The Moon Hoax of 1835

 

 

 

Library of the World's Best Literature by Charles Dudley Warner, Vol. XLIV (1896), Synopses of Noted Books, p.35

The Moon Hoax (1859) by Richard Adams Locke. [A Review]

 

     This pretends to announce the discovery of a vast human population in the moon. It’s contents appeared originally in 1835, in the New York Sun, under the title, 'Great Astronomical Discoveries lately made by Sir John Herschel,' increasing the circulation of that paper, it was said, fivefold. The skit was soon afterward published in pamphlet form, the edition of 60,000 being sold in less than a month.

     This account pretended to be taken from the supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of Science, and was most circumstantial and exact.The discovery was asserted to have been made at the Cape of Good Hope, by means of a new and vastly improved telescope invented by the younger Herschel.

     The article described beaches of gleaming sand; lunar forests; fields covered with vivid rose-poppies; basaltic columns like those of Staffa; rocks of green marble; obelisks of wine-colored amethyst; herds of miniature bisons, with a curious fold or hairy veil across the forehead to shield the eyes from the intolerable glare of light; troops of unicorns, beautiful and graceful as the antelope; and groups of some amphibious creatures, spherical in form, which rolled with great velocity across the sands. Moreover, the telescope discloses the biped beaver, which constructs huts like the human savage, and makes use of fire; a semi-human creature with wings; and a race about four feet high, and very unpleasant in appearance, which certainly has the gift of speech.

     After observations which fill many pages, the account goes on to explain that an unfortunate fire has destroyed the telescope, and that the expedition could not make the discoveries certainly at that time imminent.

     The sensation produced by this nonsense was wide-spread and profound. The press took sides for and against its authenticity, and for some time a large public credited the statements made.

     Of course the absurdity of the tale soon revealed itself, and then the whole matter became known as the ‘Moon Hoax.’ But the whole invention was set forth with the most admirable air of conviction, and the book takes its place among the best of Munchausenish tales.