The Comical History of the States and Empires of the World of the Moon, Written in French by Cyrano Bergerac. And newly Englished by A. Lovell, A.M.

Considered one of the very earliest science fiction stories, The Comical History of the States and Empires of the World of the Moon was the first of three satirical novels written by Cyrano de Bergerac. It was originally published posthumously in 1657 and, along with its companion work The States and Empires of the Sun.Arthur C. Clarke credited the book with the first description of rocket-powered spaceflight, and with the invention of the ramjet. The book is narrated in the first person by a character also named Cyrano. Cyrano attempts to reach the Moon to prove there is a civilization that sees the Earth as its own moon. He launches himself into the sky from Paris by strapping bottles of dew to his body, but lands back on Earth. Believing he had traveled straight up and down, he is confused by local soldiers who tell him he is not in France; they escort him to the provincial governor who informs him that it is in fact New France. The narrator explains to the governor that all matter is formed inside and expelled from stars, and that once the Sun has run out of fuel it will consume the planets and restart the cycle. He uses New France as evidence for this theory, claiming that it had only recently been discovered by European explorers because the Sun had only recently sent it to Earth. The narrator tries again to reach the Moon, this time with a flying machine that he launches off the edge of a cliff. Though the craft crashes, local soldiers attach rockets to it, hoping that it will fly to celebrate the feast day of St. John the Baptist. Dismayed at this use of his machine, the narrator attempts to dismantle it while the fuse is lit, but the machine takes off and sends him into space. He meets the Moon's inhabitants, who have four legs, musical voices, and fantastical weapons that cook game for a meal as it's shot. The Moon inhabitants give names made of musical notes. This is the first edition in English, part 1 only (of 2). It lacksthe engraved frontispiece, the upper corner of the last page is torn, with loss of page numbers but has been repaired. The text throughout is lightly browned, and there is occasional spotting or finger-marking. Minor tears along the page fore edges. It has been bound in 20th century library-type buckram, but there are no visible indications that it was ever ex-libris. In very good minus condition for a book 337 years old . FM.