“All aboard for the Moon!”

This good-natured early science fiction story describes a near future where humanity coexists with people from other worlds and postulates regular flights between the Earth and the Moon and technological advances like breathing devices that use solid pellets of compressed oxygen. It is a fun and thought-provoking read that will resonate with fans of Victorian-era stories, those seeking inspiration for classic steampunk scenarios, and anyone who enjoys seeing science and technology of the sort being developed by Edison and Tesla extrapolated on in works of fiction. It includes the detailed black-and-white illustrations that appeared in its original 1880 edition. 

Author Washington Gladden (February 11, 1836 – July 2, 1918) was a prominent American Congregational pastor and prolific writer who authored hundreds of articles, editorials, books, poems, and hymns. He was an early proponent of the Social Gospel movement and a leading member of the Progressive Movement, campaigning against Boss Tweed as religious editor of the New York Independent and serving for two years as a member of the Columbus, Ohio, city council. Gladden also opposed racial segregation and was probably the first major U.S. religious figure to support unionization of the workforce.