Plato: " I have before remarked in speaking of the allotments of the gods, that they distributed the whole earth into portions differing in extent, and made for themselves temples and instituted sacrifices. And Poseidon, receiving for his lot the island of Atlantis, begat children by a mortal woman, and settled them in a part of the island."
Timaeus
Critias
by Plato [360 B.C]
The two dialogs of Plato which contain the primary ancient account of Atlantis.
There is a short framing story about Solon in Egypt in Timaeus, and Critias, which contains the description of Atlantis, breaks off mid-narrative. Did Plato mean the tale literally or as an allegory?
These books, which were written at the end of the 19th century, are the core texts of the modern Atlantis mythos.
Vril, the Power of the Coming Race
by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton [1871]
The Victorian science fiction novel from which introduced the concept of 'Vril.'
The Oera Linda Book
by Wiliam R. Sandbach [1876]
A purported chronicle of the descendants of the lost Atlantis--of the North Sea.
Atlantis, the Antediluvian World
by Ignatius Donnelly [1882]
The complete text of the 19th Century bestseller that started the modern Atlantis craze.
Required reading for anyone interested in Atlantis, in spite of much dated and incorrect information. This etext was scanned at sacred-texts and appears here in its entirety for the first time on the Internet. This text is also available through the Project Gutenberg(thanks to Norman Wolcott, for working on the text version of this file). The illustrations, proofing and formatting of this etext were revised as of July 2003.
Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
by Ignatius Donnelly [1883]
A sensational description of how a cometary impact could have destroyed an unknown prehistoric civilization.
Donnelly ties his comet impact into the death of Atlantis, and the lost origins of our own civilization. A perennially rediscovered hypothesis.
The Book of Dzyan
by H.P. Blatavsky [1888]
Blatavskys' channeled sacred text from Lemuria.
This excerpt from Helena Blatavskys' "The Secret Doctrine" is supposed to be an actual book from Lemuria summarizing occult knowledge about the evolution of the universe. In reality it was 'channeled'. The Theosophists greatly elaborated the Atlantis story, adding numerous additional lost continents such as Hyperborea, Lemuria, Daitya, Ruta, Poseidonis; and peopled them with an entire succession of pre-human species. (See the Scott-Elliot text, below).
The Story of Atlantis
by W. Scott-Elliot [1896]
An imaginative Theosophic history of the Earth, the Theosophic concept of human evolution and everyday life in old Atlantis.
The Lost Continent
by Cutcliffe Hyne [1900]
The decline and fall of decadent Atlantis; a cruel queen, and ancient magic: a long-forgotten swashbuckling adventure.
by W. Scott-Elliot [1904]
A short essay by Scott-Elliot on the lost continent which preceeded Atlantis in Theosophic beliefs: Lemuria.
A Dweller on Two Planets
by Frederick S. Oliver [1905]
A very influential speculative novel of Atlantis and points beyond, purportedly composed via automatic writing by a teenager in the shadow of Mount Shasta.
How I Found the Lost Atlantis, The Source of All Civilization
by Paul Schliemann [1912]
A famous and often cited Atlantis hoax, republished at sacred-texts for the first time in over ninety years.
The Treasure of Atlantis
by J. Allan Dunn [1916]
A pulp-fiction era Atlantis in South America yarn.
Altantida (L'Antlantide)
by Pierre Benoit, tr. by Mary C. Tongue and Mary Ross [1920]
A harrowing trip through the Sahara to ... Atlantis, and the strange allure of its ultimate queen.
The Sacred Symbols of Mu
by James Churchward [1933]
Mu, the other lost continent, and its sacred symbology.
Selestor's Men of Atlantis
by Clara Iza von Ravn [1937]
The history of Atlantis, told as a channeled vision of an ancient sage.
I Remember Lemuria
by Richard S. Shaver [1948]
Beware the devolved tunnel-dwellers who rule the earth: the dress-rehearsal for the UFO craze.