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(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]
born Newburyport, Massachusetts: 1799
died Saratoga, New York: 24 August 1870
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 19:54 pm on 6 November 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wood_george>