Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizatio (49 page)
Authors: David Standish
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BOOK: Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizatio
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54
Chicago in 1850 had a population of about 30,000; by 1900, despite an 1871 fire that burned down most of the city, that number was 1,698,575. Cleveland jumped from 17,034 to 381,768 in that same time, and Detroit went from 21,019 to 285,704.
55
The full opening line is: “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”
56
There were a few curmudgeonly counterexamples. One such was Samuel Butler’s
Erewhon
from 1872, which early readers supposed was written directly in response to
The Coming Race
—an idea that Butler is at pains to dispel in the preface to the second edition. Both deal with evolution and machines, but in Butler’s utopia (set on the surface, in a remote part of the world suspiciously like New Zealand), people evolved to produce marvelous machines, and then evolved a little more and
got rid of them all
when they began to fear that the machines themselves might evolve into monstrous mechanical creatures that would somehow do away with mere fleshy humanity. This fear of a mechanical takeover became a staple of science fiction thereafter.
Erewhon
from 1872, which early readers supposed was written directly in response to
The Coming Race
—an idea that Butler is at pains to dispel in the preface to the second edition. Both deal with evolution and machines, but in Butler’s utopia (set on the surface, in a remote part of the world suspiciously like New Zealand), people evolved to produce marvelous machines, and then evolved a little more and
got rid of them all
when they began to fear that the machines themselves might evolve into monstrous mechanical creatures that would somehow do away with mere fleshy humanity. This fear of a mechanical takeover became a staple of science fiction thereafter.
57
Mizora: A Prophecy
by Mary E. Bradley Lane (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), edited and with a Critical Introduction by Jean Pfaelzer. The cover provides an additional subhead: AN 1880s RADICAL FEMINIST UTOPIA.
by Mary E. Bradley Lane (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000), edited and with a Critical Introduction by Jean Pfaelzer. The cover provides an additional subhead: AN 1880s RADICAL FEMINIST UTOPIA.
58
The book is listed thusly in one bibliography of feminist utopian novels: Wood, Mrs. J. (pseud.)
Pantaletta: A Romance of Hesheland
(1882: American News Co., New York). A full listing of feminist science fiction, fantasy, and utopian fiction can be found at
http://www.feministsf.org/femsf/
.
Pantaletta: A Romance of Hesheland
(1882: American News Co., New York). A full listing of feminist science fiction, fantasy, and utopian fiction can be found at
http://www.feministsf.org/femsf/
.
59
This summary is part of a section about Prehistoric Fiction on Trossel’s extensive and wide-ranging website, EclectiCity,
http:/.trussel.com
.
http:/.trussel.com
.
60
Lasting between 1879 and 1881, the so-called “
Jeannette
expedition,” led by Lieutenant Commander George Washington De Long of the U.S. Navy, went in search of the North Pole via the Bering Straits with the goal of verifying Augustus Petermann’s “open polar sea” theory. Funded by newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett (whose
New York Herald
had also financed Stanley’s 1871 effort to find Livingstone in Africa) and popularly named for the small steamship bearing them, the
Jeannette
expedition spent two winters trapped in ice before the ship was crushed and sank. The diminishing number of survivors suffered horribly, crossing the Siberian arctic islands dragging boats and supplies for hundreds of miles—one of those expeditions rightly known as “ill-fated.”
Jeannette
expedition,” led by Lieutenant Commander George Washington De Long of the U.S. Navy, went in search of the North Pole via the Bering Straits with the goal of verifying Augustus Petermann’s “open polar sea” theory. Funded by newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett (whose
New York Herald
had also financed Stanley’s 1871 effort to find Livingstone in Africa) and popularly named for the small steamship bearing them, the
Jeannette
expedition spent two winters trapped in ice before the ship was crushed and sank. The diminishing number of survivors suffered horribly, crossing the Siberian arctic islands dragging boats and supplies for hundreds of miles—one of those expeditions rightly known as “ill-fated.”
61
A Short History of the United States
by Allan Nevins and Henry Steele Commager (New York: The Modern Library, 1945).
by Allan Nevins and Henry Steele Commager (New York: The Modern Library, 1945).
62
Cautiously, however, he didn’t give up his day job right away. In 1897, among his many stray professional interests—which is to say, attempts to stay afloat—he had started
The Show Window,
a trade magazine for window dressers, founding the National Association of Window Trimmers the following year, and continuing as editor of the magazine until 1902.
The Show Window,
a trade magazine for window dressers, founding the National Association of Window Trimmers the following year, and continuing as editor of the magazine until 1902.
63
From an article by Dale R. Broadhurst titled “The Sword of Theosophy Revisited” on the
ERBzine
website (
http:www.erbzine.com/mag11/1107.html
). Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s
ERBzine
site is a terrific resource for Burroughs fans, whether the interest ranges from mild to total fanatic. Articles, novel summaries, etexts, and tons of mouthwatering graphics scanned from most of his works—a true ERB treasure trove.
ERBzine
website (
http:www.erbzine.com/mag11/1107.html
). Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s
ERBzine
site is a terrific resource for Burroughs fans, whether the interest ranges from mild to total fanatic. Articles, novel summaries, etexts, and tons of mouthwatering graphics scanned from most of his works—a true ERB treasure trove.
64
From “Invitation to Adventure” in the first issue of Palmer’s
Hidden World
magazine, Spring 1961.
Hidden World
magazine, Spring 1961.
65
The Hollow Earth Insider,
http://www.thehollowearthinsider.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=20
. This site, maintained and largely written by Dennis Crenshaw, contains many articles on hollow earth and related phenomena.
http://www.thehollowearthinsider.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=20
. This site, maintained and largely written by Dennis Crenshaw, contains many articles on hollow earth and related phenomena.
66
For more of this weirdness, the website address is
http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa011199
. htm?once=true&terms=hollow+earth+nazi. You can also check out “Paranormal Basics,” “Lost Worlds,” and “Time and Dimension Travel” while you’re there.
http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa011199
. htm?once=true&terms=hollow+earth+nazi. You can also check out “Paranormal Basics,” “Lost Worlds,” and “Time and Dimension Travel” while you’re there.
67
Quoted in
The Hollow Earth Insider
at
http://thehollowearthinsider.com/news/wmprint.php?ArtID=19
.
The Hollow Earth Insider
at
http://thehollowearthinsider.com/news/wmprint.php?ArtID=19
.
68
Review of
Unknown World
by Jeff Berkwits at
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue110/cool.html
.
Unknown World
by Jeff Berkwits at
http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue110/cool.html
.
Copyright © 2006 by David Standish
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Standish, David.
Hollow earth : the long and curious history of imagining strange lands, fantastical creatures, advanced civilizations, and marvelous machines below the earth’s surface / David Standish.—1st Da Capo Press ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-306-81638-3
PN3433.6.S73 2006
809.3’8762—dc22
2006011035
First Da Capo Press edition 2006
First Da Capo Press paperback edition 2007
First Da Capo Press paperback edition 2007
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, or call (800) 255-1514 or (617) 252-5298,
or e-mail [email protected].
—
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