Though H.G. Wells is widely regarded as having written the first, and undeniably most popular novel about a machine that traveled through time... the British Library's first ever science fiction exhibition next month will feature the work of Enrique Gaspar, whose book
El Anacronopete (The Time Ship) preceded Wells'
The Time Machine to print by seven years.
The
article on BBC News.co.uk tells us a bit about Gaspar's history, and about
El Anacronopete, a story about a group of people who travel in a flying timeship much more grandiose than Wells' single-seater machine. The book, written in Spanish, is due to be translated into English next year. The original language book is also available as an ebook through
Google.
