For my new edition of the book, I replaced the missing text and corrected all of the translation errors and factual mistakes (for instance, having Professor Arronax return from the “Badlands” of Nebraska instead of the original version’s “disagreeable territory”). The book also includes numerous maps, appendices, and a detailed schematic of the Nautilus.
From the Earth to the Moon and Round the Moon have been translated entirely from scratch, with thousands of words of text restored that have never before been seen in any other English edition. Like the other Verne titles, they contain extensive notes and appendices.
Journey to the Center of the Earth is another new translation that also includes maps and some three hundred notes. The new editions of Off on a Comet! and Purchase of the North Pole are based on vintage nineteenth century texts which have been carefully edited for errors and missing text. In addition to the Verne novels I’ve included a brand-new translation of Doctor Omega (1906), by Arnould Galopin. This will be the first time this classic novel about a trip to Mars has appeared in English complete and unabridged. The original illustrations are also included.
All of these books were designed for print editions. Adapting the book for ebook editions brought an entirely new set of problems, largely generated by the inherent simple nature of the electronic book. For example, much, if not all, of the special formatting and typography of the originals had to be abandoned. Illustrations could be retained, however, which pleased me since they not only added character to all the books, they were an intrinsic part of many. Leaving the art out of some of them would be like Alice without Tenniel.
In the end, I hope to have created not only a library of fascinating books that may be entirely new to many modern readers, but also a kind of monument to those pioneers who laid the foundation for space exploration. For I very much believe that while engineers and scientists made space travel a reality, it was invented by Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne. H.G. Wells, and their scores of less illustrious colleagues who not only bore the torch when science laughed at the possibility of leaving our planet, but inspired those who ultimately made that dream come true.
The Ron Miller Science Fiction Classics Collection
PART I: THE CONQUEST OF SPACE
The Archeology of Space Travel
(space travel books from the 18th and early 19th centuries)
The Life and Astonishing Adventures of John Daniel (1751), Ralph Morris, illustrated
Voyage to the Moon (1827), George Tucker
Journeys to the Moon (includes "The Moon Hoax" by Richard Adams Locke, "The Unparalleled Adventures of Hans Pfaall" by Edgar Allan Poe and "Journey...to the newly discovered Planet Georgium Sidus" by "Vivenair", illustrated
Trip to the Moon, Lucian of Samosata
Iter Lunaire (1703), David Russen
A Voyage to Cacklogallinia (1727), "Samuel Brunt"
Gulliver Joi (1851), Elbert Perce, illustrated
The Consolidator (1705), Daniel Defoe
Trips to the Moon
Daybreak (1896), James Cowan, illustrated
The Conquest of the Moon (1889), Andre Laurie, illustrated
Drowsy (1917), J.A. Mitchell, illustrated
The Moon Conquerors (1930), R.H. Roman
A History of a Voyage to the Moon (1864), "Chrysostom Trueman"
The Moon Colony (1937), William Dixon Bell, illustrated by Ron Miller
To the Moon and Back in Ninety Hours (1922), John Young Brown, illustrated
Pioneers of Space (1949), George Adamski
A Christmas Dinner With the Man in the Moon (1880), illustrated
Flights to and from Mars
Doctor Omega (1906), Arnould Goupin (translated by Ron Miller), illustrated
To Mars via the Moon (1911), Mark Wicks, illustrated
A Plunge Into Space (1890), Robert Cromie
A Trip to Mars (1909), Fenton Ash, illustrated
War of the Worlds (includes The Crystal Egg and The Things That Live On Mars), H.G. Wells. Illustrated
Gulliver of Mars (1905), Edwin Arnold
Across the Zodiac (1880), Percy Greg
Journeys to Other Worlds
The Moon-Maker (includes The Man Who Rocked the Earth) (1916), Arthur Train and Robert Wood
A Trip to Venus (includes "Daybreak on the Moon") (1897), John Munro
A Honeymoon in Space (1900), George Griffith, illustrated
The Brick Moon (includes "On Vesta" by K.E. Tsiolkovsky) (1869), E.E. Hale
A Columbus of Space (1894), Garrett Serviss, illustrated
Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven (1909), Mark Twain
Zero to Eighty (1937), "Akkad Pseudoman" (E.F. Northrup)
Aleriel (Voice from Another World, 1874 and Letters from the Planets, 1883), W.S. Lach-Szyrma, illustrated
A Journey in Other Worlds (1894), J. J. Astor. Illustrated
Deutsche im Weltall
(Germans in Space)
By Rocket to the Moon (1931), Otto Willi Gail, illustrated
The Shot Into Infinity (1925), Otto Willi Gail, illustrated
The Stone From the Moon (1926), Otto Willi Gail, illustrated
Between Earth and Moon (1930), Otfrid von Hanstein, illustrated
A Daring Flight to Mars (1931), Max Valier
Space Travel for Junior Space Cadets
Through Space to Mars (1910), "Roy Rockwood" (Howard R. Garis)
Lost on the Moon (1911)), "Roy Rockwood" (Howard R. Garis)
Rocket Riders Across the Ice (1933), Howard R. Garis, illustrated
Rocket Riders in Stormy Seas (1933), Howard R. Garis, illustrated
Rocket Riders in the Air (1934), Howard R. Garis, illustrated
Adrift in the Stratosphere (1937), A.M. Low, illustrated
Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne, translated and edited by Ron Miller. Illustrated
A Journey to the Center of the Earth, translated, annotated and edited by Ron Miller. Illustrated
Off on a Comet!, Jules Verne, edited by Ron Miller, illustrated
From the Earth to the Moon (includes Around the Moon), Jules Verne, translated and edited by Ron Miller. Illustrated
The Purchase of the North Pole, edited by Ron Miller, illustrated
Science Fiction by Gaslight
The End of Books (1884), Octave Uzanne, illustrated by Albert Robida
Under the Sea to the North Pole (1898), Pierre Mael, illustrated
Penguin Island (1908), Anatole France, illustrated by Frank C. Pape
The Crystal City Under the Sea (1896), Andre Laurie, illustrated
The Earth-Tube (1929), Gawain Edwards (G. Edward Pendray)
PART II: FIREBRANDS OF SCIENCE FICTION
Heroines
Three Go Back (1932), J. Leslie Mitchell
The Flying Legion (1920), George Allen England, illustrated
The Island of Captain Sparrow (1928), S. Fowler Wright
Under the Sea to the North Pole (1898), Pierre Mael, illustrated
Fugitive Anne (1904), Rose Praed, illustrated
Lentala of the South Seas (1908), W.C. Morrow
The Girl in the Golden Atom (1923), Ray Cummings
Maza of the Moon (1929), Otis Adelbert Kline
Bad Girls
Atlantida (1920), Pierre Benoit
Out of the Silence (1928), Erle Cox
Swordwomen
The Lost Continent (1900), C.J. Cutcliffe-Hyne
The Legend of Croquemitaine (1874), Ernest L'Epine, illustrated by Gustave Dore
Not Quite Human
The Beetle (1897). Richard Marsh, illustrated
Carmilla (1872), J. Sheridan LeFanu
The Lair of the White Worm (1911), Bram Stoker, illustrated
The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins (1751), Richard Paltock, illustrated
The Sea Lady (1902), H.G. Wells, illustrated
Angel Island (
1914), Inez Haynes Gilmore
The Future Eve (1926), Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, illustrated
The Coming Race (1871), Edward Bulwer-Lytton