Primary sourceBook
The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral
Francis Bacon
A complete e-book edition of Bacon's essays, covering subjects from truth and death to gardens and studies.
A complete edition of Bacon's own essays, useful for classroom reading of his primary text.
About this source
What it is
This is a free e-book edition of Francis Bacon's essays, listing every essay from Of Truth to Of Fame. Bacon wrote these essays as short, practical reflections on life, politics and human nature.
Why it matters
The sheer range of topics, from religion and ambition to gardens and building, shows how widely Bacon's mind ranged beyond his scientific writing. The essays became some of the most quoted works of early modern English prose.
Look closer
- Which essay titles surprise you, and why?
- What does the range of subjects tell you about what mattered to educated people in Bacon's time?
- How might reading these essays as a list differ from reading them one at a time?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Francis Bacon on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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