Edward
Bellamy was born at Chicopee Falls,
Massachusetts, on 26th March, 1850. The son of a Baptist minister,
he studied law but determined to be a writer, he began working for
the newspaper, the Springfield Union.
He later moved to the New
York Post.
Bellamy also had several novels published including The
Duke of Stockbridge (1879), Dr.
Heidenhoff's Process (1880) and Miss
Ludington's Sister (1884).
Looking
Backward appeared in 1888. Set in Boston,
the book's hero, Julian West, falls into a hypnotic
sleep and wakes in the year 2000, to find he is living in a socialist
utopia where people co-operate rather than compete. The novel
was highly successful and sold over 1,000,000 copies.
A strong supporter of the nationalization of public services, Bellamy's
ideas encouraged the foundation of what became known as Nationalist
Clubs. He also became editor of The Nationalist
(1889-91) and the New Nation (1891-94).
Bellamy's Equality
(1897) was an attempt to answer the critics of Looking
Backward. Edward
Bellamy
died on
22nd May, 1898.
(1)
Benjamin
Flower, Progressive Men, Women and Movements (1914)
Edward Bellamy possessed a charming and lovable personality. There
was nothing of the militant reformer about him, although he was a
man who held steadfastly to his convictions. Looking Backward
was followed by a number of social visions and romances depicting
the happiness, development, and progress of peoples from the Fraternal
State. Later appeared Bellamy's Equality, a work on which he
spent much time and thought, in the hope of answering the numerous
objections to his social schemes as outlined in Looking Backward.
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