1 Although this name is spelled Hormidas on the title page, it is rendered Hormisdas in the text, presumably correctly, as there was a pope and saint of that name after whom the character is probably named.
2 Both published by Black Coat Press in The Strange Voyages of Jacques Massé & Pierre de Mésange, ISBN 978-10-61227-370-9.
3 John Cleve Symmes jr. (1780-1829) published his “Circular no. 1” describing his theory of the hollow earth and proposing that an expedition be mounted to discover the polar entrance thereto in 1818. Symmes’ theory is, however, much more complicated and ambitious than the one employed by Collin, envisaging five concentrically-arranged inner globes, and much vaster polar openings.
4 In fact, the report is question appeared in the “Arts and Sciences” section of the English Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres in 1818. The details Collin reports are obviously derived from that article, although he is more likely have encountered one of the secondary reports of it in the New Monthly Magazine or The Athenaeum. It was also reported in Germany in the Überlieferungen zur Gaschichte unserer Zeit in 1818 and quoted in a number of subsequent German publications, in which the author of the theory is referred to as “Professor Steinhauser,” but no further details are readily accessible.
5 This assertion is based on a report made by John Ross’s Arctic expedition of 1818, published in 1819 but actually referring to the previous year, relating to an isolated tribe living on the northern shore of Baffin Bay. This second-hand report is slightly exaggerated.
6 Author’s note: “It is well-known that daylight at the pole lasts for twenty-four hours.”
7 A Manseau (sometimes rendered Manceau nowadays) is a native of Le Mans. The word was best known in 1821 in the context of a popular saying alleging that a Manseau was “a Norman-and-a-half.” More than one contemporary dictionary includes elaborate but inconclusive discussion of exactly which supposed characteristic of Normans the people of Le Mans were being alleged to possess to excess.
8 I have translated “cheval marine” literally, because the term “sea-horse” is also used in contemporary English documents—including Benjamin Bragg’s account of his fictitious polar voyage—to refer to the morse, or walrus. This account of its ferocity is exaggerated.
9 Again, I’ve have translated “chien marin” literally, as that term for a seal was used in contemporary English documents.
10 It might seem surprising that this water remains liquid, given the cold is now intense, but perhaps not as surprising as the fact that the castaways lack fresh water in a region that can hardly be devoid of snow or glacier ice. The fault presumably lies with their ignorance, as the narrator is surprised much later in the text to discover that melted glacier ice produces fresh water.
11 We now know that Spitzbergen is an island in an archipelago, but in 1821, when its southern coasts were employed in summer as a temporary base by whaling expeditions, no one knew how far north the land extended, and the idea that it might extend across the pole to America was not implausible.
12 I have not translated this term because English does not call potatoes “pommes de terre,” so the analogy would not be retained.
13 The reference is to William Whiston’s A New Theory of the Earth (1737).
14 Author’s note: “These bridges were disposed so as to close the gates on being raised, and to open them in being lowered.”
15 Author’s note: “Barrels are not in use in that country, and goblets are made from the rinds of a kind of colocynth.”
16 English has no precise equivalent of this term, having narrowed the meaning of the equivalent “libel” considerably. It refers to printed sheets or short pamphlets containing insulting verses mocking highly-placed individuals.
17 Author’s note: “An idea can be formed of that manner of guiding boats by examining steam engines.” Steamboats were still a great rarity in 1821, when the novel was published, and had been even rarer in 1807, when this scene is notionally set.
18 Author’s note: “This institution corresponds to our jury; its members cast their votes with balls of various colors.”
19 Author’s note: “On that island, as in Europe, there was a hereditary nobility.”
20 Author’s note: “The original has O throughout, or the Great O.”
21 Author’s note: “The English author declares here in a footnote that he has been obliged to change the Banois words to make them rhyme in his language. The same thing has been done in this translation, the essence of the verses being retained while giving them a French vestment.” I have tried to do likewise, replacing the “original” English doggerel.
22 Author’s note: “The Banois word is dolla, which signifies ‘dog’ and ‘heart.’ As it would not present any idea, literally translated, one has been obliged to change it.” The author employs the French noun rate, which means a female rat as well as the spleen, reflecting, in distorted fashion, the supposed double meaning of the Banois word and setting up the subsequent wordplay. The fictitious English translator could not possibly have done likewise, so I have had to improvise.
23 Author’s note: “The English author posed this last question in Latin, without my being able to fathom the reason. These are his terms: Quis est liber aeternus? Qui caret initio et fine.” I cannot fathom the reason either.
24 Pierre Le Loyer (1550-1634) was a poet and linguist who studied Hebrew, Chaldean and Arabic, and also published Quatre livres des spectres ou apparitions et visions d’esprits, anges et démons se montrant sensiblement aux hommes [Four Volumes of Specters or Apparitions and Visions of Spirits, Angels and Demons revealing themselves tangibly to humans] (c1608), which would have been an important source for Collin’s Dictionnaire infernal.
25 The Jesuit missionary to imperial China, geographer and historian, Martino Martini (1614-1661).
FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY COLLECTION
105 Adolphe Ahaiza. Cybele
102 Alphonse Allais. The Adventures of Captain Cap
02 Henri Allorge. The Great Cataclysm
14 G.-J. Arnaud. The Ice Company
152 André Arnyvelde. The Ark
153 André Arnyvelde. The Mutilated Bacchus
61 Charles Asselineau. The Double Life
118 Henri Austruy. The Eupantophone
119 Henri Austry. The Petitpaon Era
120 Henri Austry. The Olotelepan
130 Barillet-Lagargousse. The Final War
103 S. Henry Berthoud. Martyrs of Science
23 Richard Bessière. The Gardens of the Apocalypse
121 Richard Bessière. The Masters of Silence
148 Béthune (Chevalier de). The World of Mercury
26 Albert Bleunard. Ever Smaller
06 Félix Bodin. The Novel of the Future
92 Louis Boussenard. Monsieur Synthesis
39 Alphonse Brown. City of Glass
89 Alphonse Brown. The Conquest of the Air
98 Emile Calvet. In A Thousand Years
40 Félicien Champsaur. The Human Arrow
81 Félicien Champsaur. Ouha, King of the Apes
91. Félicien Champsaur. The Pharaoh’s Wife
133 Félicien Champsaur. Homo-Deus
143 Félicien Champsaur. Nora, The Ape-Woman
03 Didier de Chousy. Ignis
166 Jacques Collin de Plancy. Voyage to the Center of the Earth
97 Michel Corday. The Eternal Flame
113 André Couvreur. The Necessary Evil
114 André Couvreur. Caresco, Superman
115 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 1)
116 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 2)
117 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 3)
67 Captain Danrit. Undersea Odyssey
149 Camille Debans. The Misfortunes of John Bull
17 C. I. Defontenay. Star (Psi Cassiopeia)
05 Charles Derennes. The People of the Pole
68 Georges T. Dodds. T
he Missing Link and Other Tales of Ape-Men
125 Charles Dodeman. The Silent Bomb
49 Alfred Driou. The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut
144 Odette Dulac. The War of the Sexes
145 Renée Dunan. The Ultimate Pleasure
10 Henri Duvernois. The Man Who Found Himself
08 Achille Eyraud. Voyage to Venus
01 Henri Falk. The Age of Lead
51 Charles de Fieux. Lamékis
108 Louis Forest. Someone Is Stealing Children In Paris
31 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega
70 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega & The Shadowmen
112 H. Gayar. The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars
88 Judith Gautier. Isoline and the Serpent-Flower
163 Raoul Gineste. The Second Life of Dr. Albin
136 Delphine de Girardin. Balzac’s Cane
146 Jules Gros. The Fossil Man
57 Edmond Haraucourt. Illusions of Immortality
134 Edmond Haraucourt. Daah, the First Human
24 Nathalie Henneberg. The Green Gods
131 Eugene Hennebert. The Enchanted City
137 P.-J. Hérault. The Clone Rebellion
150 Jules Hoche. The Maker of Men and his Formula
140 P. d’Ivoi & H. Chabrillat. Around the World on Five Sous
107 Jules Janin. The Magnetized Corpse
29 Michel Jeury. Chronolysis [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
90 Fernand Kolney. Love in 5000 Years
87 Louis-Guillaume de La Follie. The Unpretentious Philosopher
101 Jean de La Hire. The Fiery Wheel
50 André Laurie. Spiridon
52 Gabriel de Lautrec. The Vengeance of the Oval Portrait
82 Alain Le Drimeur. The Future City
27-28 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (2 vols.)
07 Jules Lermina. Mysteryville
25 Jules Lermina. Panic in Paris
32 Jules Lermina. The Secret of Zippelius
66 Jules Lermina. To-Ho and the Gold Destroyers
127 Jules Lermina. The Battle of Strasbourg
15 Gustave Le Rouge. The Vampires of Mars
73 Gustave Le Rouge. The Plutocratic Plot
74 Gustave Le Rouge. The Transatlantic Threat
75 Gustave Le Rouge. The Psychic Spies
76 Gustave Le Rouge. The Victims Victorious
109-110-111 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius
96 André Lichtenberger. The Centaurs
99 André Lichtenberger. The Children of the Crab
135 Listonai. The Philosophical Voyager
157 Ch. Lomon & P.-B. Gheusi. The Last Days of Atlantis
167 Camille Mauclair. The Virgin Orient
72 Xavier Mauméjean. The League of Heroes
78 Joseph Méry. The Tower of Destiny
77 Hippolyte Mettais. The Year 5865
128 Hyppolite Mettais. Paris Before the Deluge
83 Louise Michel. The Human Microbes
84 Louise Michel. The New World
93 Tony Moilin. Paris in the Year 2000
11 José Moselli. Illa’s End
38 John-Antoine Nau. Enemy Force
156 Charles Nodier. Trilby * The Crumb Fairy
04 Henri de Parville. An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars
21 Gaston de Pawlowski. Journey to the Land of the Fourth Dimension
56 Georges Pellerin. The World in 2000 Years
79 Pierre Pelot. The Child Who Walked On The Sky
85 Ernest Perochon. The Frenetic People
161 Jean Petithuguenin. An International Mission to the Moon
141. Georges Price. The Missing Men of the Sirius
165 René Pujol. The Chimerical Quest
100 Edgar Quinet. Ahasuerus
123 Edgar Quinet. The Enchanter Merlin
60 Henri de Régnier. A Surfeit of Mirrors
33 Maurice Renard. The Blue Peril
34 Maurice Renard. Doctor Lerne
35 Maurice Renard. The Doctored Man
36 Maurice Renard. A Man Among the Microbes
37 Maurice Renard. The Master of Light
41 Jean Richepin. The Wing
12 Albert Robida. The Clock of the Centuries
62 Albert Robida. Chalet in the Sky
69 Albert Robida. The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul
95 Albert Robida. The Electric Life
151 Albert Robida. Engineer Von Satanas
46 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Givreuse Enigma
45 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Mysterious Force
43 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Navigators of Space
48 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Vamireh
44 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The World of the Variants
47 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Young Vampire
71 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Helgvor of the Blue River
24 Marcel Rouff. Journey to the Inverted World
158 Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert. The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets
132 Léonie Rouzade. The World Turned Upside Down
09 Han Ryner. The Superhumans
124 Han Ryner. The Human Ant
122 Pierre de Selenes. An Unknown World
19 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 1. News from the Moon
20 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 2. The Germans on Venus
63 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 3. The Supreme Progress
64 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 4. The World Above the World
65 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 5. Nemoville
80 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 6. Investigations of the Future
106 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 7. The Conqueror of Death
129 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 8. The Revolt of the Machines
142 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 9. The Man with the Blue Face
155 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 10. The Aerial Valley
159 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 11. The New Moon
160 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 12. The Nickel Man
162 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 13. On the Brink of the World’s End
164 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 14. The Mirror of Present Events
168 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 15. The Humanisphere
42 Jacques Spitz. The Eye of Purgatory
13 Kurt Steiner. Ortog
18 Eugène Thébault. Radio-Terror
58 C.-F. Tiphaigne de La Roche. Amilec
138 Simon Tyssot de Patot. Voyages and Adventures of Jacques de Massé
104 Louis Ulbach. Prince Bonifacio
53 Théo Varlet. The Xenobiotic Invasion (w/Octave Joncquel)
16 Théo Varlet. The Martian Epic; (w/André Blandin)
59 Théo Varlet. Timeslip Troopers
86 Théo Varlet. The Golden Rock
94 Théo Varlet. The Castaways of Eros
139 Pierre Véron. The Merchants of Health
54 Paul Vibert. The Mysterious Fluid
147 Gaston de Wailly. The Murderer of the World
English adaptation and introduction Copyright © 2016 by Brian Stableford.
Cover illustration Copyright © 2016 Mike Hoffman.
Visit our website at www.blackcoatpress.com
ISBN 978-1-61227-487-4. First Printing. March 2016. Published by Black Coat Press, an imprint of Hollywood Comics.com, LLC, P.O. Box 17270, Encino, CA 91416. All rights reserved. Except for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The stories and characters depicted in this novel are entirely fictional. Printed in the United States of America.
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