Thomson, William
Entry updated 31 July 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1746-1817) Scottish author, in England from 1778, who also wrote as by Sergeant Donald Macleod, Thomas Newte and Andrew Swinton. He is of Proto SF interest for two connected titles [for full titles see Checklist below]: The Man in the Moon (1783 2vols), a Satire, clearly influenced by the work of Jonathan Swift, in which an earthling is taken to the Moon by its ruler, and shown various exemplary cultures hither and yon throughout the solar system; and Mammuth (1789 2vols), where the Man in the Moon tours Africa, concluding that Homo sapiens is progressing. [JC]
William Thomson
born Burnside, Perthshire, Scotland: 1746
died Kensington Gravel Pits, Middlesex [now London]: 16 February 1817
works (highly selected)
- The Man in the Moon; Or, Travels into the Lunar Regions, by the Man of the People (London: John Murray, 1783) anonymous [published in two volumes: binding unknown/]
- Mammuth; Or, Human Nature Displayed on a Grand Scale: In a Tour with the Tinkers into the Inland Parts of Africa, by a Man in the Moon (London: John Murray, 1789) anonymous [published in two volumes: binding unknown/]
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