Souchette, M
Entry updated 6 July 2026. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of the unidentified author (? - ) of An Aerial Voyage to the Moon, Performed in the years 1818-19 by M Souchette [for full subtitle see Checklist below] (1819 chap), a short Fantastic Voyage published (and presumably written) at a very early point in the evolution of what is referred to in this encyclopedia as Fantastika. It reads as possibly a spoof or hoax (see Edgar Allan Poe), but with enough laid-down narrative detail for some elements of the nascent Scientific Romance to be arguably discernible. The protagonist flies by Balloon to the Moon, finds that other French astronauts had briefly preceded him, marries a local king's daughter, and writes a description of the Moon's flora and fauna, which he has conveyed by a French astronaut back to Earth. [JC]
"M Souchette"
works
- An Aerial Voyage to the Moon, Performed in the years 1818-19 by M Souchette, Who Ascended in a Balloon from Weissenberg, in Germany, on the 24th of September, 1818, Giving an Interesting Account of the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants of that Planet, with a Particular Description of its Minerals, Precious Stones, Etc, Translated from a French Manuscript (New York: Charles N Baldwin, 1819) [chap: pb/nonpictorial]
links
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