AN ESSAY BY FRANCIS BACON

“It is not only the difficulty and labor which men take in finding out of truth, nor again that when it is found it imposeth upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in favor, but a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself.”

These words, alone, of Francis Bacon’s masterpiece justifies its republication and rereading today. The father of empiricism delivers a cutting assessment on truth and falsehood, and why we sometimes prefer the latter. His concern stems from the cancerous way lies can spread.

While his focus was on public life and politics, his verdict, ultimately, looks elsewhere: “A lie faces god, and shrinks from man.”

No Reply’s second edition was a true private press undertaking. Everything was done by hand, in a single room. The type was set one page at a time and printed on a small tabletop hand-press using Zerkall-bütten paper. The binding is simple – a wrapper from rag pulp handmade specially at the press.