GOLDEN LADS: A Study of Anthony Bacon.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn, and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour+b/w subject portrait vignette illustrated upper wrap with white+gilt letters; with negligible shelf-wear and minimal creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges slightly aged,but generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine.Publisher's bright,clean,original,plain maroon cloth bds with bright,crisp,blkocked gilt letters+armorial family crest to spine/backstrip,with immaculate tan,same armorial crest illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,10- 288pp [paginated] includes Pts 1-3 comprising 25 chapters +postscript,11 colour plates,32 b/w illus interspersed throughout the text and the book,a biblio,sources and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a colour portrait frntis,acknowledgements,contents+illus lists.
Anthony Bacon - elder brother of Francis,philosopher, essayist and statesman - is a mysterious figure in history. He was a contemporary of the brilliant band of gallants who clustered around the court of Elizabeth I,the 'golden lads' of du Maurier's title.It was known that for some time he acted as an agent in France for Sir Francis Walsingham, the Secretary of State,who ran a vast intelligence network on the continent.It was known,too,that he was closely connected with the Earl of Essex,who succeeded the Earl of Leicester as the Queen's favourite and came to such a bitter end in the flower of his youth.
But until now many things have been unclear,and there has been no book about him.
du Maurier has based her fascinating biography on much original research.She has consulted the vast collections of Anthony's correspondence in London and Washington, much of which has never been published before; and her search has taken her also to France,where Anthony spent twelve years of his life.As one would expect,she has written a marvellously readable tale which combines her very special narrative powers with a remarkable picture of the period and of Anthony himself.We see him at Cambridge and at Gray's Inn; in Montauban at the court of Henri of Navarre; in London,living close to the playhouses where Shakespeare's plays were staged and the dramatist himself lived; exchanging letters with his mother,with agents in France,Italy and Scotland,with the King of France - indeed, the extracts from contemporary documents are so vivid that the writers seem as alive today as they were four hundred years ago.
It is a strange and fascinating tale.The mysteries surrounding Anthony are still not entirely solved - they probably never will be.But du Maurier has done much to throw light on matters which have long puzzled historians, and has made some amazing discoveries; and in doing so she has written a book which is absorbing as a reconstruction of history,and a touching,perceptive study of Anthony himself.
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