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Harrington, James

(1611-1677) UK political theorist and author whose The Common-Wealth of Oceana (1656), anonymous, comprises a fictionalized Utopia set in the eponymous Island; it argues for a republican government with strict separations of powers (the treatise was influential in the writing of the American Constitution) and rigorously enforced protection of the poor from their natural predators, the rich. The book was impounded by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of England. [JC]

Sir James Harrington

born Upton, Northamptonshire: 3 January 1611

died London: 10 September 1677

works

• The Common-Wealth of Oceana (London: J Streater for Livewell Chapman; printed for D Pakeman, 1656) anonymous, [the two first editions, as listed, seem to be simultaneous: hb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 20:29 pm on 16 April 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/harrington_james>