On the way to Bensalem: origins of “New Atlantis” in Francis Bacon’s early texts

Abstract

The paper aims to make sense of the means necessary for the reconstruction of the unfinished plot and theoretical content of Bacon’s “New Atlantis”. The research contains the analysis of the origins of Bacon’s utopism in his early writings as well as of his use of the unpublished texts during his work for the projects of the “Great Instauration” and “New Atlantis”. We argue that in his utopian novel Bacon made several considerable borrowings from his early unpublished tracts and speeches similar to borrowings in the “Great Instauration”. These texts are the clue to the proper understanding and to the prevention of the misinterpretation of Bacon’s utopian thought.