VOYAGE TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH aka Planet at the Center of the Earth aka “Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or Various Adventures of Clairancy and His Companions, to Spitsbergen, to the North Pole, and to Unknown Countries, translated from the English of Hormidas Peath by M. Jacques Saint-Albin”.
Jacques Collin de Plancy, who is more noted for his writings on occult subjects, authored this work. Odd, considering how occultism and superstition are ridiculed in parts of the story.
Decades before Jules Verne’s better-known story about subterranean exploration came several other “ancient” science fiction works about strange worlds inside of a hollow planet Earth. Some of them have already been reviewed here at Balladeer’s Blog.
This particular story centers around the fictional seaman Hormidas Peath and his crew who became shipwrecked in the icy Arctic Sea in 1806. They were shocked to discover that temperatures got warmer the further north they went, so they kept following the warmer air until they reached the Iron Mountains.
That mountain range was perfectly circular and the North Pole at its center was really the opening to the Inner Earth planet called Pluto after the Roman god (The dwarf planet Pluto was not discovered until 1930.) Peath and his companions explored that much smaller planet inside of the Earth, which was kept rotating by magnetic forces. Continue reading
AN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1878) – By Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the past Balladeer’s Blog has reviewed some of 
ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – This highly detailed account of life in Montalluyah (“God’s own city”), the capitol city of Mars, was written by British author Benjamin Lumley under the pen name Hermes. The book is presented as excerpts from historical accounts, including a biography of the Great Martian Reformer Tootmanyoso. 
A VOYAGE TO THE MOON (1657) – Written by Cyrano de Bergerac. Yes, the one and only Cyrano de Bergerac, noted for his prominent proboscis and for Rostand’s play depicting his romance with Roxanne, at first acting on behalf of his friend. Some people still mistakenly believe Cyrano was a fictional character. 
Cyrano’s fictional space traveler was named Dyrcona and was the first to use multi-stage rockets to reach his destination. Dyrcona’s rocket design was based on firecrackers of the time period. The lunar inhabitants wore no clothing, had four legs and spoke in song. Their technology included transparent globes that captured solar rays for illumination, talking book-machines (early radio) and ray-guns that not only killed game but simultaneously cooked it. 
LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS (1905) – Written by William Shuler Harris. This is yet another work of “ancient” science fiction that deals with life on other planets. Each celestial body that is visited gets its own chapter. 
A PESTILENT VAPOR (1903) – Written by Alice MacGowan, this neglected story introduced a figure who should have become as famous in his way as H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man. 
THE LAND OF THE CHANGING SUN (1894) – By William N. Harben, a former American literary giant who has since been forgotten. 
A HONEYMOON IN SPACE (1900) – Written by George Chetwyn Griffith- Jones under the pseudonym George Griffith. Jones had worked as a sailor, a journalist and a teacher before writing a series of novels covering a broad range of topics. 
THE PURPLE DEATH (1895) – Written by William Livingston Alden. Presented in the first person this story is narrated by a British gentleman staying in Italy. He becomes friendly with his neighbor, a German M.D. and bacteriologist named Dr Schmidt. 
DISCOVERIES IN THE MOON (1835) – The full title of this work is Discoveries in the Moon Lately Made at the Cape of Good Hope by Sir John Herschel. Originally published as a series of “real” scientific articles in the newspaper the New York Sun, this hoax was the written-word equivalent of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast of a century later. The series of fraudulent articles caused a sensation and increased the newspaper’s circulation exponentially before the Sun revealed it was all a work of fiction.
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