The Epistle Dedicatorie
Thomas Birch’s Memoirs of the Reign of Elizabeth (1754): The Essays of Francis Bacon being now printed and ready for publication, with a dedication to his brother, Anthony Bacon, the latter on February 8, 1597 wrote to the Earl of Essex that the infinite obligations, by which they both stood bound to his Lordship made it his duty to present to him the first sight and taste of such fruits as his brother was constrained to gather, as he possessed himself before they were ripe, to prevent stealing; “and withal,” he said, “most humbly to beseech your Lordship, that as my brother, in token of a mutual firm brotherly affection, hath bestowed by dedication, the property of them upon myself; so your Lordship to whose disposition and commandment I have entirely and inviolably vowed my poor self, and whatsoever apertaineth unto me, either in possession or right; that your Lordship, I say, in your noble singular kindness towards us both, will vouchsafe first to give me leave to transfer my interest unto your Lordship, and then humbly to crave your honourable acceptance and most worthy protection.”
