The Instauratio Magna: Last Writings (Oxford Francis Bacon) [Hardcover]

Francis Bacon (Author), Graham Rees (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0198184700 | ISBN-13: 978-0198184706

This volume belongs to the first new critical edition of the works of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) to have been produced since the nineteenth century. The edition presents the works in broadly chronological order and according to the best principles of modern textual scholarship. The seven works in the present volume belong to the final completed stages (Parts III-V) of Bacon's hugely ambitious six-part sequence of philosophical works, collectively entitled Instauratio magna (1620-6). All are presented in the original Latin with new facing-page translations. Three of the seven texts (substantial works in two cases, and all sharing a startlingly improbable textual history) are published and translated here for the first time: these are an early version of the Historia densi, the 'lost' Abecedarium, and the Historia de animato & inanimato. Another--the Prodromi sive anticipationes philosphiae secundae--has likewise never been translated before. Together with their commentaries and the introduction they open the way to important new understandings of Bacon's mature philosophical thought.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this new authoritative edition, Rees has done an invaluable service translating Bacon's Latin texts into "modern English." This should be required reading for anyon who writes on our teaches seventeenth-century/ early modern literature and culture --and I hope it resuscitates Bacon." --Studies in English Literature 1500-1900Ritates Bacon."

About the Author

Graham Rees is at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198184700
• ISBN-13: 978-0198184706
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,410,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bargain at Twice the Price, August 18, 2011

By 

Burke S. Williams (Highland Park, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Instauratio Magna: Last Writings (Oxford Francis Bacon) (Hardcover)

Wow, I can't begin to express my amazement. We finally have a reasonably priced edition of Sir Francis Bacon's latter writings. Who would have thought it would take 400 years for the price to come down to $300? Of course, it is a classic, and you pay for quality.