1657 Bacon’s “Resuscitatio” with Byron Family Bookplate — Printed by Woman Printer Sarah Griffin

1657. Item #81

BACON, Francis. Resuscitatio, or, Bringing into Publick Light Several Pieces of the Works... 18th century  calf, worn, front board largely detached and pulling on first signature of textblock.   Some toning. but generally a very good copy internally. . Ownership bookplate on front pastedown of the Byron family, in the name of Thomas Byron, with the motto "Crede Byron" faintly visible beneath the crest.

References: Wing B321–322; Gibson 229.
Resuscitatio (Latin for “bringing back to life”) is a carefully curated posthumous collection of Bacon’s political speeches, letters, and state papers, many of which had circulated only in manuscript and had never been printed before—hence “hitherto sleeping.” These works, long dormant from public view, include insights into Elizabethan and Jacobean court life, diplomacy, and Bacon’s reformist ideas on governance and legal theory. Their resurrection in print served not only to preserve Bacon’s broader intellectual legacy but also to reposition him as a political thinker of enduring relevance during the political upheavals of mid-17th-century England.

The edition is further distinguished by its printer, Sarah Griffin, one of the few women active in the London book trade at the time. Following the death of her husband Edward Griffin, Sarah operated his press and continued to publish works of political and intellectual significance. Her involvement in this ambitious project underscores the vital but often under-acknowledged role women played in sustaining the infrastructure of early modern print culture.

The presence of the Thomas Byron bookplate, with the faintly legible motto “Crede Byron” (“Trust in Byron”), adds a layer of aristocratic provenance, linking the volume to the prominent Byron family, whose descendants would include the poet Lord Byron.

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Price: $1,250.00