Text: John H. Ingram, “The Lunar Hoax,” Athenaeum (London, UK), whole no. 2547, August 19, 1876, pp. 241-242

[page 241, column 3, continued:]

THE LUNAR HOAX.

Ir is with no desire to detract from the interest of Mr. Proctor's paper ‘On the Lunar Hoax,’ in this month's number of the Belgravia Magazine, that I venture to supplement it by a few notes. The author of this amusing jeu d’esprit was not Richard Alton Locke, as stated by Mr. Proctor, but a decidedly clever journalist, named Richard Adams Locke, editor of the first penny newspaper that ever displayed any vitality. Mr. Locke, a lineal descendant, so it is alleged, of the author of the famous ‘ Essay on the Human arg em: after having established the New York Sun (the newspaper alluded to) by the publication in its columns of ‘The Moon Hoax,’ directed his imaginative talents to the composition of two other —— upon public credulity. The first, a pretended discovery of the concluding MSS. of Mungo Park's adventures in Africa, although meritorious, did not excite much attention; but the second (in which he was assisted by an advocate of magnetic remedies), pointing out magnetism as the primum mobile of the Universe, received the favourable consideration of the United States Congress. Turning [page 242:] from its author to the ‘Hoax’ itself, the following data as to its origin are interesting. In the Southern Literary Messenger for June, 1835, Edgar Poe published his story of ‘Hans Pfaall,’ a journey to the Moon. Three week's later Mr. Locke commenced the publication of his ‘Moon Hoax’ in the Sun. “No sooner had I seen the paper,” remarks Poe, “than I understood the jest, which not for a moment could I doubt had been suggested by my own jeu d’esprit. Some of the New York journals (the Transcript among others) saw the matter in the same light, and published the ‘Moon Story’ side by side with ‘Hans Pfaall,’ thinking that the author of the one had been detected in the author of the other. . . . Immediately on the completion of the ‘Moon Story’ (it was three or four days in getting finished) I wrote an examination of its claims to. credit, showing distinctly its fictitious character, but was astonished at finding that I could obtain few listeners, so really eager were all to be deceived, so magical were the charms of a style that served as the vehicle of an exceedingly clumsy invention.”

For Poe's analysis and demolition of the absurdities of Locke's ‘Moon Story’ Mr. Proctor and his readers must refer to Poe's works, vol. i. pp. 88-91 and vol. iv. pp. 485-490, Edinburgh edition. It may be added, however, that the publication of the ‘Lunar Hoax’ caused the author of ‘The Raven’ to forego the second half of his tale of ‘Hans Pfaall,’ and thus lost to the world an account of his adventures in — where he would have been so well at home — the Moon.   JOHN H. INGRAM.