in my entire life who have taught me more than Francis Bacon. These essays are simply essential.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Academic yet Enriching!, September 19, 2005

By 

An Avid Reader (Sausalito, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral (Paperback)

Bold statements are made in these essays - essentially changing the way man thought about his universe. A great study in scientific thought and materialism.