The Apollo 11 mission landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. This list, showcasing Lunar travel in fact and fiction from Lucian to the present, has been compiled to honor this event.
The mechanics of space travel were secondary to the object of satire in most of the early interplanetary voyages. In the 19th century, writers like Chrysostom Trueman (i.e. H. Cowen), George Tucker and Jules Verne added more seemingly realistic technical methods of travel to their stories of space exploration, especially the use of anti- gravity metal, a popular method of propulsion into the 20th century. The rocket experiments conducted by Robert H. Goddard in America and scientists in Russia, England and Germany led to the perfection of the liquid fuel rocket engine, most notably used in the German V-2 rocket bomb in World War II. After the war, rockets launched satellites, animals and, ultimately, humans into space. The Lunar fiction by Jules Verne, Kurd Lasswitz, H. G. Wells, Otto Willi Gail, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and others inspired and influenced the scientists who made mankind’s dream to reach the Moon a reality.
Download PDF of THE LUNAR VOYAGE FROM THE 17th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT
London: Printed for the Author, and Sold by James Ridgway, York-Street, St. James-Square, and H. D. Symonds, Paternoster-Row, 1793. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-39 [40: blank], disbound. First edition. (#155176)
More Details about A VOYAGE TO THE MOON, STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO ALL LOVERS OF REAL FREEDOM
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1926. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-412, inserted frontispiece with illustration by J. Allen St. John, original blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in brown. First edition. (#151370)
More Details about THE MOON MAID
New York: Canaveral Press, 1962. Octavo, seven illustrations by Mahlon Blaine, cloth. Later edition. (#162042)
More Details about THE MOON MEN
Reading, Pennsylvania: Fantasy Press, 1951. Octavo, cloth. First edition, trade issue, first binding. (#112263)
More Details about THE MOON IS HELL!
London: "The Electrician" Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, [1895]. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi [vii] viii [1] 2-402 [403: blank] [404: printer's imprint] [405-410: ads], eight inserted plates and illustrations in the text by A. d'Aguilcourt, original pictorial blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in orange and silver, rear panel stamped in orange, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in green, all edges silvered. First edition. (#108528)
More Details about THE PEOPLE OF THE MOON: A NOVEL
[London: The Amalgamated Press], 5 April 1934 (number 126). Octavo, pp. 64 pp, printed in double columns, pictorial wrappers. (#142189)
More Details about "Invaded by Mars" in CHAMPION LIBRARY
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., [1961]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#136405)
More Details about A FALL OF MOONDUST
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., [1961]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#148621)
More Details about A FALL OF MOONDUST
Scarsdale, New York: Bradbury Press, [1977]. Octavo, boards. First U.S. edition. (#159083)
More Details about THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Washington, D. C. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1975. Large octavo, pp. [i-vii] vii-xi [xii] 1-313 [314-316: blank], illustrations, endpaper charts, pictorial cloth. First edition. (#162934)
More Details about APOLLO EXPEDITIONS TO THE MOON
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. Publishers, 1931. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-386 [388-392: blank] [note: final leaf is a blank], original orange cloth, front panel stamped in black and blind, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. (#161268)
More Details about BRIGANDS OF THE MOON
New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, [1961]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#137060)
More Details about MOON OF MUTINY
New York: Sears Publishing Company, Inc., [1931]. Octavo, pp. [1-2] [i-iv] v-vii [viii] ix-xi [xii] 1-303 [304-306] [note: first and last leaves are blanks], eight inserted plates with illustrations by R. V. Grunberg, original pictorial black cloth, front and spine panels stamped in red, top edge stained red, other edges untrimmed. First edition in English. (#146506)
More Details about BY ROCKET TO THE MOON: THE STORY OF HANS HARDT'S MIRACULOUS FLIGHT
Breslau: Bergstadtverlag, [1926]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-286 [287] [288: ad], original pictorial orange cloth, front, spine and rear panels stamped in black, top edge stained black. First edition. (#147188)
More Details about DER STEIN VOM MOND. KOSMISCHER ROMAN
Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, [1928]. Octavo, pp. [1-7] 8 [9] 10-200 [201] [202-204: ads], eight inserted plates with illustrations by Richard von Grünberg, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial gray cloth with chromolithograph illustration by Richard von Grünberg on front and spine panel, publisher's monogram on rear panel, top edge stained brown. First edition, first printing. (#139577)
More Details about HANS HARDTS MONDFAHRT. EINE ABENTEUERLICHE ERZÄHLUNG
Barcelona: Colección Aventura Editorial Juventud, S.A. [1930]. Octavo, pp. [1-5] 6-138 [139-143: ads] [144: blank], pictorial wrappers with color illustration by Logoria. First edition in Spanish. (#157220)
More Details about UN DISPARO AL INFINITO ... Versión Española de Adolfo Jorda
Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, [1956]. Large octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-8 [9-10] 11-159 [160], 19 full page and double page illustrations by Virgil Finlay plus a portfolio of early space art, pictorial cloth. First edition, first printing. (#160834)
More Details about THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SPACE TRAVEL ... Including an Album of Historical Space Travel Art Prepared...
New York: World Wide Publishing Co., Inc., n.d. [1930]. Small octavo, pp. [1-11] 12-187 [188-189: ads] [190-192: blank] [note: first and last leaves used as front and rear paste-downs], original decorated burgundy boards, front and spine panels stamped in gold. First U.S. edition, first printing. (#157014)
More Details about THE ROCKET TO THE MOON. FROM THE NOVEL "THE GIRL IN THE MOON" ... Translated by...
Boston: Gregg Press, 1979. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#140134)
More Details about DESTINATION MOON
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, [1947]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#127515)
More Details about ROCKET SHIP GALILEO
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, [1947]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#129696)
More Details about ROCKET SHIP GALILEO
Papiermuhle b. Roda S.-A. A. Weller & Co., 1902. Large octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2 [3] 4-239 [240: printer's imprint], 60 illustrations by Fritz Brandel (including eleven full-page illustrations on inserted plates, ten of which are in color), original pictorial blue cloth, front panel stamped in green, black, white and gold, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in blind, floral patterned endpapers. First edition. (#134655)
More Details about MAC MILFORDS REISEN IM UNIVERSUM. VON DER TERRA ZUR LUNA ODER UNTER DEN SELENITEN. ASTRONOMISCHE...
Sagan and Frankfurt: Sumptibus haeredum authoris, 1634. Small quarto (196 x 151 mm), two parts in one volume: pp. [1-4] 1-182 [183-184], title within typographical border, 6 woodcut diagrams in the text, woodcut head and tail pieces, modern full calf binding by Atelier Laurencet. First edition. (#157025)
More Details about SOMNIUM, SEU OPUS POSTHUMUM DE ASTRONOMIA LUNARI. DIVULGATUM À M. LUDOVICO KEPPLERO FILIO,...
Easthampton, MA: Small Beer Press, [2008]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#161528)
More Details about THE BAUM PLAN FOR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE AND OTHER STORIES
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1952. Octavo, boards. First edition. (#150145)
More Details about TAKEOFF
London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington Limited, 1889. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii-x [xi-xii] [1-3] 4-354 [355-356: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], 15 inserted plates with full-page illustrations by Georges Roux, 51 smaller illustrations, also by Roux, in the text, original pictorial red cloth, front panel stamped in gold, black and gray, spine panel stamped in black and gold, publisher's monogram stamped in black on rear panel, all edges plain, light yellow coated endpapers. First edition. (#137075)
More Details about THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON: A STORY OF THE BAYOUDA
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1953]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#163539)
More Details about SPACE PLATFORM
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1953]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#163538)
More Details about SPACE TUG
New York, San Diego, London: Harcourt Brace & Company, [1994]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First U.S. edition. (#146261)
More Details about PEACE ON EARTH. Translated by Elinor Ford with Michael Kandel
![#157974) UNIVERSE DAY [by] K. M. O'Donnell [pseudonym]. Barry N. Malzberg, "K. M. O'Donnell."](https://lwcurrey.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/157974.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1682009601)
[New York]: Avon, [1971]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. (#157974)
More Details about UNIVERSE DAY [by] K. M. O'Donnell [pseudonym
Madrid: Por Gomez Fuentenebro y Compañia, 1804. Small octavo, pp. [1-4] 5-182 [183-184: blank], early nineteenth-century full leather, marbled endpapers. First edition. (#155944)
More Details about VIAGE DE UN FILÓSOFO Á SELENÓPOLIS, CORTE DESCONOCIDA DE LOS HABITANTES DE LA TIERRA, Escrito...
Philadelphia, Toronto: The John C. Winston Company, [1953]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#157040)
More Details about ROCKET TO LUNA
[Battle Creek, Michigan and London, Canada: Kellogg Company, 1933.]. Octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-31 [32: ad], 22 color illustrations, pictorial wrappers, stapled. First edition. (#158285)
More Details about BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY
![#162935) LUNARIUM [text in Russian]. E. Parnov, L. Samsonenko](https://lwcurrey.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/162935.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1682013814)
Moscow: Molodaya Gwardia, 1975. Large octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-301 [302-303] [304: colophon], illustrations in color and black and white, cloth. First edition. (#162935)
More Details about LUNARIUM [text in Russian
Reading, Pennsylvania: Fantasy Press, 1951. Octavo, cloth. First edition. (#153653)
More Details about DREADFUL SANCTUARY
![#151358) THE MENACING SLEEP [by] Roy Sheldon [pseudonym]. used house pseudonym, Herbert James...](https://lwcurrey.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/151358.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1682008042)
London: Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), Ltd., [1952]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. (#151358)
More Details about THE MENACING SLEEP [by] Roy Sheldon [pseudonym
Nashville, Camden, New York: Thomas Nelson Inc., [1974]. Octavo, boards. First edition. (#131227)
More Details about THREADS OF TIME: THREE ORIGINAL NOVELLAS OF SCIENCE FICTION
London Sydney Auckland Johannesburg: Century A Legend Book, [1992]. Octavo, boards. First British hardcover edition. (#154038)
More Details about LUNAR DESCENT
New York: Ace Books, [1991.]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. (#156802)
More Details about LUNAR DESCENT
London: Lockwood & Co., 1864. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-204, inserted lithographed frontispiece, original decorated green pebbled cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, cream coated endpapers. First edition. (#154532)
More Details about THE HISTORY OF A VOYAGE TO THE MOON, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ADVENTURERS' SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES....
New-York: Elam Bliss, 128 Broadway, 1827. 12mo, pp. [i-iii] iv [5] 6-11 [12-13] 14-264, flyleaves at front and rear, original paper covered boards, printed paper label affixed to spine panel, all edges untrimmed. First edition. (#130783)
More Details about A VOYAGE TO THE MOON: WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY, OF...
New York: An Ace / Putnam Book Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1992]. Octavo, boards. First edition. (#137175)
More Details about STEEL BEACH
Newark, N. J. The Newark Printing and Publishing Company, 1869. Large octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-84, printed in double columns, inserted frontispiece, publisher's green wrappers printed in black. First edition in English. (#154553)
More Details about FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON: PASSAGE DIRECT IN 97 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES. From the French of Jules...
![#160143) SOCIALISM AND THE SCIENTIFIC MOTIVE ... [caption title]. Wells](https://lwcurrey.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/160143.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1682011979)
[London: Co-operative Printing Society, 1923.]. Quarto, single sheet, folded to make four pages. First edition. (#160143)
More Details about SOCIALISM AND THE SCIENTIFIC MOTIVE ... [caption title
[New Orleans: P. D. A. Enterprises, 1981]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. (#147040)
More Details about THE BIRTH OF A NEW REPUBLIC
[New Orleans: P. D. A. Enterprises, 1981]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. (#161275)
More Details about THE BIRTH OF A NEW REPUBLIC
London: Sidgwick & Jackson, [1969]. Octavo, boards. First British (and first hardcover) edition. (#163164)
More Details about BRIGHT NEW UNIVERSE
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1961. Octavo, boards. First edition. (#162858)
More Details about MIKE MARS FLIES THE X-15
New York: Meredith Press, [1968]. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii-ix [x-xi] xii-xiii [xiv-xvi] [1-3] 4-300 [301-304: blank] [note: last two leaves are blanks], cloth. First edition. (#85259)
More Details about TO THE MOON!
London: Michael Joseph, [1959]. Octavo, boards. First edition. (#155622)
More Details about THE OUTWARD URGE
New York: Ballantine Books. [1959]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First U.S. edition. (#156776)
More Details about THE OUTWARD URGE
