Bacon's 'Faber Fortunae sive Doctrina de ambitu vitae'

8 Annotations

First Reading

cumgranosalis  •  Link

There appears to be no documentation to a book or article by that name only a ref to the words being used in the writings by Bacon Sir Francis.
A note in the etext : be as follows:

20th. Up and to my office, and then walked to Woolwich, reading Bacon's "Faber fortunae," [Pepys may here refer either to Essay XLI. (of Fortune) or to a chapter' in the "Advancement of Learning." The sentence, "Faber quisque fortunae propria," said to be by Appius Claudian, is quoted more than once in the "De Augmentis Scientiarum," lib. viii., cap. 2.]
http://gutenberg.com/eBooks/PGCC/…
Then Isis Group discussed it: It is on file for those that have academic accreditation:
R. C. COCHRANE: BACON, PEPYS, AND THE "FABER FORTUNAE" Notes and Queries 1956 3: 511-514; doi:10.1093/nq/3.12.511 [PDF] [Request Permissions] ...
nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol…

Bacon & Machiavelli
also discussed in the sanctuary of UCLA
http://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbeck…

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

Pepys may here refer either to Essay XLI. (of Fortune) or to a chapter in the "Advancement of Learning." The sentence, "Faber quisque fortunae propria," said to be by Appius Claudian, is quoted more than once in the "De Augmentis Scientiarum," lib. viii., cap. 2.
---Wheatley, 1904.

Bill  •  Link

Faber fortunae suae. Lat.—"The architect, founder, of his own fortune." N.B. The original expression, which occurs in Sallust [the distinguished Roman historian], is, "Suae quisque fortunae faber," "Every one is [more or less] the maker of his own fortune.
---Ancient and Modern Familiar Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Language. 1892.

There are extant two letters addressed to Caesar: “Duae Epistolae de Republiea ordinanda," or “Two Letters commanded by the Republic,” which contain political counsel and advice, and are attributed, on doubtful authority, to the historian Sallust (Caius Sallustius Crispus). In the first of these letters occurs the following sentence: “But these things teach us the truth of what Appius says in his verses, that everyone is the architect of his own fortune” (Fabrum esse suae quemque fortunae). The reference is to Appius Claudius Caecus, who held the office of censor in B.C. 312. His poems have not survived him.
Bacon, in his essay, “Of Fortune,” refers approvingly to the saying of Appius: “It cannot be denied, but outward accidents conduce much to fortune; favor, opportunity, death of others, occasion fitting virtue: but chiefly, the mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands: Faber quisque fortunae suae.”
---The Literary Era. January, 1901.

Every man is the son of his own works.
---Don Quixote. Cervantes.

Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
---Julius Caesar. W. Shakespeare.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"LX. Faber Fortunae sive Doctrina de ambitu vitae"
Fr. Baconi De Verulamio Sermones Fideles, Ethici, Politici, Oeconomici: Sive Interiora Rerum: Accedunt Faber Fortunae. Colores Boni Et Mali, &c (Google eBook)

https://books.google.com/books?id…

Oliver Mundy  •  Link

What is certain is that in 1662 the Elzevirs of Amsterdam published a Latin version of the Essays, titled as in Terry Foreman's post above, with four longer treatises appended; the second of these (numbered LX, as if it were part of the series of Essays) is a 36-page work with the title 'Faber fortunae sive de ambitu vitae' ('Maker of [one's] fortune, or on ambition in life'). This must be what Pepys read with so much pleasure.

Here is my own translation of the opening: 'And at the first glance I may seem to be presenting something of a new and unprecedented thesis in teaching men how they can become the makers of their own fortune: assuredly a doctrine to which any man might readily attach himself, until he has experienced the difficulty it involves.' It goes on to discuss the six ways in which one may attract favourable notice (by one's appearance, by words, by deeds, by the quality of one's mind, by one's object or purpose, and by other people's account of oneself); it quotes frequently from Tacitus, occasionally from Machiavelli and once from the Epistle of James, and ends 'Thus we see it in Marcus Brutus, who on the point of death broke out in these words: "Virtue, I have pursued you as a reality, but you are no more than an empty name." However, if this foundation is laid down by God on high it always grows as firm as a rock. And so we conclude our teaching on ambition in life.' The opening word 'Ac' ('and' or occasionally 'but') suggests that this may be a chapter extracted from a larger work. I hope these indications will help others to trace the elusive 'Faber fortunae' to its source; though clearly the matter must be more difficult than it looks, or it would have been settled long ago.

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Faber Fortunae: book or essay?

L&M footnote: "Faber Fortunae sive Doctrina de ambitu vitae" is one of the pieces collected in Bacon's "Sermones Fideles", published in Leyden in 1641, 1644 and 1649.
The "Faber Fortunae" was one essay/sermon published with a collection of others.

L&M: Pepys liked to put some reading material in his pocket to read outside, and when he did so, it was often the "Faber Fortunae" that he read.

An essay (De Fortuna) in Sir Francis Bacon's "Sermones Fideles" in which the first paragraph contains Appius Claudius Caecus' quote:"Faber est suae quisque fortunae" -- Every man is the maker of his own fortune.
It's a short piece, not enough in length or content to spend whole afternoon on. Perhaps Pepys was practising his Latin?

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1661

1663

1664

  • Feb

1666