Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the English philosopher, statesman and jurist, is best known for developing the empiricist method which forms the basis of modern science. Bacon's writings concentrated on philosophy and judicial reform. His most significant work is the Instauratio Magna comprising two parts - The Advancement of Learning and the Novum Organum. The first part is noteworthy as the first major philosophical work published in English (1605). James Spedding (1808-81) and his co-editors arranged this fourteen-volume edition, published in London between 1857 and 1874, not in chronological order but by subject matter, so that different volumes would appeal to different audiences. The material is divided into three parts: philosophy and general literature; legal works; and letters, speeches and tracts relating to politics. Volume 6, published in 1858, contains the first part of Bacon's literary works, including his histories in English and Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral in Latin.

Table of Contents

Preface; Literary Works: History of the Reign of King Henry VII; The Beginning of the History of the Reign of King Henry VIII; The Beginning of the History of Great Britain; In Felicem Memoriam Elizabethiae, Angliae Reginae; In Henricum Principem Walliae Elogium; Imago Civilis Julii Caesaris; Imago Civilis Augusti Caesaris; Additions and corrections inserted by Bacon in a manuscript copy of Camden's Annales; Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral; Appendix to the Essays; De Sapientia Veterum.