[Bacon] Francis, the Right Honourable Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban

1) The Historie of the Reigne of King Henry the Seventh#11;2) Sylva Sylvarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries#11;3) New Atlantis. A Worke Unfinished.#11;3 works bound in one

      London: 1) R. T., R.H., R. Meighen#11;2) and 3) J.H. for William Lee, 1)1641#11;2)1626#11;3) no date (ca. 1626). 4to. (12) 248 pp. (7) 266pp. (11) (2) 47pp. (6). Rebacked contemporary leather with blind embossed ornaments, title plate and five raised bands to spine. Some scuffing, rubbing and staining to boards. Corners bumped. Some pen and pencil marks to front endpaper. #11;Some browning, very minor water marks and sporadic foxing to pages. Engraved title pages. In English. In very good condition.#11;#11;1) Missing John Payne's frontispiece portrait of Bacon. (Gibson 170)#11;2) Missing engraved title page (ibid.)#11;#11;1) Is not a first edition: The title page dates 1641 (first edition: 1626), and the spelling of "reigne" differs from the true firs edition ("raigne")#11;#11;2) Is a true first edition (first edition, first issue):#11;Title page dated 1626 (very scarce): Bacon!s collection of observations and experiments in natural history, titled "Sylva Sylvarum" was published by Dr. Rawley, Bacon's chaplain and friend, in 1627, the year after Bacon!s death. The preface, however, was written by Rawley during Bacon's lifetime and the first issue has a letterpress title dated 1626 (STC 1169. Gibson 171.)#11;#11;#11;On the books:#11;#11;1) The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh. The only historical work written by Bacon. Possibly part of a planned history of England he never lived to complete. A couple of passages refer to Columbus and his contemporaries. #11;#11;2) "Sylva Sylvarum" is a collection of Bacon"s scientific experiments and observations in natural history, which were intended for inclusion in his "Instauratio Magna." The work was edited and published posthumously by his friend William Rawley. #11;#11;3) The appended "New Atlantis" is one of Bacon"s most popular works and has served as inspiration for many scientific organizations. "It ranks among the best known and most pleasant of the Utopian writings." (Bernal 305)#11;#11;#11;On the author (from the Encyclopedia Britannica, (11th ed., 1911) Vol. V03, Page 144):#11;Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22 January 1561 ! 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist but is best known for leading the scientific revolution with his new 'observation and experimentation' theory which is the way science has been conducted ever since. He was knighted in 1603, created Baron Verulam in 1618, and created Viscount St Alban in 1621; both peerage titles became extinct upon his death.#11;He began his professional life as a lawyer, but he has become best known as a philosophical advocate and defender of the scientific revolution. His works establish and popularize an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method. Induction implies drawing knowledge from the natural world through experimentation, observation, and testing of hypotheses. In the context of his time, such methods were connected with the occult trends of hermeticism and alchemy. Since the 19th century, there have been occasional claims that Bacon was the author of the works attributed to Shakespeare.#11;#11;