An authoritative critical edition, based on fresh collation of the seventeenth century texts and documented in an extensive textual apparatus, of Francis Bacon's (1561-1626) The Advancement of Learning, the principal philosophical work in English announcing his comprehensive programme to restore and advance learning.

This is the first critical edition since the nineteenth century of Bacon's principal philosophical work in English, The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the proficience and advancement of Learning, divine and humane - traditionally known as The Advancement of Learning.

Kiernan is especially good in tracking classical and contemporary allusions; in situating Bacon on the social and political map of his day; and in discussing Bacon's understanding of humanism, rhetoric, dialectic, and moral philosophy.