Wood, George
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1799-1870) US government official in the Treasury Department and author; his Peter Schlemihl in America (1848) anonymous is derived from Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte ["Peter Schlemihl's Miraculous Story"] (1814; trans J Bowring as Peter Schlemihl 1824) by Adalbert Von Chamisso (1781-1838), a supernatural fantasy whose protagonist, having sold his shadow to the Devil, wanders the world in search of wisdom and knowledge, aided in his travels by seven-league boots. Wood's continuation of the tale contains some Satirical comments, mostly on Religion. He is of slightly greater sf interest for Future Life; Or, Scenes in Another World (1858; vt The Gates Wide Open; Or, Scenes in Another World 1859), which awkwardly combines afterlife fantasy and space travel to a vaguely delineated other planet. [JC]
George Wood
born Newburyport, Massachusetts: 1799
died Saratoga, New York: 24 August 1870
works
- Peter Schlemihl in America (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Carey and Hart, 1848) anonymous [hb/]
- Future Life; Or, Scenes in Another World (New York: Derby and Jackson, 1858) [hb/]
- The Gates Wide Open; Or, Scenes in Another World (Boston, Massachusetts: Lee and Shepard, 1859) [vt of the above: hb/]
links
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