"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" (1835) is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

published in the June 1835 issue of the monthly magazine ''

Southern Literary Messenger The ''Southern Literary Messenger'' was a periodical published in Richmond, Virginia, from August 1834 to June 1864, and from 1939 to 1945. Each issue carried a subtitle of "Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts" or some va ...

'' as "Hans Phaall -- A Tale", intended by Poe to be a hoax. The story is regarded as one of the early examples of the modern science fiction genre. The story traces the journey of a voyage to the moon. Poe planned to continue the hoax in further installments, but was pre-empted by the

Great Moon Hoax The "Great Moon Hoax", also known as the "Great Moon Hoax of 1835", was a series of six articles published in '' The Sun'', a New York newspaper, beginning on August 25, 1835, about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Mo ...

which started in the August 25, 1835 issue of the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'' daily newspaper. Poe later wrote that the satirical tone of the story made it easy for readers to see through the supposed hoax.

Plot summary

The story opens with the delivery to a crowd gathered in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

of a manuscript detailing the journey of a man named Hans Pfaall. The manuscript, which comprises the majority of the story, sets out in detail how Pfaall contrived to reach the Moon by benefit of a revolutionary new balloon and a device which compresses the vacuum of space into breathable air. The journey takes him nineteen days, and the narrative includes descriptions of the Earth from space as well as the descent to its fiery, volcanic satellite. Pfaall withholds most of the information regarding the surface of the Moon and its inhabitants in order to negotiate a pardon from the Burgomaster for several murders he committed as he left Earth (creditors of his who were becoming irksome). After reading the manuscript, the city authorities agree that Pfaall should be pardoned, but the messenger who brought them the text (apparently a resident of the Moon) has vanished and they are unable to restore communication with him.

Literary significance

Poe's story had an influence on, and is referenced in, Jules Verne's ''

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...

'', which can be seen as a retelling of the story. Verne acknowledged Poe as the creator of the "scientific novel" when he referred to him as ‘le créateur du roman merveilleux scientifique’. Critic Evan Lang Pandya describes "Hans Pfaall" as "the appropriately spurious initiation of the (nearly exclusively American) strain of hoaxing" and argues that the story is an ancestor of American satirical television. Poe later published a similar hoax, "

The Balloon-Hoax "The Balloon-Hoax" is the title used in collections and anthologies of a newspaper article by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1844 in ''The Sun'' newspaper in New York. Originally presented as a true story, it detailed Europe ...

", in the ''New York Sun'' in 1844.

References

External links

*
Publication history and versions of "Hans Pfaall"

Hans Phaall -- A Tale
, ''Southern Literary Messenger'', Volume 1, Issue 10, June, 1835, pp. 565-580 *
The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaal
a
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall, The 1835 short stories Journalistic hoaxes Short stories set on the Moon Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe Hoaxes in the United States Works originally published in the Southern Literary Messenger 19th-century hoaxes Works Progress Administration in Alabama Works set on balloons

Plot summary

Literary significance

See also

References

External links