The man in the moone and Nuncius inanimatus;

by Francis Godwin

English, Latin

78 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1657

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_...

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

17th century science fiction: how can you not love it? The main character, Gonsales, goes to the moon by harnessing a team of wild swans (how else??). En route he encounters a band of demons who give him food and wine which he later discovers to be dried leaves and "horse-piss," a sort of prefiguring of later stories of leprechaun gold and fairy food which aren't what they appear. On the moon he discovers the Lunars, a race of humanoid beings who communicate via singing. Particularly curious are the stones he brings back to Earth with him, one of which is a kind of any-gravity device.

Several other lunar voyage books were written about this time, including one by John Donne of all people in which he invents a "lunatic church" on the moon founded by Lucifer and the Jesuits. Have to track that one down.