New Atlantis and The Great Instauration

This richly annotated second edition of the now-classic pairing of Bacon's masterpieces, New Atlantis and The Great Instauration features the addition of other works by Bacon, including "The Idols of the Mind," "Of Unity in Religion" and "Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates," as well a Summary of the each work and Questions for the reader.

• Includes works new to the second edition, including "The Idols of the Mind," "Of Unity in Religion," and "Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates"
• Updates the layout of the previous edition with a more generous interior design, making this work more student-friendly and easier to navigate in the classroom
• Each work is introduced and subsequently discussed, revealing the importance of Bacon’s work to his contemporaries as well as to modern readers
• Includes a comprehensive introduction and annotations throughout the text; as well as an appendix of Principal Dates in the Life of Sir Francis Bacon; a selected bibliography; and synopses and questions to accompany each work

Preface: Why a Second Edition? vii

Acknowledgments ix

Note on the Texts xi

Principal Dates in the Life of Sir Francis Bacon Introduction to the Second Edition xv

The Great Instauration 1

Proœmium 2

Epistle Dedicatory 5

Preface 8

The Plan of the Work 19

The Idols of the Mind 35

Synopsis and Questions 56

New Atlantis 61

Of Unity in Religion 113

Synopsis and Questions 118

Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates 121

Synopsis and Questions 130

On Bacon’s New Atlantis 133

Bibliography 159

Jerry Weinberger is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. He received his B.A. from The University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has won the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, fellowships from the Earhart Foundation and the Institute for Educational Affairs, and has twice been a Senior Research Fellow of the NEH. He is Director of the LeFrak Forum and Co-Director of the Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy. Among his books are Science, Faith and Politics: Francis Bacon and the Utopian Roots of the Modern Age (1985); Francis Bacon’s History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh: A New Edition and Interpretive Essay (1996); and Benjamin Franklin Unmasked: On the Unity of His Moral, Religious, and Political Thought (2005). A resident of Washington, DC, he is a regular contributor to City Journal, the nation’s premier urban-policy magazine.

This richly annotated second edition of the now-classic pairing of Bacon's masterpieces, New Atlantis and The Great Instauration, features the addition of other works by Bacon, including 'The Idols of the Mind,' 'Of Unity in Religion,' and 'Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates,' as well as a summary of each work and questions for the reader. Each work is introduced and subsequently discussed, revealing the importance of Bacon's work to his contemporaries as well as to modern-day readers. The volume includes a comprehensive introduction and annotations throughout the text, as well as synopses and questions to accompany each selection. It also features an appendix of Principal Dates in the Life of Sir Francis Bacon and a selected bibliographyof works about this important historical thinker.

The second edition is also updated with a generous interior layout, making this volume even more classroom-friendly with easy-to-navigate pedagogical features.