The Strange Voyages of Jacques Massé and Pierre de Mésange by Simon Tyssot de Patot ISBN 9781612273709, 161227370X instant download

The Strange Voyages of Jacques Massé and Pierre de Mésange by Simon Tyssot de Patot ISBN 9781612273709, 161227370X instant download

The text also includes an early appearance by the Wandering Jew with a visionary narrative attributed to the folklore of the polar continent, in which a character discovers a subterranean portal to "the abode of the blessed."

Finally, in Discoveries in the Region of the North Pole by the Reverend Father Pierre de Mésange (1720), Tyssot's eponymous hero discovers a secret underground kingdom inhabited by the descendants of African colonists who left their homeland four thousand years earlier, and spends several years recording their stories and fables.

Written in the early years of the 18th century these two novels constitute is a truly remarkable achievement, marking a highly significant watershed in the evolution of literary accounts of imaginary voyages, predating Jonathan Swift's satirical account of the travels of Lemuel Gulliver, published in 1726, and Jules Verne's classic Journey to the Center of the Earth by 140 years!