The New Atlantis - Softcover

Bacon, Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1617206849 ISBN 13: 9781617206849

Publisher: SMK Books, 2012

Synopsis

In this work, Bacon portrayed a vision of the future of human discovery and knowledge, expressing his aspirations and ideals for humankind. The novel depicts the creation of a utopian land where "generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendour, piety and public spirit" are the commonly held qualities of the inhabitants of "Bensalem".

About this title

Book Description

Originally published in 1900, this book contains an edited version of Francis Bacon's utopian novel New Atlantis. The text is accompanied by a history of the book's creation, a discussion of the role New Atlantis played in Bacon's philosophy, and an examination of its influence on later literature.

About the Author

The New Atlantis by Lord Bacon is one of the most important of the Utopian writings because it envisions the advancements in all branches of learning in the Western Hemisphere. Strangely enough, Plato's description of the ancient Atlantean empire and Bacon's New Atlantis both end suddenly in the middle of a sentence. In 1660 a mysterious person known only as R.H. Esquire attempted to complete Bacon's unfinished book. There was never but one edition of New Atlantis Continued by R.H. Esquire.

This extremely rare literary curiosity belongs in all collections of Elizabethan literature and is invaluable to students of Bacon's writings and the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy.

The new edition is reset for the convenience of the modern reader, but there are no changes except the modernization of spelling and punctuation. The discussion of heraldry is of great interest to those collecting emblem books and cryptographic material in general. Certain errors in pagination may be intentional and pages in which these occur are reproduced in facsimile.

Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, notes that this book is "a great and hardy venture to finish after Lord Verulam's pencil." Sir Edwin During-Lawrence considers this book the most significant of Utopian publications. The volume also contains a poem by George Herbert honoring Lord Bacon. For this publication, Manly P. Hall has provided an introduction suggesting the scope of the work. This edition of New Atlantis Continued is limited to one thousand copies and is likely to be the only printing available to scholars for many years to come.

Edition details

• Publisher: SMK Books
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1617206849
• ISBN 13: 9781617206849
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40