#moon voyages

Space Spiders, Lunatics, and Airships : Moon Voyage stories in Wilson Library

It’s a full moon tonight, so we thought that it would be a great time to feature our favorite moon voyage story in Wilson Library Special Collections–the only problem is, we couldn’t decide between these three amazing narratives!  So we need your help, Tumblr followers!  Read below, and help us decide which contender is the ultimate sci-fi adventure!

Contender 1: One of the earliest recorded moon voyage stories, Lucian’s “True History”was written in the second century AD in ancient Greece. This “true” history is filled with fantastic travel narratives, including the moon-voyage adventure in which a crew accidentally lands on the moon after their ship gets carried into the sky by an enormous gust of wind.  The men then take part in a fantastic space battle between the alien armies of the sun and moon.  (Bonus points: the space battle features giant spiders who spin web-bridges to lead their army across the sky).

Contender 2:A Trip to the Moon (1765) was written by sir Francis Gentleman under the very appropriate pseudonym, Humphrey Lunatic.  In this story, Humphrey falls asleep in a beautiful grove and (much to his surprise) wakes up in the Lunar world.  How does he get transported, you might ask? The pamphlets in Humphrey’s pockets (which were, apparently, originally conceived in the Lunar kingdom) attract a tractor-beam that pulls Humphrey up towards the moon. Full of tongue-in-cheek humor, this story is memorable both for its whimsy, and for its cutting social commentary.  (Bonus points to Francis Gentleman for both his amazing pen name, and also for including an elaborate family lineage for the “Lunatic” family that includes an ancestor named Whimsical Lunatic, Esq.).

Contender 3: Last but not least, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfall” (1835) features a slightly more technologically advanced means of conveyance. In this story, the protagonist takes an airship to the moon.  Not only is this story an interesting moon-voyage account in its own right, but in addition, it was in fact, originally created as a hoax. Shockingly, Poe’s tale was not the only moon hoax of 1835, but was second in renown to the “great moon hoax” of the same year.  In this moon hoax, the New York Sun (a tabloid newspaper) published a series of articles on fake “celestial discoveries”–which included the discovery of a species of intelligent lunar bipedal beavers.  (Bonus points to Poe for not only creating his moon-travel hoax, but also for dreaming up his 1844 balloon hoax–in which he convinced readers of the New York Sun that a man had crossed the Atlantic in just 3 days in a new form of airship).

Got opinions on which of these three is the best moon voyage story? Comment below to let us know your pick!