Essays

First published in 1597 and continually expanded until the final 1625 edition, Bacon's *Essays* are the founding texts of the modern English essay form. Where Montaigne's essays meander, Bacon's are densely packed with maxims that announce themselves like proverbs: "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man." Each piece treats a single theme with the compression of a courtier writing for princes who lack the patience for philosophy. The 1625 collection is presented here in Bacon's original spelling, preserving the texture of early modern English prose.