4 In fact, printing had not been invented when the grotto was sealed, and thus could not have been refused entry by the Galadian sectarians.
5 There is more than one statue titled Jeune athlète in the Louvre, including two replicas of bronze statues by Polykleitos from the fifth century B.C., one of which is presumably the intended reference. Prints of the painting by the Flemish baroque artist Justus Sustermans (1597-1681) of Valdemar, the son of Frederick III, King of Denmark were widely circulated in France in the late 19th century, but Arnyvelde might well have seen the original in the Galeria Palatina in Florence, the city in which Michelangelo’s statue of Bacchus is also to be found, in the Bargello.
6 The Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh.
7 In our history, Trieste—the equivalent of the story’s Traese—was under the rule of the Patriarchy of Aquileia during the early fourteenth century, and there was no such place as Senestria.
8 The first of the dirigible airships constructed by the Lebaudy brothers and Henri Julliot, nicknamed Le Jaune, was launched in 1903, but by 1905 it would have been replaced by the third model in the series.
9 The craft described is presumably one of Ferdinand Ferber’s powered gliders; it was in May 1905 that Ferber first achieved free flight in Europe in a powered aircraft.
10 Given the combination of topics, the lecturer might be Jean-Baptiste Perrin (1870-1942), who combined studied of Brownian motion in liquids with a strong interest in atomic theory; in 1905 he was a lecturer in physical chemistry at the Sorbonne.
11 The excavations in the Place Saint-Michel for the construction of the Metro tunnel that had to be extended under the Seine were carried out between 1905 and 1907; they attracted tremendous interest, by virtue of being in the very heart of Paris, and because of the impressive system of caissons used to construct the tunnel under the river. The iconic motif crops up again in Le Bacchus mutilé, when the protagonist of that novel is twenty years old in 1907.
12 The Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), the guiding light of a large workshop in which many of his relatives collaborated and in which Michelangelo was once apprenticed.
13 The popular engraver François Georgin (1801-1863) was largely responsible for the distinctive style acquired in the early 19th century by images d’Épinal—brightly-colored pictures, often with rhymed captions, hawked by colporteurs [itinerant pedlars] in the days when they were the only decorations that poor people could afford. Most were postcard sized, but they could be poster-sized, especially when bought direct from the factory in Épinal.
14 Ananké is the Greek mythological personification of ultimate destiny, to which even the gods are subject. Employed as a trivial noun, when it can be pluralized, the word usually refers to the literary contrivance that simulates the workings of fate in a story, especially a tragedy; it recurs within the present text with that special significance.
15 In the remodeled folktale included in Charles Perrault’s classic collection, usually known in English translation as “Hop-o’-my-Thumb.”
16 One is tempted to suppose that a line has been accidentally omitted from the original text here, and that the object that might have been substituted for the orange (an apple?), creating an alternative to which the substitution of Buddha for Jesus would then have been compared, has vanished from the text.
17 The Tarasque is a legendary chimerical monster of Provençal folklore. One of the stories accounting for its disappearance has Saint Martha of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, who is mentioned in the gospel as having given hospitality to Jesus, coming with her sister Mary to live in Provence after the death of Christ and taming the Tarasque, in honor of which a church was built over her tomb in Tarascon.
18 Armor in the Celtic name of Brittany, which has a rich folklore of the kind indicated here.
19 This reference is peculiar, given that Broceliande is the magical forest of Arthurian mythology, not a person. It cannot be a slip of the pen, because the name is repeated twice more in the context of the same list.
20 The eponymous hero of another of Perrault’s tales, usually known in English as “Ricky with the Tuft.”
21 Sic. The original text omits chapters 61 and 62 and jumps directly to 63.
22 The quotation is from Anatole France’s Monsieur Bergeret à Paris (1901).
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
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. The 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
-- J.-C. Dunyach. The Night Orchid;
-- J.-C. Dunyach. The Thieves of Silence
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
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
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
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
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
141. Georges Price. The Missing Men of the Sirius
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
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 2015 by Brian Stableford.
Cover illustration Copyright 2015 The Estate of Jean-Félix Lyon.
Visit our website at www.blackcoatpress.com
ISBN 978-1-61227-432-4. First Printing. September 2015. 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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