Originally published in 1902, this appeal for further investigation and research was "An attempt to establish certain propositions, e.g. that Bacon's "New Atlantis" is not an Utopian dream, but a thinly disguised account of an actual Secret Society with which he was closely associated; that the object of this Fraternity of learned men, known superficially to history as the Rosicrucians, was the advancement of learning; that the principal method by which the achievement of this end was attempted was the preparation and publication of instructive and elevating literature."