Riding the Moon Bats to Saturn

December 15, 2008

A marvelous volume from a genre of speculative lunar travel around the turn
of the 20th century:

Ville D’Avray, A. de. Voyage dans la lune avant 1900. Paris: Librairie Furne, Jouvet & Cie, 1892.

Starring M. Baboulifiche and his manservant, Papavoine:

They encounter lizards hiding in mussel shells:

A moon cyclops who steals their umbrella:

But then they take a ride on moon bats to Saturn:

where they encounter much more friendly natives:

Before, well … being eaten alive by lizards, but that image is a bit too ghastly to post.