New Atlantis is a utopian novel written by Sir Francis Bacon. It was published after his death in 1626 and appeared without much attention, placed at the end of a longer work about the study of nature called Sylva Sylvarum ("Forest of Materials"). In New Atlantis, Bacon describes a future where humans achieve great discoveries and knowledge, showing his hopes for the progress of humanity.
The story presents a perfect land called Bensalem, where people share qualities like generosity, wisdom, respect, grandeur, religious devotion, and a strong sense of community. Bacon also describes an ideal college named Salomon's House, which was designed to inspire the structure of modern research universities in both practical and theoretical sciences.
Bacon believed that science requires careful analysis, not just collecting observations. He also recognized that experiments could be planned more effectively to improve scientific understanding.
Publication history
New Atlantis first appeared in the back of Sylva Sylvarum, a complex work about natural history published by William Rawley, who was Francis Bacon’s secretary, chaplain, and amanuensis, in 1626. When Sylva was registered in the Stationers’ Register on July 4, 1626 (three months after Bacon’s death), the entry did not mention New Atlantis. It was not until 1670 that New Atlantis was listed on Sylva’s letterpress title page, unlike Historia vitae et mortis, which received that recognition in 1651.
The two works were first published together with continuous signatures in 1676. The first edition of Sylva was printed by “J. H. for William Lee,” while New Atlantis was, according to McKerrow, possibly printed by Mathewes. After New Atlantis came a two-page piece titled Magnalia naturae, which most commentators often overlook, likely because it is hard to connect it clearly to either Sylva or New Atlantis. Magnalia naturae was published separately by Thomas Newcomb in 1659, but New Atlantis generally seemed to lack a clear place in publishing history. Rawley’s letter To The Reader suggests he was uncertain about the work’s purpose, even though he later included a Latin translation of it in the collection Operum moralium et civilium tomus (1638).
In 1659, Thomas Bushell referenced New Atlantis in his Mineral Prosecutions. In 1660, a person named R. H. published a continuation of New Atlantis, and in 1662, an explicitly Rosicrucian version of it appeared as the preface to John Heydon’s Holy Guide.
Plot summary
The novel describes a mythical island named Bensalem, which is found by the crew of a European ship after they become lost in the Pacific Ocean near the area west of Peru. The story slowly introduces the island, its customs, and especially the scientific institution called Salomon's House, described as "the very eye of this kingdom."
The society and history of Bensalem are detailed, including the Christian religion, which is said to have originated there after a copy of the Bible and a letter from the Apostle Saint Bartholomew arrived miraculously a few years after Jesus’ Ascension. A cultural celebration honoring family, called "the Feast of the Family," is also described. Salomon's House, a college of scholars, is said to have been granted the ability by "God of heaven and earth" to understand the natural world, distinguish between divine miracles, natural events, artistic works, and false illusions, and to conduct scientific research using specific tools and methods.
Key characters include the governor of the House of Strangers, Joabin the Jew, and the Head of Salomon's House. The people of Bensalem are described as honest and moral, as no officials accept money from individuals. They are also described as chaste and pious, as noted by an islander:
In the final part of the book, the Head of Salomon's House shows a European visitor the scientific methods used in the institution. These include: 1) the purpose of their work; 2) the preparations for their studies; 3) the roles assigned to members of the institution; and 4) the rules and traditions they follow.
The purpose of Salomon's House is described as "the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible."
When explaining the roles of members, the Head of the college said:
When describing the rules and traditions, the Head said:
Finally, after showing the visitor the scientific methods of Salomon's House, the Head allowed the European to share this information with others.
The text mentions several languages, including Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Scholastic Latin, and Spanish. One example occurs when European visitors receive a message written in these languages. A character speaks in Spanish, asking, "Are ye Christians?" This choice of languages reflects their cultural, religious, and scientific importance in Western history.
The name "Bensalem"
The name "Bensalem" is made up of two Hebrew words: "ben" (בן), which means "son," and "salem" (שלם), which means "peace." Therefore, the name means "Son of Peace."
Interpretations
New Atlantis is a story filled with many interesting and thought-provoking details. There are several plausible explanations for what Francis Bacon intended to communicate. Here are a few examples that highlight the story’s deeper meanings.
At the beginning of the story, the governor of the House of Strangers describes how Christianity was introduced to the island. The traditional date for writing the Book of Revelation (part of the Bible) is the end of the first century AD. The story raises questions because it mentions the full collection of religious texts being present long before they were officially compiled. It also mentions a scientist who could confirm the miraculous nature of the event, which makes the story seem unlikely.
Later, the leader of Salomon’s House explains how the institution can create illusions of light. He also claims their ability to make fake miracles. In a Latin version of the text published in 1638, the phrase is stronger and translates to “we could trick people’s senses into believing almost anything if we wanted to make it seem like a miracle.” Some readers have suggested that Salomon’s House invented the miracle itself, but this may not be a safe conclusion. Instead, the connection between Salomon’s House and the story of the island’s conversion to Christianity shows that the institution has advanced knowledge to determine whether events are natural or supernatural. This knowledge allows the revelation to be shared.
The ability to create illusions, combined with the unlikely story of how Bensalem’s people became Christian, suggests that Bacon may have implied the miracle (or at least the story of it) was created by Salomon’s House.
The presence of “Hebrews, Persians, and Indians” in Bensalem during the first century implies that Asian people were already sailing across the Pacific at that time. However, this is historically incorrect and may have seemed believable when the story was written.
The leader of Salomon’s House explains that members of the institution decide independently which discoveries to keep secret, even from the government. This suggests that the government does not have complete control, and Salomon’s House may be more powerful than the government.
In the introduction to a critical edition of New Atlantis, Jerry Weinberger notes that Joabin is the only character described as wise in matters of government and rule. Weinberger suggests Joabin might be the real ruler of Bensalem. However, because anti-Jewish prejudice was common at the time, it is also possible that Bacon called Joabin “wise” to show he was kind, even though he might have been Jewish.
Part of the story describes the social customs of the Bensalemites, especially those related to marriage and family life. For example, betrothed couples send representatives to observe each other bathing to check for physical flaws. This practice is similar to one described by Sir Thomas More in Utopia (1516), where couples see each other naked before marriage. Bacon’s character Joabin notes this difference: “I have read in a book of one of your men, of a Feigned Commonwealth, where the married couple are permitted, before they contract, to see one another naked.”
Prayers
In describing how the scientists of New Atlantis worked, Bacon wrote:
In Bacon's Theological Tracts, there are two prayers called "The Student's Prayer" and "The Writer's Prayer." These prayers may show how scientists could pray, as described in The New Atlantis.
Influences
Bacon's book New Atlantis and other writings inspired the creation of the Royal Society. Additionally, New Atlantis influenced B.F. Skinner's 1948 book Walden Two.
This novel may have shown Bacon's vision for a Utopian New World in North America. In it, he described a place where people could freely practice any religion, including a Jewish person living equally among Christians on an island. Some people believe New Atlantis influenced later changes, such as better rights for women, ending slavery, removing debtors' prisons, separating church and state, and allowing free political speech. However, these ideas are not directly mentioned in New Atlantis.
Bacon proposed legal changes that were not used during his lifetime. These ideas are thought to have helped shape the Napoleonic Code, which in turn may have indirectly influenced other important documents, like the American Constitution, created long after Bacon's death.
Francis Bacon played a major role in starting English colonies, especially in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Newfoundland in northeastern Canada. In 1609, he wrote a government report about the Virginia Colony. In 1610, Bacon and his group received a royal charter to establish a colony in Newfoundland. They sent John Guy to start a settlement there. In 1910, Newfoundland released a postage stamp to honor Bacon's work in founding the province. The stamp called him "the guiding spirit in colonization schemes" from 1610. Some scholars also believe Bacon helped write two government charters for Virginia in 1609 and 1612.
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and writer of the Declaration of Independence, once said, "Bacon, Locke, and Newton are the greatest people ever, and they built the base for many scientific and moral ideas." Historian William Hepworth Dixon noted that the United States can also claim Francis Bacon as one of its important founders. Some members of the Rosicrucian organization AMORC believe Bacon inspired a group of mystics to travel to North America. They say New Atlantis inspired a group led by Johannes Kelpius to sail on a ship named Sarah Mariah and settle in Pennsylvania in the late 1600s. These Rosicrucians, they claim, contributed to American culture through printing, philosophy, science, and the arts.
In 1972, British electronic music composer Daphne Oram included a section from New Atlantis in her book An Individual Note. The section, titled "Wee have also Sound-Houses," described places similar to modern recording studios. Oram placed a copy of this passage on the wall of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which she helped create in 1958. She also wrote her own version of the passage in 1960, called Atlantis Anew.