''Three Hundred Years Hence'' is a

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by author Mary Griffith, published in 1836. It is the first known

utopian novel Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...

written by an American woman. The novel was originally published in 1836 as part of Griffith's collection, ''Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood'', and later published by

Prime Press Prime Press, Inc. was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947. It published a number of interesting science fiction books in its brief four-year lifespan. It was founded by Oswald Train, James A. Wil ...

in 1950 in an edition of 300 copies.

Plot introduction

The novel concerns a hero who falls into a deep sleep and awakens in the Utopian states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Influences and successors

Writers of utopian fiction generally need to set their imagined societies either in a remote place (as in Sir

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

's original ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'' and many imitators), or in a different time. Griffith's story was likely inspired by ''

Memoirs of the Year 2500 ''L'An 2440, rêve s'il en fut jamais'' (literally, in English, ''The Year 2440: A Dream If Ever There Was One''; but the title has been rendered into English as ''Memoirs of the Year Two Thousand Five Hundred'' or ''Memoirs of the Year 2500'', a ...

'' by French writer

Louis-Sébastien Mercier Louis-Sébastien Mercier (6 June 1740 – 25 April 1814) was a French dramatist and writer, whose 1771 novel '' L'An 2440'' is an example of proto-science fiction. Early life and education He was born in Paris to a humble family: his father was ...

. Griffith was however the earliest American writer to project her protagonist into the future to encounter a vastly improved social order. Many successors would follow her example; most famously,

Edward Bellamy Edward Bellamy (; March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American author, journalist, and political activist most famous for his utopian novel ''Looking Backward''. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of numer ...

used the same trick in his ''

Looking Backward ''Looking Backward: 2000–1887'' is a utopian time travel science fiction novel by the American journalist and writer Edward Bellamy first published in 1888. The book was translated into several languages, and in short order "sold a million ...

'' (1888), as did many of the writers who produced sequels and responses to his work. The same tactic is exploited in John Macnie's '' The Diothas'' (1883), W. H. Hudson's '' A Crystal Age'' (1887), Elizabeth Corbett's ''

New Amazonia ''New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future'' is a Feminism, feminist Utopian and dystopian fiction, utopian novel, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett and first published in 1889 in literature, 1889. It was one element in the wave of utopian an ...

'' (1889), Bradford Peck's '' The World a Department Store'' (1900),

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, early sociologist, advocate for social reform ...

's '' Moving the Mountain'' (1911), and other works. Another, later book, published in 1881 by

William Delisle Hay William Delisle Hay (11 March 1853''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915'' – ) was a nineteenth-century British author and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society from Bishopwearmouth Bishopwearmouth () is a former ...

, was given the same title (''Three Hundred Years Hence or A Voice From Posterity''), probably in ignorance of Griffith's earlier but then-obscure work.

Critical reception

Reviewing the 1950 edition, Boucher and McComas characterized the novel as "an odd and delightful item of 1836 dealing with a strongly feminist future."."Recommended Reading," '' F&SF'', December 1950, p.104

Publication history

*1836, US, Carey, Lea & Blanchard , Pub date 1836, Hardback, included in ''Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood'' *1950, US,

, Pub date 1950, Hardback, first separate publication *1975, US, Gregg Press , Pub date 1975, Hardback

Plot introduction

Influences and successors

Critical reception

Publication history

Notes

Further reading