The Wisdom of the Ancients

This version of the Wisdom of the Ancients uses an ornate, faulty, out of print translation that makes the text ambiguous and difficult to read. It does not include any scholarly information. The Spedding and Ellis edition is probably the best edition out there, and is available open source at a number of websites. It is also included in the complete works. I believe it is being reissued in the coming months. Stay tuned.

This is perfectly readable on Kindle and the navigation works. The reason for the low rating is as follows.This work was published by Bacon in Latin (De Sapientia Veterum) in 1609. It is my belief that Bacon never produced an English version. Therefore what is on offer here is a translation, not, as the unwary reader might reasonably suppose, Bacon's own prose. I have found no information in this Kindle version as to who the translator might be (but I do not think this version is taken from the widely admired edition produced by James Spedding et al.). Also, there are Notes, in this Kindle version, prepared I think by two different people (translator and editor?)but again there is no information as to who who is responsible for these Notes. In my view the publishers have not provided the reader with information that is crucial to appreciating what he or she is reading.

Taking from greek/roman mythology, Francis Bacon gives his interpretation of the myths. If you like mythology this is a must have. Some are obvious, many insightful that given the understanding will give you wisdom.-Book is approx 100 or so pages. medium size print.-There are a few latin quotes with no explanation. (In Bacon's Essays theres a list at the back of the dover version I have)Only about one sentence per interpretation.