FRANCIS BACON / SOUND HOUSE

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Francis Bacon’s Sound House, described in New Atlantis (1627), was an imaginary research institute devoted to the study and manipulation of sound. It formed part of his utopian vision of Salomon’s House, where knowledge was systematically pursued for human advancement. The Sound House anticipated modern acoustics: Bacon imagined experiments in sound transmission, amplification, recording, and transformation, including echoes, artificial voices, and novel instruments. Though fictional, it expressed his belief that science could harness natural phenomena for discovery and utility. The Sound House remains a striking early articulation of sound technology’s potential, foreshadowing later innovations in audio engineering and media.

In New Atlantis, Bacon describes a fictional scientific institution called the House of Salomon, which functions as an early vision of a research institute, museum, and think tank. Its mission is the discovery of knowledge and the betterment of society through science, exploration, and innovation.
Relevant passages describe:
 

• Experimental instruments and devices
• The collection and codification of knowledge
• The creation and preservation of books, observations, and visual materials

 
This has strong parallels to artists’ books:
 

• Documentation as art: Artists’ books often present experimental research, personal archives, or poetic systems.
• Invention of new forms: Bacon’s imagined devices and cataloging systems echo how artists invent new book forms to express ideas.
• Knowledge as aesthetic: Like the House of Salomon’s blending of science, craft, and spectacle, artists’ books often merge form and function to reflect the nature of inquiry itself.