Motta, Luigi
Entry updated 14 November 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1881-1955) Italian author, prolific for many years, beginning with several tales in collaboration with the already famous Emilio Salgari (1862-1911). Much of Motta's sf output is not identified here, though La Principessa delle rose (1911; trans William Collinge as The Princess of the Roses 1919) gained some English-language readers for its Prediction of World War One, which he describes in grim terms. The Near Future Il tunnel sottomarino ["The Tunnel Under the Sea"] (1912) is typically exuberant. It features the construction of a transatlantic tunnel from New York to France against terrific odds (see Under the Sea), only for a saboteur to destroy it on its opening day, 11 May 1927. The survivors of this Disaster, in underwater gear, trek back to dry land, encountering a suburb of Atlantis en route. [JC]
Luigi Motta
born Bussolengo, Italy: 11 July 1881
died Milan, Italy: 18 December 1955
works (highly selected)
- La Principessa delle rose (Milan, Italy: Fratelli Treves Editori, 1911) [binding unknown/]
- The Princess of the Roses (London: Stanley Paul and Co, 1919) [trans by William Collinge of the above: hb/]
- Il tunnel sottomarino ["The Tunnel Under the Sea"] (Milan, Italy: Fratelli Treves Editori, 1912) [hb/LB]
- Il tunnel sottomarino ["The Tunnel Under the Sea"] (Milan, Italy: XX Società Editrice L'Italica, 1920s) [cut: first half of the above: hb/]
- L'isola di ferro ["The Island of Iron"] (Milan, Italy: XX Società Editrice L'Italica, 1920s) [cut vt: second half of the above: hb/]
- Il raggio naufragatore ["The Wrecking Ray"] (Milan, Italy: Sonzogno, 1927) [binding unknown/]
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