TO THE MOON & BACK IN NINETY DAYS (1917) – By John Y. Brown. Balladeer’s Blog presents more Ancient Science Fiction (or Vintage Science Fiction if you prefer). This story was first penned in 1917 and later published by the Lunar Publishing Company in 1922.
Brown himself pretended to narrate the adventure, which hewed so closely to what was known about the moon back then that it must have both educated and entertained readers. The story says that in 1914 our narrator met Captain Horace Ewald, a brilliant nautical engineer and scientist in Alton, IL.
Captain Ewald invited Brown along on his planned expedition to the moon in what he dubbed his “Ethereal Vessel” but which we would call a spaceship. The craft was 235 feet tall with the shape of a dome fused to prisms. Ewald and his team constructed the Ethereal Vessel out of aluminum plating and used electric batteries to power the anti-gravity pods. Continue reading
THE PEOPLE OF THE MOON (1895) – Written by Tremlett Carter. An unnamed narrator, a scientist of some sort, sees a glowing 18 inch object floating in the sky. A bird who makes physical contact with the glowing orb is killed by the object’s electric charge. 
THE ABLEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1879) – This short story was written by American author Edward Page Mitchell. The central figure – but not the title figure – is a wealthy bespectacled man named Fisher. Because of his scholarly appearance Fisher is mistakenly addressed as “doctor” and “professor” while staying at a spa in Baden, Germany. 
MR. GHIM’S DREAM (1878) – This anonymous work is set in the autumn of 1877. Mr. Ghim is a poor American who dreams of ending the “current” unemployment crisis through a massive construction project that will employ thousands. Ghim tries to enlist some of the most well-known tycoons of his day – William Vanderbilt, Robert Roosevelt, Jay Gould and others – in his scheme. 
PHILIP HALL’S AIR SHIP – This tale was first published in the October 11th 1879 edition of The Argonaut. Inventor Philip Hall has constructed a steam-powered flying machine that also uses controlled explosions from compressed cartridges. 
ACCOUNT OF AN EXPEDITION TO THE INTERIOR OF NEW HOLLAND (1837) – Written by multiple parties, with Lady Mary Fox, Richard Whateley and Lord Holland the likeliest authors. “New Holland” was an old name for Australia. In 1860 the novel was reissued under the title preface The Southlanders. 
Southland boasts a population of roughly four million and is divided into eleven distinct regions which, though under one overall parliamentary government, enjoy a large amount of internal sovereignty. Some regions are republics and others live under a hereditary monarchy. In several of the republics, however, their chief executive figure is still called a king despite being elected.
THE SOVEREIGN GUIDE: A TALE OF EDEN (1898) – Written by American William Amos Miller and published under the title My Sovereign Guide: A Tale of Eden, so I have no idea why everyone now starts the title with The instead of My. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that many works of “ancient” science fiction mixed in religious elements with the sci-fi. The Sovereign Guide is one of the most inventive and features angels using advanced technology. Taking the novel section by section: 
THE CITY OF SPIDERS (1926) – Short story by H. Warner Munn. This quasi-Creature Feature type tale featured biologist Jabez Pentreat. 
THE INHABITANTS OF MARS: THEIR MANNERS AND ADVANCEMENT IN CIVILIZATION AND THEIR OPINION OF US (1895) – I shortened the title for this blog post heading. This novel was written by Willis Mitchell, who called himself a professor but never elaborated.
THE GREAT ELECTRIC DIAPHRAGM – This short story was written by neglected American science fiction pioneer Robert Duncan Milne. It was published in the May 24th, 1879 edition of The Argonaut in San Francisco. 
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