Bacon's Cryptic Headpieces

This ornament was placed at the head of the "1609 Sonnet Quarto," and is a specimen of Rosicrosse symbolism. The light A and dark A design is one of a family of headpieces (fourteen in all) peculiar to books which the Rosicrosse Literary Society had some connection, especially in the latter part of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The same blocks were used by printers far apart and were supplied by a central organization.
The light and dark shading of the "A A's" ear-marked the book as one that contains in the shadow more than is openly revealed. They are designed in the form of ladders or a winding staircase . . . a Masonic symbol.
 The center ornament is an urn which, emblematically, contains the ashes of a dead personality. Underneath the urn is the shuttle of time supported by a partially unwound skein . . . the thread of fate. A key on the point of entering the lock completes the base . . . indicating that with this sonnet key Shakespeare unlocks his heart. The urn supports a basket vase which holds floral emblems. On the right-hand side is a palm branch. The mystical palm at once associates itself with Solomon's Temple: "Upon each post were palm trees . . . palms to the arches . . . and palms to the seven steps."
On either side of the urn is a single leaf or fleur-de-lis of purity . . . a Rosicrucian emblem.
On the bottom right appears a very clearly marked scroll "T", emblematic of the "Sacred Word" known to Royal Arch Companions.  (Dodd, Shakespeare, Creator of Freemasonry, plate IX)