The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh by Bacon, Francis (edited with an introduction by Roger Lockyer) - 1971

London: Folio Society, 1971. Hardback. Good/Slipcase in fair condition. Folio Society, London, 1971. Book condition: good. A little wear. Text block edge colour a little faded adjacent to spine. Internally clean. Original slipcase fair. Physically sound but a little soiled and discoloured in places. Francis Bacon is one of the great luminaries of English scholarship. The idea of history as subject in its own right hardly existed in the Middle Ages. Histories were written but were often the work of churchmen who were focused upon justifying the ways of God to man. Renaissance ideas of writing history were beginning to make an impact on English scholars before Bacon was born and he was the heir to their work. One could take the lofty view that Bacon never really checked the veracity of his secondary sources but that would rather miss the point of this fascinating book.