It's useless to dig for just one or two epigrams to stand in for the totality of Bacon's penetrating genius in the "Essays." Though it is perhaps fashionable today to detract from him in order to praise Montaigne, it should be clear that Bacon is at least as indispensable. As terse as Emerson is expansive, Bacon's "Essays" are perhaps the most truly Classical (in spirit) prose in the English language. Fans of the Leo Strauss school should have a fieldday reading between the lines of the essays "On Atheism" and "On Superstition"; for the rest of us, nobody can come away from even one of these essays without gaining invaluable insights. Though Bacon is rightly heralded for the radical newness of his pragmatic methods, he is ensteeped in history-- those mindful of Napoleon's dictum that history is the only true philosophy will certainly respond enthusiastically to Bacon's approach. From the post-Machiavellian insights of "Of Empire" to the pre-Enlightenment ethics of "Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature", one will find in reading Bacon's prose what the youth of Athens must have found in following Socrates: the presence of a benevolent, worldly-wise, supremely rational mind determined to show you the order of the world.

A collection of 59 essays by one of the shrewdest bipeds (some would say a brilliant rogue!) that ever walked this stale promontory of ours . Sir Francis Bacon offers his views on a whole smorgasbord of topics ranging from Truth,Death,'Adversitie',Marriage & the single life,Love,Boldness,Superstition,Friendship ,Health,Ambition,Youth,Beauty to Anger & Fame.These are short pieces (usually a couple of pages) but packed full of wit & timeless wisdom ____you can dip into them one at a time & chew them at your leisure .These essays are the quintessence of wholesome English common sense .Read them leisurely over a cup of tea(or coffee) on a crisp autumn afternoon (as the trees turn color) to savor their distinctly English flavor. I happen to have a Morroco-bound ,gilt-edged collection of these essays which was an added treat!

Along with Shakespeare's works, Bacon's "Essays" is the supreme achievement of the English Renaissance. Philosopher, statesman, author, Bacon made all knowledge his province, and in the "Essays" is to be found more worldly wisdom than in any other book. "My essays come home, to men's business and bosoms." And Pope penned the epitaph, "If parts allure thee think how Bacon shined, The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." These essays, though, need a gloss for the modern reader to understand Bacon's cramped yet erudite prose and Latin quotations, as is provided in Pitcher's edition.

The most interesting book I have ever read on the life of Bacon. This book is for both the new student to Bacon, as well as more seasoned researchers. A must read for all people interested in the enlightenment and advancement of mankind. Come with an open mind!

This book finally unravels perhaps the greatest story never told.

Alfred Dodd was a 20th century Englishman and Mason who has written the finest biography ever published of Francis Bacon and his times. . Every English literature course should have this book as required reading if it was required to know who Shakespeare really was.

The "Francis Bacon's Personal Life Story" champions the exemplary character of Francis Bacon and his extraordinary commitments to English literature, science and the making of a better world.

Dodd's book informs both the new student to the subject as well as advanced researchers on the historical relationship Bacon had with Masonry, Rosicrucianism, the authorship of Shakespeare, his Tudor identity and tumultuous relationship with Queen Elizabeth, Burleigh and Cecil, Essex, and other key Elizabethans by presenting Bacon as the guiding spirit behind the Renaissance period. The book which was once published as two separate volumes covers the Queen Elizabeth and King James eras.

The author has culminated a life long study with historical references and insights that surpass all mainstream biographies of Bacon. Dodd also portrays the underlying censorship of the Elizabethan times. It may be interesting to note that in today's prevailing attitude in the academic world, the press, and other institutions entrusted with archives that Shakespeare authorship issues are downplayed as insignificant or amusing fads. This book will educate the public while changing attitudes about Bard politics

The best book by any artist I have read....utterly inspirational for anyone involved in creative endeavors. What's more, you don't have to agree with all of Bacon's forthright opinions. It probably helps to have seen some of his best work in color, as all the reproductions are monochrome. No matter...I have given away more cpoies of this book than I care to remember. Essential.

There are some writers who are able to capture the essence of an artist through the interview format (James Lord's sitting for Giocometti is one) and in this book David Sylvester plumbs the depths of Francis Bacon's psyche like no other writer to date. Not only is his short book brilliantly executed in drawing out the artistic temperament and the especial qualities that chewed every aspect of Bacon's rich brain, it also allows us to sit back and hear the very personal aspects of Bacon's life, aspects that are occult in his cryptic paintings. This is reportage at its zenith. The big difference here is that Sylvester writes so well that the atmosphere is palpable - as though we were the fly on the wall. Brilliant, just brilliant.

The most fascinating art related book I have yet read. Never had I expected Bacon to be so open and Frank about his own work. I've read and re-read it and will no doubt do so again. There were obviously very few people Bacon would consider worth speaking to in depth about his art and I'm grateful that David Sylvester was of sufficient calibre in Francis' mind otherwise there would be very little written material other than entertaining anecdotes and misinterpretive reviews etc. I'd like to know if the complete interviews have been published yet?

John White

Few artists of the 20th century have engendered as much controversy while having such an enormous impact on coming to grips with personal demons on canvas as Francis Bacon. Once again the erudite scholar David Sylvester has written about his friend in a way that makes all other collections of images and gossips about Bacon pale in comparison. This book is a true "retrospective", not only because if can look at the entire output of this enormously gifted painter, but it puts Bacon in a perspective of comparison and study of influences that span all of art history. Sylvester manages all this with his usual eloquence of writing style. This book is an academic treatise, but is is also a biography that looks carefully and thoughtfully at the mad mind and paintings of Francis Bacon. Highly recommended for Bacon devotees as well as those who still seek to understand the past century's art journey.

A truly excellent addition to any art enthusiast's collection of artists' books and mongraphs. This piece is a must-have for any fan of the artist's work...it fills in quite a few holes regarding Bacon in relation to his work and his working process. Even if you are unfamiliar with the artist's work, you will find Sylvester's prose will easily entice you into taking a good long look at one man's dark, yet triumphant take on humanity and the world we live in. Brilliant!

Penn Leary has written an outstanding book that gives positive proof of the true authorship of the Shakespeare works. Anyone with an interest in either Shakespeare or ciphers will find this to be a fascinating book to read. His proof through his discovery of encripted ciphers in the Shakespeare works is well supported by both the Baconian society and scholars alike. Search the internet for 'Penn Leary' to find out more about this incredible discovery.

Through the science of Cryptanalysis, the name of Francis Bacon may be read as the First Word of Dialogue in the First Play in the First 1623 Edition of Shakespeare's Works, and in may other places. The writer is the author of a paper published in "Cryptologia," a respected Journal of Cryptography. Order from Amazon, $15. postpaid

An unusual, beautiful little book for the shelves of Francis Bacon fans. The photographs are beautiful, exhaustively document this legendary, but little known space, and have a haunting quality that complements other Bacon monographs. One senses the vibrancy of the artist's life, and only then the realization that, but for the fact he is deceased, the reader would not be holding this book and having this "privileged" view. Very strange!

in this thoughtful work, the author (the former dean of the graduate faculty of the new school for social research & a political philosophy professor) examines the work of each of these seemingly unconnected men and their attempts to understand and present the human condition. this work transcends specialization and is an important piece in the study of the moderns break with the ancients. dr. white was the first ph.d.student of leo strauss in the usa. he is, as well, indebted to the thoughts of kurt riezler, with whom he also studied.

This soft cover book is the best collection to date of Bacon's instinct's on photo's as "a record" for motion and emotion, which led, as far as I am concerned, to his "violent colours and form's" that produce an "incredible, emotional charge which is "an impressive sort of violence".People often speak of Bacon's work's as violent, but Bacon said himself that he never saw any violence(in terms of a negative, painful meaning) in his work's.Bacon did see a violent execution in Picasso's work's through colour and form.
Bacon did state his work's were positively charged with incredible emotion's through his colours and forms which might be veiwed as violent ,but in the positive.I also feel, as Bacon did, that word's diminish an artist's work's, so that is why I am qouting him so often from the book "Francis Bacon In conversation with Michel Archimbaud".Bacon's Eye is full of photo's, some of his early unseen work's, and his use of colour and form after veiwing the photo's in the book.There is also an interview with Barry Joule, a close friend of Bacon, at the end of the book.
Bacon gave Joule a thousand never seen work's on paper before his death.This book has only some of them, and I would love to see the remainder if ever published some day, but you will get a much indepth look at Bacon's work from the one's supplied.This book is not to be passed by if you want something rare and intimate of the artist.If you were to compare this book to the one other book featuring Bacon's drawing's, which name I can not recall right now, Bacon's Eye is ten times better.It also has different textured paper for the plates and the interview section.

What can be said? He's a great mind, and this is challenging and beautiful stuff. Bacon's got a lot of foresight, and he puts in a lot of substantial points on the way to his outline of a new method for science. This edition of the book is a bit flimsy, but the translation is good (it's taken from an earlier, canonized translation).

FRANCIS BACON puts elements from the art of earlier centuries and the subconscious of Sigmund Freud into the bluntly powerful style of news photography. That style works for his themes of isolation, Peeping Toms, predatory people's inhumanity to others, and treachery, all of which can be found in his crucifixion scenes. I find his art cleverly disturbing, particularly in the way that he reworks Old and New Masters: Day- and Twilight-type figures from Michelangelo's de Medici tomb statues in "Triptych - studies of the human body"; Matthias Grunewald's "The mocking of Christ" in the bandaged eyes of the lone female witness to "Three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion"; Titian's "Portrait of Cardinal Filippo Archinto" and Jackson Pollock-type drip in the curtain veiling and bloodspattered robe of "Study after Velazquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X"; Rubens' "Descent from the cross" and Georges Seurat's "La chahut" in the figure leaning over the T-shaped cross and the flapping arms showing successive motion in "Fragment of a crucifixion"; Diego Velazquez's "Las meninas" in the right panel-reflected artist of "Studies from the human body"; Rembrandt-type meat side in the European formal portrait-styled "Painting 1946"; Edgar Degas' tub-bathing women in "Portrait of George Dyer crouching"; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec-type backstage observers in "Study of nude with figure in a mirror"; Marcel Duchamp's "The bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even (the large glass)" in the frustrated, mechanical love of "Three studies of figures on beds"; and Henri Michaux in "Statues and figures in a street" full of tiny dark figures. So Hugh Davies and Sally Yard's helpful text and well-chosen illustrations help reader understanding of what modern art is about and how one painter fits with other times. The authors help me go beyond theme, into art technique: their book applies Max Doerner's THE MATERIALS OF THE ARTIST AND THEIR USE IN PAINTING, Hazel Harrison's MASTER STROKES, and Waldemar Januszczak's TECHNIQUES OF THE WORLD'S GREAT PAINTERS.