University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, September 22, 1987
5
Tuesday Forum
Professor researches antiquity Spencer Library a wealth of rare manuscripts, books, maps
James Larson/KANSAN
David M. Bergeron, professor of English, studies the Francis Bacon manuscript discovered recently at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. The library houses about 185,000 books dating from A.D. 1455 and about 250,000 manuscripts dating from 2000 B.C.
An unexpected call from Ann Hyde, curator of manuscripts of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, alerted me to a hitherto unknown (at least to me) Francis Bacon (1561-1625) manuscript in the local collection. What triggered the new multi-vOLUME, complete edition of Bacon's works to be published by Cambridge University Press.
The Sotheby Family Collection in the Department of Special Collections, Spencer Library, contains a scribal transcription of several Elizabethan and Jacobaean items, including letters and poems. But the brief Bacon prose work, titled A direccion for the reading of manuscripts with profit," has obviously been be editing it for the new Bacon edition by transcribing it from the 17th-century handwriting, commenting on its meaning and trying to place it (even date) it within the context of Bacon's writings.
He was also a major political figure, serving as attorney general and eventually as king chancellor of England during the reign of James I. Unfortunately, his acceptance of bribes led to his resignation and disgrace. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to his own essay "Of Great Place," which warns government officials about corruption.
Bacon, sometimes falsely thought to have written Shakespeare's plays, primarily wrote prose and often manifested an interest in history. As a writer, he is best known for his essays, a revised version of them published in 1625.
Or. he might have heeded his ideas in the brief item found in the Spencer Library, in which Bacon indicated that a means of understanding history involved noting the vices and virtues of a people, "the natures and affections which are wrongly in men by their nature of life." He knows whereof he speaks.
Reading the Bacon manuscript in the comfortable surroundings of the Spencer Library reminded me anew of this extraordinary asset that is available to faculty and students here. This library has several parts, though I am most familiar with the
Special Collections (rare books and manuscripts) and Government Documents. (!have been known to sneak a glance at the University budget in the Archives division on the fourth floor.)
The library's greatest strength in British literature and history lies in the 18th century, and yet it contains more than 300 different volumes printed in England between 1485 and 1640. The Joyce and Yeats collections are outstanding; they include personal letters. But the library's holdings touch virtually all disciplines, the sciences as well as the humanities.
My current research on the family of King James I of England has been
aided greatly by resources in Spencer, such as the beautiful 1616 edition of James's works and several contemporary accounts of him. In a word, the library can immeasurably aid research of various kinds; it is open to anyone who needs its resources, especially students.
The life of the research scholar often takes him into strange libraries and archives and forces him to acquire skills (for example, paleographical ones) that he knew little about. Such has been my own path. And it has been a path of joy, of making discoveries, of tackling seemingly insurmountable difficulties, of pushing harder my own
understanding and eventually of sharing this gained knowledge through publication and teaching. Two ingredients remain essential: curiosity and discipline, which enable a scholarly quest. One superb resource for acquiring knowledge on this campus is the Spencer Library, a place brimming with maps, books, manuscripts and illustrations. Francis Bacon would have found it a great place to learn about history and life.
David M. Bergeron is a professor of English and recipient of the Balfour Jeffrey research award, one of four Higuchi research awards given in 1987 at convocation.
Inside Spencer
James Helyar, curator in graphics at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, stands in the library's ambulatory, which displays a smattering of works within the department of special collections. The library also houses the Kansas Collection, University Archives and is a depository for federal documents.
THE FAR SIDE
By GARY LARSON
Songwriters of the Old West
Kansan Fact: KU Students Spend Over $4 Million A Month On Miscellaneous Expenses!!!
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