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BACON, Francis.
The two bookes of Sr. Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and advancement of learning, divine and humane.
London, printed [by N. Okes] for William Washington, 1629.
£2750.00
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4to. pp. [ii], 166, 169-198, [i], 100-132, 233-335, [i]. A-Z, Aa-Tt4. Roman letter. Small woodcut printer's device on title, floriated woodcut initials and head-pieces, bookplate of Frank Lord on pastedown, occasional marginal pencil note. A fine, large copy, clean and crisp in contemporary limp vellum, later endpapers. Rare second edition in English of Sir Francis Bacon's great work on natural philosophy, first published in 1605. Bacon (1561-1626) was a philosopher, lawyer, statesman and essayist, but is best known as a philosophical advocate and defender of the scientific revolution. Indeed, his dedication to his work was such that he is among the select number of scientists killed by their own experiments - in Bacon's case, an early attempt at preserving food by freezing which resulted in him catching a fatal chill. His works established and popularised an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often called the 'Baconian method' or simply, the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today. "He was the first to consider the philosophy of inductive science, and he profoundly influenced the French Encyclopaedists of the eighteenth century. In terms of conscious power and statesmanlike eloquence he expressed ideas far in advance of his time." Dampier.
The Advancement of Learning is one of the classics of early modern natural philosophy, offering a fundamental reassessment of the Aristotelian heritage and proposing a new methodological approach. It was as influential in continental Europe as it was in Britain, and was lauded as a model not just for the Royal Society but for French and Italian academies. Bacon's style is clear and incisive, illustrating all his points by recourse to appropriate practical examples and well-known principles. Part of the work discusses invention, and attributes the discovery of the New World to the 'discovery' of the compass. In Book IX, the final section, Bacon turns to theology and reveals himself also as a man of God, with a comprehensive knowledge of scripture. A specialised index notes all the scriptural passages quoted, followed by another index of 'Humane authors censures, praised, cited'. The work also contains an early instance of the much mis-interpreted English aphorism that 'the exception proves the rule': "As exception strengthens the force of a Law in Cases not excepted, so enumeration weakens it in Cases not enumerated". An excellent, large copy of this seminal work.
STC 1165. Gibson, 82. Grolier I, 13. Lowndes I 94. Pforzheimer I 36 (1st edn.) "intrinsically an important book". Horblit 8a, 'A preparative or key for the opening of the Instauration'
L1110
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