19th Century Utopias

Over 100 Utopian novels appeared in the latter half of the 19th Century, most of which have been forgotten. Among the earliest and most successful was Edward Bulwer-Lytton‘s The Coming Race (1871) which became an international best seller.

Samuel Butler wrote the early Utopian sf novel Erewhon: or, Over the Range (1872) and its belated sequel Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His Son (1901).

Edward Bellamy‘s Looking Backward 2000-1887 (1887) was a technocratic utopian novel; it’s sequel was Equality (1897)

William Morris‘ News from Nowhere (1890) was a pastoral response to Bellamy’s Looking Backward. Morris had been highly critical of Bellamy’s novel in his review.

References:

• Bellamy, Edward (1887) Looking Backward 2000-1887
• —— (1897) Equality
• Butler, Samuel (1872) Erewhon: or, Over the Range
• —— (1901) Erewhon Revisited Twenty Years Later, Both by the Original Discoverer of the Country and by His Son
• Morris, William (1890) News from Nowhere