Essays
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1597-1625
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 120 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Major WorksOxford University Press, 2008The complete 1625 Essays with Vickers's notes, together with the Advancement of Learning and New Atlantis.
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Fifty-eight short essays on public and private life, first published as ten in 1597 and enlarged in 1612 and 1625. Their subjects include truth, death, revenge, adversity, marriage, envy, love, great place, boldness, friendship, riches, ambition, studies and gardens. Bacon writes in compressed, aphoristic sentences that offer worldly counsel rather than confession, and the book fixed the English essay as a form distinct from Montaigne's.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Essays are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
