Francis Bacon Research Trust

The Great Instauration, Part V

Forerunners or Anticipations of the Second Philosophy

Engraved title-page to Francisci Baconi De Verulamio Scripta in Naturali et Universali Philosophia, published in 1653, printed in Amsterdam by L. Elzevier.

This book, although it does not constitute Bacon’s example of the fifth part of the Great Instauration, nevertheless contains an important collection of his minor writings, including an introduction to Part IV (Scala Intellectus sive Filum Labyrinthi – ‘The Ladder of the Intellect or Thread of the Labyrinth’) and an introduction to Part V (Prodromi sive Anticipationes Philosophiae Secundae – ‘Forerunners or Anticipations of the Second Philosophy’). The title page engraving, however, could well be designed specially to illustrate Part V as well as Part VI of the grand scheme.

The illustration depicts three philosophers standing around a cubic altar on which is a globe of the world. Their arrangement is such as to form a trinity of Principals, such as in the higher degrees of Freemasonry or Rosicrucianism. The moon above the head of the centrally placed Principal confirms that they are indeed Rosicrucians or Cabalists. (Bacon was known as the man in the moon, and Rosicrucians were referred to by Ben Jonson as the men in the moon, or from the moon sphere. The moon is a symbol of Cabala, ‘the Received Wisdom’. It is also a symbol of Artemis, or Diana.)

The central Principal is the First Principal of the group. With his left arm raised he looks up to his right, towards the top right of the picture, seeing and receiving the hidden wisdom. On his right is the Second Principal, who looks towards the First Principal, receiving the light from the First Principal that the First Principal has received from above. The Third Principal in turn looks towards the Second Principal, likewise receiving the transmitted light. The Third Principal is the left-hand man of the First Principal.

The right hands of the three men are held out towards the globe, as if caressing or holding it but without touching it. It is in fact a typical posture adopted when radiating spiritual energy or light via the hand to a person to be healed or blessed. In other words, the world is being blessed with light (or love-wisdom) by the three Principals. The left hands of the three are engaged in appropriate actions related to their offices.

The globe is set on a cubic altar stone, emblem of the Perfect Ashlar of Freemasonry and the Philosopher’s Stone of the Alchemists and Rosicrucians. It signifies the Foundation Stone, and is the symbol of Truth. It is associated with the symbolism of salt, and with the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple and the Ka’aba of Islam.

Leaning against the base of the altar, by the Second Principal’s right foot, is an astronomer’s astrolabe with a pendulum attached, used for measuring the altitudes of stars and planets. Bacon’s Rosicrucians were known as the Astronomers in the mid-17th century, their purpose being to study light. The Astronomers are associated with the Magi.