The Essays of Sir Francis Bacon, Signed Custom Harcourt Binding

Binding Details:  Signed custom binding by the Harcourt Bindery, Charlestown, Massachusetts bound in rich brown morocco leather over marbled boards with a beautiful spine treatment of elaborate decorative gold gilt decorative borders and transitions with gilted titling in a red leather tile. There are hand-sewn silk endbands, marbled endpapers, gold ruling to the boards, with the top page edges gold gilted. The Harcourt Bindery label appears on the bottom of the last free endpaper.

Book Details:  Originally printed at Officina Bodoni in Vernoa, this is the Heritage Press, New York published circa 1960 that was translated and edited by John Addington Symonds and features the wood-engraved illustrations of Fritz Kredel. From the publisher, “Francis Bacon, the great English philosopher, lawyer, scientist, and statesman, is also remembered as a formidable writer of prose. These 58 essays are his greatest literary legacy. Bacon's education was grounded in the classical texts of ancient Greece and Rome, but his writings bring clarity and color to the dry scholasticism of medieval learning. Among his lofty subjects are truth, death, nobility, travel, marriage, health, riches, beauty, negotiating, ambition, and gardens. Rather than merely summarizing popular philosophy, Bacon attempted to change the shape of other men's minds, and there is little doubt that many minds have been persuaded by these eloquent essays.”

Measures approximately 11.25” x 7.5” with 190 pages as well as an introduction by A.S.W. Rosenbach, A Note on the Text, and a Table of Contents.

 Condition Report: The binding is in FINE condition. Internally, the book is very clean with no signs of previous ownership. Overall, this is a beautiful binding that houses one of the great works of literature.

A photograph of the binding appears in the photo section of the listing.