Bacon Roger, Bungay Thomas

In-8° (mm 783x136). Pagine: [24]. Vignetta xilografica al frontespizio, filoni verticali ai fascicoli A e C, orizzontali al B, errore di stampa sul frontespizio, "i" mancante da "Sign" e seconda "o" mancante da "Looking". Pagine uniformemente brunite, margine superiore corto (rifilato in un paio di casi), fascicolo B con carte molto fragili con perdita al margine inferiore. In cartoncino posteriore (difetti) preservato in custodia novecentesca rivestita in tela marrone con al dorso titolo "The Most Famous History of Fryer Bacon. 1660" su marocchino marrone. Con annotazione manoscritta a matita: "Sig. B defective / o/w collated and complete / pp B. Quaritich Ltd / RK".

"Chap book" molto raro sul mercato, scritto probabilmente verso la fine del sedicesimo secolo, sul quale Robert Greene potrebbe aver fondato la sua opera teatrale The honorable historie of Frier Bacon, and Frier Bengay. (Cfr. Little, A.G., Roger Bacon essays, 1914, p. 360-965). "Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay may be thought of as a companion-play to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus: the protagonist in each drama is a sorcerer who conjures devils and impresses audiences with great feats of magic. Friar Bacon is, however, a superior and much more interesting play, containing as it does the secondary plot of Prince Edward and his pursuit of the fair maiden Margaret. Look out also for the appearance of one of Elizabethan drama's most famous stage props, the giant talking brass head ... Roger Bacon (1214?-1294) was a real English cleric, philosopher and writer. During his career, Bacon was believed to have dabbled in alchemy, and perhaps even the black arts, and it was in these fields that his reputation grew, unfortunately overshadowing, really occluding completely, his contributions to knowledge and science for several centuries. A student of Aristotle, Roger Bacon was one of the earliest European proponents of experimental research. His writings are also notable for including detailed descriptions for the production of gunpowder, and fanciful proposals for the development of motorized vehicles and flying machines." (cfr. elizabethandrama.org) ESTC T173329; cf. Toole Stott, 762.