59:
latitude, and stretching to the N. W., S. E., and S. W., beyond my knowledge; which land having never before been seen by any civilized people, and having been occupied for the full term of eighteen days by citizens of the said United States, whether it should prove to be in possession of any other people or not, provided they were not
Christians, was and of right ought to be the sole property of the said people of the United States, by right of discovery and occupancy, according to the usages of Christian nations.
50:
successfully sees off a mutiny. Upon debarking, Seaborn and his crew find an enormous animal resembling a mammoth and a large skeleton resembling a whale. Combined with the lush land, Seaborn thinks that he has made a discovery of incredible importance, only to be exceeded by the possibility of discovering the center of the Earth.
110:, the work is described as "upon the whole, dull and uninteresting. A great deal might have been made out of the subject, for there is at least as much to satirize as in the age of Swift. The author is, however, very good natured, and if there is nothing brilliant in his observations, there is nothing to offend."
75:
Though
Seaborn played down the extent of sickness and violence, hoping to set up a relationship with the Symzonians, he and his crew are banished and stripped of any sign that the center of the Earth exists. Fearing the corruption of the outside world, the leader of the Symzonians order them never to
72:
in armed conflict with their neighbors. It is revealed that the
Symzonians banish any of their people who exhibit the sort of vice which could lead to sickness. In fact, it appears as though those Symzonians who are banished formed a society on Earth, and subsequently populated the rest of the world.
67:
Though unable to communicate at first, the
Symzonians show an incredible capacity to learn English. The Symzonians have no weapons of any kind, and they have no knowledge of certain topics such as optics. That said, they do have advanced knowledge in other areas, such as flight. Small, and waif-like
71:
The
Symzonians are an extraordinarily virtuous race, and they are aghast when Seaborn informs them that there is any kind of sickness in the rest of the world. Furthermore, the Symzonians, and in particular their leader, are disgusted that Seaborn's ship has cannons and that Seaborn's people engage
63:
Travelling up the coast, Seaborn and his crew reach a point where the sky inverts, and they realize that the stars have changed; they are now in the center of the Earth. Venturing farther into the center of the Earth, Seaborn and his crew meet an ancient civilization who populate the center of the
58:
I first drew up a manifesto, setting forth, that I, Adam
Seaborn, mariner, a citizen of the United States of America, did, on the 5th day of November, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, first see and discover this southern continent, a part of which was between 78° and 84° south
53:
In celebration of their discovery, Seaborn has his blacksmith make a copper engraving of a hundred dollar bill in order to mark their claim on this newly discovered land. Upon burying the engraving, he has his men roll a large stone on top of it to mark the spot with the words "Seaborn's Land A.D.
49:
In order to prove the existence of a hollow Earth, first proposed by
Captain John Cleve Symmes, Captain Seaborn organized an expedition to the center of the Earth. Though ostensibly going "on a sealing voyage in the South Seas", Seaborn and his crew make landfall in the South Pole after Seaborn
102:"There is no reason to believe that the Internals will not be glad to eat flour, and wear Waltham shirtings, and smoke tobacco,” the reviewer propounded, adding that "should the Internals refuse to eat, drink, and smoke, as we direct, there then will doubtless be found ways to compel them."
64:
Earth called the
Symzonians. Upon meeting the Symzonians for the first time, Captain Seaborn is unable to elicit any reaction from a crowd of Symzonians until he kneels to pray, at which point the Symzonians cheer in celebration that their visitor was Christian and discourse begins.
76:
return. Seaborn, however, is adamant that they should return, and reveals that he is writing this account in order to raise funds and volunteers for a second voyage to the center of the Earth.
84:
The book has been described as the first true science-fiction book from
America, but at the time it was published, it received little attention. In its one prominent notice, reviewer
41:. The account by the fictional Captain Seaborn details a voyage from the United States in which Captain Seaborn leads a crew of sailors to the center of the Earth.
25:
published on
November 2, 1820, by Jonathan Seymour. It was written under the pseudonym Captain Adam Seaborn and its true authorship is uncertain, although
332:
166:
136:
analysis in 2020 by Paul Collins using the Java Graphical Author Attribution Program (JGAAP) also attributed Ames as the likely author.
322:
126:
printed a facsimile, the book's first reprinting since 1820, with a written introduction from J. O. Bailey. A 1975
337:
128:
327:
38:
30:
132:
article speculated that Ames could be the author, though stated the evidence for Ames is circumstantial.
90:
284:
68:
in stature, the Symzonians have enormous strength and are white to the point of near-translucence.
266:
258:
22:
250:
304:
95:
85:
143:
community radio station KRAB broadcast an eight-part, four-hour radio theater series.
316:
34:
212:
196:
133:
123:
26:
262:
140:
270:
238:
217:
The Literary Gazette; or, Journal of Criticism, Science and the Arts
108:
The Literary Gazette; or, Journal of Criticism, Science and the Arts
254:
98:
satire on colonialism which drolly proposed trade with Symzonians."
94:, reviewed the book in a manner described by Paul Collins as a "
29:
analysis performed by Paul Collins suggests that the author was
167:"A Quest to Discover America's First Science-Fiction Writer"
239:"The Authorship of Symzonia: The Case for Nathaniel Ames"
122:and Nathaniel Ames took place around 1965, when
8:
237:Lang, Hans-Joachim; Lease, Benjamin (1975).
190:
188:
186:
213:"Review of Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery"
152:
232:
230:
37:and was influenced by the theories of
7:
160:
158:
156:
14:
309:full text from Project Gutenberg
198:Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery
333:Fiction about the Hollow Earth
54:1817", engraved on the stone.
1:
306:Symzonia; Voyage of Discovery
18:Symzonia; Voyage of Discovery
195:John Cleves Symmes (1820).
354:
33:. The book is premised on
243:The New England Quarterly
35:the earth's being hollow
21:is a piece of fictional
285:"KRAB-FM Program Guide"
106:In a 1821 review from
104:
61:
129:New England Quarterly
100:
91:North American Review
56:
323:1820 American novels
118:A "rediscovery" of
338:Lost world novels
88:, writing in the
23:travel literature
345:
292:
291:
289:
281:
275:
274:
234:
225:
224:
209:
203:
202:
192:
181:
180:
178:
177:
162:
353:
352:
348:
347:
346:
344:
343:
342:
328:Nautical novels
313:
312:
301:
296:
295:
287:
283:
282:
278:
236:
235:
228:
223:(1): 6–8. 1821.
211:
210:
206:
194:
193:
184:
175:
173:
165:Collins, Paul.
164:
163:
154:
149:
116:
82:
47:
12:
11:
5:
351:
349:
341:
340:
335:
330:
325:
315:
314:
311:
310:
300:
299:External links
297:
294:
293:
276:
255:10.2307/364661
249:(2): 241–252.
226:
204:
182:
171:The New Yorker
151:
150:
148:
145:
115:
112:
86:Edward Everett
81:
78:
46:
43:
31:Nathaniel Ames
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
350:
339:
336:
334:
331:
329:
326:
324:
321:
320:
318:
308:
307:
303:
302:
298:
286:
280:
277:
272:
268:
264:
260:
256:
252:
248:
244:
240:
233:
231:
227:
222:
218:
214:
208:
205:
201:. J. Seymour.
200:
199:
191:
189:
187:
183:
172:
168:
161:
159:
157:
153:
146:
144:
142:
139:In 1976, the
137:
135:
131:
130:
125:
121:
113:
111:
109:
103:
99:
97:
93:
92:
87:
79:
77:
73:
69:
65:
60:
55:
51:
44:
42:
40:
36:
32:
28:
24:
20:
19:
305:
279:
246:
242:
220:
216:
207:
197:
174:. Retrieved
170:
138:
127:
119:
117:
107:
105:
101:
89:
83:
74:
70:
66:
62:
57:
52:
48:
17:
16:
15:
134:Stylometric
114:Rediscovery
39:John Symmes
27:stylometric
317:Categories
176:2020-11-29
147:References
124:Arno Press
263:0028-4866
80:Reception
120:Symzonia
96:Swiftian
45:Synopsis
141:Seattle
271:364661
269:
261:
288:(PDF)
267:JSTOR
259:ISSN
251:doi
319::
265:.
257:.
247:48
245:.
241:.
229:^
219:.
215:.
185:^
169:.
155:^
290:.
273:.
253::
221:1
179:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.