The first edition of this book is dated 1887. The edition used is dated 1887. The publisher was Blackie and Son, Ltd., London, Glasgow, Dublin. The number of pages is 376.

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General information

This book has a firm place in British literature, for it was one of the very first in the genre of science-fiction.

A German professor, living for some reason in London, takes on some adventurous and rich Englishmen, and sets off with them in an airship that is made of a material so light that it can rise vertically into the air if you pump out some of the air in its ballast tanks. It can also plunge into the depths of the ocean, because this special material, aetherium, is so strong that it can withstand water pressure to a great depth.

In this vehicle they visit the North Pole, having several adventures on the way, including finding the remains of a Viking ship. They visit a region in Africa where they depose the existing King and install a King who is more to their taste. Then they head off for Mount Everest, where they become the first persons to sit on the summit. Here again they have more adventures of a perilous kind.

It’s a good book, well worth reading, and I commend it to you. NH.

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Contents

Chapter I.
Professor Von Schalckenberg makes a startling Suggestion.

Chapter II.
The Realisation of a Scientist’s Dream.

Chapter III.
The “Flying Fish.“

Chapter IV.
The Novel Beginning of a Singular Voyage.

Chapter V.
A Submarine Excursion.

Chapter VI.
In Search of a Submerged Wreck.

Chapter VII.
En Route for the North Pole.

Chapter VIII.
A Superb Spectacle.

Chapter IX.
An Exciting Adventure and a Rescue.

Chapter X.
The “Humboldt” Glacier.

Chapter XI.
An Interesting Relic.

Chapter XII.
Another Startling Discovery.

Chapter XIII.
At the North Pole.

Chapter XIV.
Southward Ho!

Chapter XV.
A Troop of Unicorns.

Chapter XVI.
A Battle on Lake Tanganyika.

Chapter XVII.
A Native Chieftain’s Visit to Cloudland.

Chapter XVIII.
King M’Bongwele is temporarily reduced to Submission.

Chapter XIX.
King M’Bongwele turns the Tables upon his Visitors.

Chapter XX.
The History of certain Distressed Damsels.

Chapter XXI.
Retribution overtakes King M’Bongwele.

Chapter XXII.
An Adventure on the Top of Mount Everest.

Chapter XXIII.
How the Adventure terminated.

Chapter XXIV.
The Foundering of the “Mercury.“

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