7,017.)
The folios at present known are numbered from 83 to 132, and are
supposed to have been written about A.D. 1594-6, because folio 85 is
dated December 5th 1594, and folio 114, January 27 1595.
The pagination of the MS. is modern, and was inserted for reference
purposes when the Promus was bound up in one volume together with
certain other miscellaneous manuscripts which are numbered from 1 to 82,
and from 133 onwards.
A facsimile of a portion of a leaf of the Promus MS., folio 85, is given
on pages 190-91, in order to illustrate Bacon's handwriting, and also to
shew his method of marking the entries. It will be perceived that some
entries have lines //// drawn across the writing, while upon others
marks similar to the capital letters T, F, and A are placed at the end
of the lines. But as the Promus is here printed page for page as in the
manuscript, I am not raising the question of the signification of these
marks, excepting only to say they indicate that Bacon made considerable
use of these memoranda.
"Promus" means larder or storehouse, and these "Fourmes, Formularies and
Elegancyes" appear to have been intended as a storehouse of words and
phrases to be employed in the production of subsequent literary works.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
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