Morris, Ralph
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of the unidentified author (? -? ) of A Narrative of the Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel ... Taken from His Own Mouth, by Mr Ralph Morris [for full title and vts see Checklist] (1751), in which Daniel is shipwrecked on an Island south of Java, his industrious Robinsonade life being transformed when his companion turns out to be a woman, with whom he has eleven children; as the children grow, Sex issues are resolved by incest. One of Daniel's son Jacob's Inventions is a flying machine capable of Space Flight; father and son undertake a realistically-described Fantastic Voyage to the Moon, where they encounter an Alien civilization, and an ur-Food Pill in the shape of a leaf which relieves hunger and thirst. On their return to Earth, they discover on a Pacific Island a race of benign Monsters, the consequence of cross-breeding between humans and intelligent creatures from the deeps. Further adventures ensue, in Lapland and elsewhere; Daniel then returns to England to tell his tale to "Ralph Morris". The narrative vivacity of John Daniel has led to unconfirmed speculations that its author may be Robert Paltock. [JC]
"Ralph Morris"
born
works
- A Narrative of the Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel, a Smith at Royston in Hertfordshire for a Course of Seventy Years; Containing the Melancholy Occasion of his Travels; his Shipwreck with One Companion on a Desolate Island; the Way of Life; his Accidental Discovery of a Woman for his Companion; their Peopling the Island; Also, a Description of a Most Surprising Engine Invented by his Son Jacob, on which he Flew to the Moon, with some Account of its Inhabitants, his Return and Accidental Fall into the Habitation of a Sea Monster, with Whom he Lived Two Years; his Further Excursions in Search of England; his Residence in Lapland and Travels to Norway, from Whence he Arrived at Aldborough; and Further Transactions until his Death in 1711, aged 97: Taken from his own Mouth, by Mr Ralph Morris (London: M Cooper, 1751) [binding unknown/]
- The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel, a Smith at Royston in Hertfordshire for a Course of Seventy Years: Taken from His own Mouth, by Mr Ralph Morris (London: T Parker, 1770) [vt of the above with unregistered revs: binding unknown/]
- The Life and Astonishing Transactions of John Daniel, who Experienced the Most Surprising Adventures That any Man in the Universe Ever Met With (London: T Hurst, 1801) [chap: cut vt of the above: binding unknown/]
- Flying and no Failure!; Or, Aerial Transit Accomplished More Than a Century Ago, Being a Minute Descriptive Account of "a Most Surprising Engine" Invented, Constructed and Used by Jacob Daniel (Totham, Essex: Charles Clark, 1848) [chap: much cut vt of the above: binding unknown/]
- The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel (London: Robert Holden, 1926) [vt of the above: original text restored: edited by N M Penzer: hb/]
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