The Man in the Moone

by Francis Godwin, Mint Editions (Contribution by)

Overview

The Man in the Moone (1638) is a utopian science fiction story by Francis Godwin. Published posthumously, the book appeared under the pseudonym Domingo Gonsales, the name of its intrepid narrator. The Man in the Moone was inspired by recent discoveries in the field of astronomy by Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, William Gilbert, and Galileo Galielei. Godwin was particularly interested in the possibility of lunar habitation, and he wrongly believed that the dark spots on the surface of the Moon were seas. His work has many similarities to Lucian’s True History, a second-century A. D. science fiction novel that appeared in an influential English translation in the 1630s. Banished from his native Spain after killing a rival in a duel, Domingo Gonsales makes his fortune in the East Indies, but soon dreams of returning home. Struck with illness on his voyage across the Atlantic, he stops at the island of St Helena to recuperate. There, he discovers a species of swan that he incorporates into a state-of-the-art flying machine. Gonsales soon gains the strength to continue his journey, making his way past Tenerife. When an English fleet destroy his vessel, the adventurer takes flight with the help of his geese, rising through space until the Earth has all but disappeared. Before he knows it, Gonsales is standing on the Moon amidst what looks to be a utopian civilization unmatched in human history.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513217437
Publisher:	Mint Editions
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	Mint Editions (Scientific and Speculative Fiction)
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Francis Godwin (1562-1633) was an English divine, science fiction author, and historian. Born in Northamptonshire, he was the son of Thomas Godwin, Bishop of Bath and Wells. In 1583, he earned his master’s degree from Christ Church, Oxford and was appointed subdean of Exeter four years later. In 1590, he embarked on a tour of Wales with antiquarian William Camden. Godwin earned his Doctor of Divinity in 1595 and spent the next several decades working on such theological and historical tracts as Catalogue of the Bishops of England since the first planting of the Christian Religion in this Island (1601), which earned him an appointment as Bishop of the diocese of Llandaff. His posthumously published The Man in the Moone (1638) is considered an important early work of utopian science fiction that would influence generations of writers and political thinkers, including his grandnephew Jonathan Swift.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Francis Godwin and his Contemporaries: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Man in the Moone
Textual Notes

Appendix A: Francis Godwin, Nuncius Inanimatus (1629)

Appendix B: From Lucian of Samosata, The True History

Appendix C: From William of Newburgh, “On the Green Children” (1196-98)

Appendix D: Arguments about Aliens (Philip Melanchthon, Tommaso Campanella, John Wilkins)

Appendix E: From Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Discours of Voyages into the Easte and West Indies (1596)

Appendix F: From Mark Ridley, A Short Treatise of Magneticall Bodies and Motions (1613)

Appendix G: From Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621, 1628)

Appendix H: From John Wilkins, Mathematicall Magick (1648)

Bibliography and Works Cited

Editorial Reviews

A remarkable tale of lunar travel and utopian vision, The Man in the Moone was written by an English bishop sometime around 1630. Drawing on the latest news of travel and warfare from the Atlantic to China and on the latest theories in magnetism, astronomy, and navigation, the story offers an unparalleled window onto its intellectual and cultural world. It also had an impressive afterlife, inspiring celebrated works on imaginative travel and comic satire, earning a mention on some lunar maps, and inspiring writers such as Verne and Wells. This splendid edition by William Poole offers newly authoritative commentary with indispensable annotations on the novel’s sources and significance. Poole’s cleverly chosen appendices add rich materials from contemporary and subsequent texts.” — Simon Schaffer, University of Cambridge

“William Poole’s edition of The Man in the Moone offers a scholarly, accessible, and thoroughly contextualized presentation of this under-appreciated science fiction classic. First published in 1638 and influential for more than a century, The Man in the Moone absorbed a variety of literary, historical, religious, and scientific traditions. It playfully blends the new cosmological lore of the scientific revolution and the new geographical knowledge of the age of discovery with the artful fancy of an inventive imagination. This authoritative edition, with well chosen notes and appendices, presents the Bishop of Hereford’s fancy as the founding text of English science fiction.” — David Cressy, The Ohio State University

“Poole’s footnotes throughout are detailed and insightful, pointing the reader to Godwin’s source material and to appropriate scholarship. The introduction, footnotes, and bibliography engage the history of science, politics, literature, and many other fields. As such, this scholarly edition lends itself to use in courses and to scholarly work in a number of arenas. For scholars of [science fiction], this book will help further the ongoing investigation of [science fiction]’s colonial origins and narrative structures. It will also stir the old debate about when [science fiction] began and what textual elements qualify a text to be labeled as [science fiction].” — Patrick B. Sharp, Science Fiction Studies (July 2011)

From the Publisher