Kindermann, Eberhard Christian
Entry updated 28 November 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1715-? ) German [ie Saxon] translator and astronomer whose speculations about the existence of at least one moon orbiting Mars are presented in his nonfiction Vollständidge Astronomie ["Complete Astronomy"] (1744), the revision of an earlier work [for details including full titles see Checklist below]. Later that year – in Die Geschwinde Reise auf dem Lufft-Schiff nach der Obern Welt, welche jüngsthin fünff Personen angestellet ["The Speedy Journey by Airship to the Upper World, Recently Taken by Five People"] (1744; trans Dwight R Decker as The Speedy Journey 2014) [for further details again see Checklist] – he translated his claims into a fictional rendering of a Fantastic Voyage to Mars in a sail-driven Balloon. The five protagonists, who may have been in Suspended Animation for the duration of the trip, discover a race of long-lived humanoid Aliens on the new planet, who have used their longevity to become godlike. It has been argued that Kindermann's essayistic tale is the first example of Proto SF in the German language. [JC]
Eberhard Christian Kindermann
born Weißenfels, Duchy of Saxe-Weißenfels [now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany]: 1715
works (selected)
- Reise in Gedancken durch die eröffneten allgemeinen Himmels-Kugeln, auf welcher alle von Gott erschaffene Welt-Cörper, sowohl deren Namen, Natur und Eigenschafften nach gantz genau betrachtet, als auch wie alle diese Cörper in Cometen, und endlich in ein Nichts verwandelt werden ["Journey in Thoughts through the Revealed General Celestial Spheres, on which all the World-Bodies Created by God, their Names, Natures and Properties are Considered in Detail, as well as how all these Bodies are Transformed into Comets, and Finally into Nothingness"] (Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany: Wolfgang Deer, 1739) [binding unknown/]
- Vollständidge Astronomie, oder Sonderbare Betrachtungen derer vornehmsten an dem Firmament befindischen ["Complete Astronomy; or, Strange Considerations of the Most Distinguished Planets and Stars to Be Found in the Firmament"] (Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany: Wolfgang Deer, 1744) [rev vt of the above: binding unknown/]
- Die Geschwinde Reise auf dem Lufft-Schiff nach der Obern Welt, welche jüngsthin fünff Personen angestellet, um zu erfahren, ob es eine Wahrheit sey daß der Planet Mars den 10 Jul dieses Jahrs das erste Mahl, so lange die Welt stehet, mit eneim Trabanten oder Mond erschienen?; der untern Welt zu curieuser Gemueths-Ergoetzung und Versicherung dieser Begebenheit mitgetheiletdurch die allgemeine Fama ["The Speedy Journey by Airship to the Upper World, Recently Taken by Five People to Find out if it is True that the Planet Mars Appeared on the 10th of July this Year for the First Time with a Satellite or Moon as Long as the World Stands?; To the Lower World this Curious Delight and Assurance Communicated by the Angel Fama"] (Berlin: Radetzki, 1744) [binding unknown/]
- Beschreibung einer geschwindern Reise auf dem Luft-Schiff nach der Obern Welt: Als Beytrag zu de gegenwärtigen neuern Erfindung der Herren Montgolfier und du Rosier ["Description of a Speedy Journey on the Air-Ship to the Upper World: A Contribution to the Current New Invention of Messrs Montgolfier and du Rosier"] (Frankfurt, Free State of Frankfurt [now Germany]: Gerlach, 1784) [vt of the above: binding unknown/]
- The Speedy Journey (Northlake, Illinois: Vesper Press, 2014) [coll: containing trans by Dwight R Decker of the above: plus essays by John R Pierce and others: pb/]
links
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