About this Item
square 8vo. full 19th-century calf, border stamped in gilt on boards, gilt ornamentation on spine, red leather spine label in second compartment, five raised bands, all edges stained red. (2 blanks), 45, 121 leaves; (1 blank), (iv), 340, pages. and their degrees, as places of perswasion, and disswasion, and their severall fallaxes, and the elenches of them. Newly enlarged. Two works bound in One. First edition of the "preparative or key for the opening of the instauration" (Grolier/Horblit). First edition (Pforzheimer 36; Gibson 81; Grolier, Langland to Wither, 12; Grolier/Horblit 8a; Norman 97; Norman Library 261; STC 1164) [with] the newly enlarged edition (ESTC S100372; Gibson 17. Perez Zagorin, Francis Bacon, 1999). Early 20th-century ownership inscription in ink on front free endpaper. Lacking the errata (Pforzheimer), however Gibson states that they are "not often found". Scuffing to the leather binding, rubbing to hinges and extremities, minor loss to the first two blanks, two pin-point worm holes on the title page near the publisher, small dampstain to top corner of leaf 10, minor margin loss to the bottom gutter of leaf 107 of Twoo Bookes,the bottom fore-edge of page 207/208 of Essayes, and small worm holes on the final leaf and subsequent free endsheet. Else a near fine copy and internally very clean and free of blemishes. The variant copy with page 11, line 5 reading 'maniable' rather than 'amiable'. Many of the pages of Twoo Bookes are inconsistently paginated with hand notations in ink, but the book is complete. An excellent copy of the first published work of Francis Bacon with decorative woodcut initials. Exceptionally rare. Bound in full calf, circa 1818. From the Haskell F. Norman Library Christie's sale (Part II, June 15 & 16, 1998): "The Advancement of learning was the first of two works in which Bacon expounded his philosophy of scientific method. It was expanded and latinized as De augmentis scientiarum in 1623. "In the Twoo bookes, Bacon concerned himself primarily with the classification of philosophy and the sciences and with developing his influential view of the relation between science and theology" (Norman). It was the only work Bacon ever published in English." The second volume bound-in, The Essayes or, Covnsels, Civill and Morall. (1639) has the title in a woodcut border. First published in 1597, this work is the enlarged edition, and perhaps the most widely read work of Bacon. "Some of the essays deal with policy for princes and men in high position. A number, however, are written from the viewpoint of those seeking advancement in life. Bacon proffers concise advice and judgements on civil business, situations, conduct, and the weighing of character and motives. The work's appeal is due to the pragmatic intelligence and knowledge informing its observations, which are expressed in a style employing striking images, apt examples, and quotations, and pithy aphorisms" (Zagorin, p. 141). full 19th-century calf, border stamped in gilt on boards, gilt ornamentation on spine, red leather spine label in second compartment, five raised bands, all edges stained red. Seller Inventory # 141492
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