Back to entry: bell_geo_w | Show links blue

Bell, Geo W

(1838-1907) US soldier (though his claim to the rank of Colonel has not been confirmed), real estate speculator, diplomat (Consul for the United States in Sydney, New South Wales, 1894-1900) and author; his sf novel, Mr Oseba's Last Discovery (1904 New Zealand) may have been written as a real estate promotion. The protagonist meets a traveling inhabitant of the Hollow Earth, who has arrived on the surface via the Arctic Symmes Hole (see John Cleves Symmes); he describes the Eugenic Utopia he has left below, and explains his people's need to colonize a clement part of Earth. New Zealand is then described, a process which occupies most of the book. It turns out to be an ideal place to settle. [JC]

"Colonel" George William Bell

born Richmond, Virginia: 22 October 1838 [1832 has also been given]

died Sydney, New South Wales: 7 July 1907

works

links

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 22:16 pm on 16 April 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bell_geo_w>