THE CONQUEST OF SPACE page 7
To the Moon and Back in Ninety Hours. This 1922 novel is one of the rarest and most unusual of all the early spaceflight stories. Told in a documentary style, it is profusely illustrated with photos and diagrams, including photos of the spacecraft and space-suited astronauts. Indeed, the book contains a remarkably detailed description of a working space suit. More than 60 illustrations.
Pioneers of Space (1949) was later reincarnated almost word-for-word as the "non-fiction" Inside the Space Ships, one of the books largely responsible for the UFO craze of the 1950s and 60s. Ghost-written by Adamski acolyte Lucy McGinnis, this novel contains some of the most inept scientific ideas imaginable.
Aleriel. Combines for the first time in one volume two of the rarest space travel novels: Voice From Another World (1874) and Letters From the Planets (1883), by the Rev. W.S. Lach-Szyrma. A strange combination of Christianity and hard science, the books argue persuasively for the habitability of other worlds and the necessary existence of non-human races. The novels also contain an early description of interplanetary spacecraft.
January First, A.D. 3000 An excerpt from the little-known, prophetic French science fiction novel of 1845, Le Monde tel qu'il sera [The World As It Will Be]. This short excerpt was first published in English in 1856. Illustrated.
A Christmas Dinner With the Man in the Moon. Washington Gladden was a noted clergyman, theologian and social reformer whose many books on these subjects were highly respected. It may have come as a surprise to his admirers to find this delightful fantasy, first published in a children's magazine in 1880. And although Gladden was writing with tongue clearly in cheek, he displays a good knowledge of and appreciation for technology, science and astronomy. Indeed, this story contains one of the first mentions of the need of a life support system for lunar explorers. Illustrated.
The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel by Ralph Morris. Originally published in 1751, this fantasy-adventure contains one of the most detailed and best-realized spacecraft/flying machines in science fiction. It marked the transition from the fantastic and mystical means of reaching space that had preceded it and laid the foundation for the scientific verisimilitude of Poe and Verne. Illustrated.
