Fig. II.
The first letter in the text of the dedication of the 1625 edition of Bacon's Essays, printed in London, by John Haviland.
Both letters were printed from the same block.
Did Bacon mark his first work on philosophy and his last book by printing the first letter in each from the same block?[14]
Chapter VII.
BACON'S FIRST ALLEGORICAL ROMANCE.
There is another work which it is impossible not to associate with this period, and that is John Barclay's "Argenis." It is little better known than is "The French Academy," and yet Cowper pronounced it the most amusing romance ever written. Cardinal Richelieu is said to have been extremely fond of reading it, and to have derived thence many of his political maxims. It is an allegorical novel. It is proposed now only to mention some evidence connected with the "Argenis" which supports the contention that the 1625 English edition contains the original composition, and that its author was young Francis Bacon.
The first edition of the "Argenis" in Latin was published in 1621. The authority to the publisher, Nicholas Buon, to print and sell the "Argenis" is dated the 21st July, 1621, and was signed by Barclay at Rome. The Royal authority is dated on the 31st August following.