Essays

By: Francis Bacon

Narrated by: David Timson

Sir Francis Bacon, sometimes known as the father of empiricism, was one of the major political figures of his day, his career culminating as Lord Chancellor under King James I in 1617. Bacon wrote widely, but it is the Essays (published in its third edition in 1625, the year before his death) for which he is best known. Deftly written and often displaying a cutting wit, they cover a wide range of subjects including death, love, marriage, ambition and atheism.

Bacon described the Essays as "recreations of my other studies", and clearly drew on the ideas of earlier thinkers and writers, particularly Aristotle and Michel de Montaigne. The work had much influence on later generations and on the development of the English essay.

Public Domain (P)2022 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.

Excellent advice from the past.

I have always been amazed at how this type of lecture tend to age. From antiquity all the way to modern age, you could use almost (if not all depending of your take on religion) all of the advice given from people that lived so long ago; and Bacon is not the exception.

The narration it's clear and pleasant to hear; the only problem that I had was that there's no outro and it feels like a sudden stop, considering that the intro it's somewhat lengthy.