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  • Published: 29 August 1985
  • ISBN: 9780140432169
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $30.00

The Essays




A collection of Bacon's vibrant, intelligent essays covering subjects ranging from ambition to the vicissitude of things

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.

  • Published: 29 August 1985
  • ISBN: 9780140432169
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $30.00

Other books in the series

Maldoror and Poems
On Sparta
Love
Annals
Military Dispatches

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