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The Time Ship
A Chrononautical Journey
Translated by Yolanda Molina-Gavilán and Andrea L. Bell
Series: Early Classics of Science Fiction
Sales Date: 2012-07-02
Globe-trotting scientists pursue immortality and love in the world's first time machine
H. G. Wells wasn't the only nineteenth-century writer to dream of a time machine. The Spanish playwright Enrique Gaspar published El anacronópete—"He who flies against time"—eight years before Wells's influential work appeared. The novel begins at the 1878 Paris Exposition, where Dr. Don Sindulfo unveils his new invention—which looks like a giant sailing vessel. Soon the doctor embarks on a voyage back in time, accompanied by a motley crew of French prostitutes and Spanish soldiers. The purpose of his expedition is to track down the imprisoned wife of a third-century Chinese emperor, believed to possess the secret to immortality. A classic tale of obsession, high adventure, and star-crossed love, The Time Ship includes intricately drawn illustrations from the original 1887 edition, and a critical introduction that argues persuasively for The Time Ship's historical importance to science fiction and world literature.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Time Ship's Place in the History of Science Fiction
In Which It Is Proved That FORWARD Is Not the Byword of Progress
A Lecture within Everyone's Reach
Theory of Time: How It Is Made, How It Is Unmade
Which Deals with Family Affairs
Cupid and Mars
The Vehicle as School of Morality
Away!
Retroactive Effects
The Gradual Reduction and Ultimate Elimination of the Army
In Which a Seemingly Insignificant Yet Greatly Important Incident Takes Place
A Bit of Tiresome, Though Necessary, Erudition
Forty-eight Hours in the Celestial Empire
Nineteenth-century Europe Meets Third-century China
An Unexpected Guest
The Resurrection of the Dead before Judgment Day
Where All Is Explained and All Is Entangled
Bread and Circuses
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
Shipwrecked in the Sky
The Best One; Not Because It's Better but Because It's Last
Notes
Bibliography
ENRIQUE GASPAR (1842 – 1902) was a Spanish diplomat and pioneer of social theater. YOLANDA MOLINA-GAVILÁN is a professor of Spanish at Eckerd College. ANDREA L. BELL is a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at Hamline University. Molina-Gavilán and Bell are the coeditors of Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain.
"...[The Time Ship] inaugurates one of science fiction's most potent subgenres, and for this alone, it deserves to be remembered and honored. Moreover, the period illustrations by Francesc Soler are exceptionally charming."
~Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
""Yolanda Molina-Gavilán and Andrea L. Bell have assembled a compact yet comprehensive edition that situates Gaspar within the Western literature of time travel, delineating new paths of inquiry for critics and introducing the reader to an author of striking with and presence.""
~Pedro Ponce, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
""as an insight into the wider international background that accompanied the rise of scientific romance in Europe, this well researched and beautifully presented edition of the first time travel story involving a time machine is a worthy addition to any science fiction library.""
~Chris Pak, Foundation
""This is a lovely little slice of genre history. The Time Ship makes for an entertaining—and in places gleefully subversive—read.... Thanks are due to Wesleyan University Press for supporting its publication, and to all involved for bringing it back to light for modern SF fans.""
~Nic Clarke, Strange Horizons
""As the first English Translation of this humorous and important work, this book belongs on the shelf along with more famous works of science fiction from the late 19th century, as a reminder of the contributions of less-known but still important Spanish writers to this genre. Recommended""
~P.J. Kurtz, Choice
""[The Time Ship] inaugurates one of science fiction's most potent subgenres, and for this alone, it deserves to be remembered and honored. Moreover, the period illustrations by Francesc Soler are exceptionally charming.""
~Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
""a jolly romp with considerable humour and sly digs at both Spanish and French pretensions.""
~Nick Caistor, Times Literary Supplement
"What an amazing discovery! A time machine before H. G. Wells, and lively and witty romps through history before Doctor Who. Add Enrique Gaspar to the list of inventors of science fiction, and place him high."
~Andy Sawyer, Science Fiction Foundation Collection, University of Liverpool Library
"Gaspar's novel takes us back to science fiction's infancy, when emotion and intelligence were enough to evoke a sense of wonder, creating pure adventure without needing to resort to rivers of blood or extreme violence. Reading it is a surprising experience as well because, though almost 125 years old, The Time Ship proves that many of the themes we think of as current were already a concern to our great-grandparents.""
~Daína Chaviano, author of The Island of Eternal Love
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