The Francis Bacon Library was a private rare book research library on the campus of the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California. It was founded by Walter Conrad Arensberg and his wife, Louise Stevens Arensberg. In 1938, they established The Francis Bacon Foundation to promote study of the life and works of statesman Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). The Foundation administered the Francis Bacon Library, which included a comprehensive collection on the Shakespeare authorship controversy, a subject of great personal interest to Walter Arensberg, who believed that Bacon was the true author of Shakespeare's plays. This archive contains the records of the Library, which closed in 1995, including papers and correspondence of scholars interested in Bacon and the authorship question. It also contains the personal and family papers of the Arensbergs, and Walter Arensberg’s cryptographic files and research on the authorship controversy.

The Francis Bacon Library was a private rare book library that stood on the campus of Claremont Colleges, California, from 1960 to 1995. It was established and operated by the Francis Bacon Foundation, created in 1938 by Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878-1954) and his wife, Louise Stevens Arensberg (1879-1953).

151 boxes/83.3 linear feet

All requests for permission to publish or reproduce in any format must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Rare Books.

Collection is open to qualified researchers. For more information, please contact soatey@huntington.org.