Sir Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis – The beginning

Résumé du document

The beginning of the New Atlantis is, in the first place, an account of a long voyage across the Pacific, undertaken by a crew of 51 sailors. At the same time, it serves as a brief introduction to two different peoples – the sailors on the one hand and the Bensalemites on the other. The passage also presents the narrator's first impressions of the newly discovered island of Bensalem. In addition, the opening passage of the New Atlantis is more than a simple description of an adventure which begins at sea and is triggered by a tempest. The phrase “We sailed from Peru” not only establishes the nature of the story one is about to read but also plunges the reader into a hasty and unexpected departure. “We” are caught unprepared for an adventure that tosses both reader and characters into a peculiar setting, where complete loss of orientation, purpose and identity melt together to form the basis of a questioning about the real purpose of the text.

Extraits

[...] It is therefore a bit inadequate to claim that the New Atlantis is a scientific text only. Its beginning at least has nothing in it that could define the work as a scientific text. But strangely enough, the very questioning it provokes lies at the heart of science and scientific research. Ironically, Bacon seems successful at provoking scientific research a search for certainty, a search for Truth. The only thing we can hold as certain about Bacon's last work is that it can be interpreted in more than one way. [...]

[...] What is important is the complexity they create. And from this springs the question about the real intentions of its writer. Were these symbols intentionally entwined into a complex network of themes or have they been unconsciously inserted here and there in order to provide more detail and make the text believable enough? The answer lies partly in the style that is proper to Bacon, a style unlike that of any of his contemporaries. It is remarkable how plain, uncomplicated and accessible the story seems and yet how visually satisfying it can become. [...]

[...] If any significance be given to colours at all (apart from their being the expression of Bacon's personal taste for fashion), it is most probably connected with Christian symbolism. The official representative of Bensalem who comes on board to welcome the newly arrived wears what is apparently a uniform. A uniform has to bear the colours of the country since it is representative of the state's values, laws and history. The official coming on board the ship carries a “tipstaff of a yellow cane, tipped at both ends with blue” and a shining yellow parchment. [...]

[...] Indeed, the New Atlantis can fulfil such demands. It is probably the only way for the modern reader to get through the voyage for the first time. It should not be forgotten that in the 17th century, first accounts of the civilizations of the Western Hemisphere the Aztec, Maya, and Inca had already been brought to Europe. We might very well assume that as an author Bacon has been influenced by the glowing accounts of the great cities of Central and South America. [...]

[...] Thames and Hudson Ltd (October, 1995). [...]