A Century Hence or, A Romance of 1941

[1841] Tucker, George (1775-1861). A Century Hence or, A Romance of 1941. Ed. Donald R. Noble. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1977 with an “Introduction” by the editor (xi-xx). First publication. For a critical ed. see Noble’s “An Edition of George Tucker’s A Century Hence: Or A Romance of 1942.” Dissertation. North Carolina, 1973. 75-04853. The dates in the title in the book and the dissertation are different. MoU-St, PSt

The novel is mildly dystopian and emphasizes the effects of overpopulation stressing problems related to food production, unemployment, and the quality of life. In New York City, people live on sampans. In England, there is no uncultivated land left, and in Asia the situation is worse. There are various proposals to reduce population growth, including birth control and delaying marriage with a tax on those who marry young. Also depicts the advancement of women in Europe, where they are physicians and preachers, but not in the U.S., which has not changed. Some on international relations. The author was born in Bermuda but raised in the U.S. He was a member of Congress from 1819 to 1825 and then became Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia when it opened in 1825, a position that he held until he retired at age seventy. He wrote two other novels, one of which is a utopia (See 1827 Tucker). While at Virginia, he published a four-volume history of the United States, a two-volume life of Thomas Jefferson, and a number of works in economic theory.