The Oxford Francis Bacon VIII

The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh and other works of the 1620s

Edited by Michael Kiernan

The Oxford Francis Bacon

Establishes a textually documented critical edition for each of the five works after fresh collation of extant manuscripts and printed editions published during Bacon's lifetime
Critical Introductions examine the historical and political contexts and the classical, biblical, and historical sources for each work, and analyze Bacon's lively language and style
A comprehensive commentary identifies and evaluates Bacon's use of source material ranging from his refinement of published literary and historical sources and contemporary MSS to his political white papers composed while counsellor to King James
An extensive glossary is incorporated into the commentary

The Oxford Francis Bacon VIII

The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh and other works of the 1620s

Edited by Michael Kiernan

Description

This volume belongs to the critical edition of the complete works of Francis Bacon (1561-1626), an edition that presents the works in broadly chronological order and in accordance with the principles of modern textual scholarship. This volume contains critical editions of five varied works Bacon composed during the 1620s. The most significant and substantial of these five works is his biography of Henry VII (The historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh) but the volume testifies as well to Bacon's continuing robust allegiance to his youthful vaunt that all knowledge was his province, for it also includes his sketch for a biography of Henry VIII, An advertisement touching an holy war (a thoughtful debate over the prospect of holy war in his own time), Apophthegmes (a lively collection of witty anecdotes, classical to early modern), and his select verse translations from the psalms. In each case an authoritative text has been established based upon fresh collation of the relevant manuscripts and of multiple copies of the seventeenth editions, and subjected to a thorough bibliographical analysis of the treatment of Bacon's texts in the early modern printing-house. The Introductions discuss the occasion and context for each work, evaluate his creative transmutation of his sources, and weigh their contemporary reception. A comprehensive commentary identifies and parses Bacon's use of source material, from his refinement of published literary and historical sources and contemporary MSS to the political white papers composed while he served as counsellor to King James. An extensive glossary is integrated into this commentary. An Appendix provides full bibliographical descriptions of all of the textual witnesses, manuscript and printed edition.

The Oxford Francis Bacon VIII

The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh and other works of the 1620s

Edited by Michael Kiernan

The Oxford Francis Bacon

List of Plates
References, Abbreviations and Symbols
List of Sigla
INTRODUCTION
1:Introduction
2:The Texts and their Transmission
THIS EDITION: PRINCIPLES AND CONVENTIONS
THE TEXTS
The historie of the raigne of king henry the seventh
The hystory of the raigne of king henry the eight
An advertisement touching an holy war
Apophthegmes
The translation of certaine psalmes
TEXTUAL APPARATUS
EMENDATIONS
HISTORICAL COLLATION
EMENDATIONS OF ACCIDENTALS
THE COMMENTARIES
Commentary on The historie of the raigne of king Henry the seventh
Commentary on History of king Henry the eighth
Commentary on An advertisement touching an holy war
Commentary on Apophthegmes
Commentary on The translation of certaine psalmes
APPENDICES
I. Bibliographical Description and Technical Notes
The historie of the raigne of king Henry the seventh
History of king Henry the eighth
An advertisement touching an holy war
Apophthegmes
The translation of certaine psalmes
II. Additional Apophthegmes
III. Signature References in this Edition with Corresponding Page Numbers in SEH
Select Bibliography
General Index

The Oxford Francis Bacon VIII

The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh and other works of the 1620s

Edited by Michael Kiernan

The Oxford Francis Bacon

Author Information

Edited by Michael Kiernan, Associate Professor of English Emeritus , Penn State University

Michael Kiernan received his doctorate from Harvard University where he was Resident Tutor at Mather House. Associate professor of English at Penn State University (University Park), he taught Shakespeare and Renaissance/early modern literature. He has edited Volume 4 (2000) and volume 15 of the OFB (Harvard/Oxford, 1985; republished 2000), and now, this present volume 8 of the OFB (2011). Research for these volumes has been supported by grants from the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Henry E. Huntington Library, the British Academy, and Penn State.

The Oxford Francis Bacon VIII

The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh and other works of the 1620s

Edited by Michael Kiernan

The Oxford Francis Bacon

Reviews and Awards

"As with the OFBs other six volumes, volume 8 not only provides an excellent, unmodernized text, but also exemplary scholarly apparatus, as the explication of textual witnesses, the establishment of the copy text, and so forth are carried out clearly and succintly, while each text benefits from a substantial and comprehensive commentary, and is placed neatly into its bibliographical, intellectual, and historical context ... It is a book for the serious Bacon scholar, and one which can only enhance the reputation of author and editor." - Pete Langman, Renaissance Quarterly

"One of the excellences of Michael Kiernan's meticulous and generous edition of The Historie of the raigne of King Henry the seventh is that it puts all of this knowledge at our disposal as we read. An extensive critical commentary fills us in on new historical scholarship about the events and persons Bacon describes, and alerts us to Bacon's divergence from printed and manuscript sources; the introduction summarizes Bacon's resources, analyses the comparisons and offers a detailed survey of the historical reception of Bacon's history from the 1620s to the present; the old-spelling text and textual notes maintain the high standards of editorial scholarship set for the Oxford Francis Bacon by the late Professor Graham Rees." - Lorna Hutson