Investigations of the Future
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INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FUTURE
Seven proto-science fiction tales by Pierre-Simon Ballanche, Victor Fournel, Alfred Franklin, Théophile Gautier, Arsène Houssaye, Jean Jullien & Maurice Spronck
adapted by Brian Stableford
cover by Mandy
The scientific commission charged by Your Excellency with exploring the ruins of Paris has remained silent for some time, leaving it to Admiral Quésitor to keep the ministry up to date. We did not want to send out our first report until the results obtained would not only be of a nature to satisfy public curiosity, but also to focus the attention of archeologists...
This is a new collection of seven French proto-science fiction stories devoted to explorations of the future, as imagined in the 1850s and early 1900s, translated and annotated by renowned science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford.
This collection includes fantastic explorations of Future Paris by Théophile Gautier, Arsène Houssaye, Victor Fournel as well as Alfred Franklin's visionary The Ruins of Paris in 4875 (1875), Maurice Spronck's devastating criticism of socialist utopianism, Year 330 of the Republic (1894), and Jean Jullien's An Investigation of the World of the Future (1909), in which a reporter interviews scientists whose discoveries are in the process of laying the foundations for the transformation of human society.
Contents:
Introduction
Théophile Gautier: Future Paris (1851)
Arsène Houssaye: Future Paris (1856)
Victor Fournel: Future Paris (1865)
Alfred Franklin: The Ruins of Paris in 4875 (1875)
Maurice Spronck: Year 330 of the Republic (1894)
Jean Jullien: An Investigation of the World of the Future (1909)
Pierre-Simon Ballanche: Hebal's Vision (1834)
Introduction and Notes by Brian Stableford.