Utopia

Utopia: containing an impartial history of the manners, customs, polity, government, etc., of that island 
Thomas More 
London: Printed for D.I. Eaton, 1795 
John Sevier Collection 
Vanderbilt University Special Collections

Sir Thomas More’s Utopia helped establish the utopia/dystopia subgenre popular in science fiction literature. Originally published in Latin in 1516, this political and philosophical work depicts an island society organized around communal property, rational governance and social harmony. More created the concept of “utopia” as a model for a perfect society, and the word is still used to describe perceived ideal communities. The fictional travel narrative used by More became a common literary trope for works by later authors.