"A first draught": How Francis Bacon Penned His Essayes

• In Event: The Renaissance Draft I

Abstract

In 1600, Elizabeth required Francis Bacon to pen an account of the earl of Essex’s York House trial. He did so, but complained that "neuer Secretarie had more particular and expresse directions, and instructions in euery point how to guide my hand in it". He produced "a first draught thereof", which was "perused, weighed, censured, altered, and made almost anew" according to the "better consideration" of her councillors, so that ultimately Bacon "indeed gaue only words and forme of stile in pursuing their direction". This paper explores Bacon’s experience of "draught"-ing with reference to his Essayes, which he "perused, weighed, censured, altered, and made almost anew" on multiple occasions. While his 1590s notebooks provide evidence of his initial note-making, and drafting practices, his three printed and one manuscript English collections of Essayes, and variant versions in French, Italian, and Latin, display an ongoing, continuous drafting of his most accessible work.

Author

• Alan Stewart, Columbia University