Other editions of book The Goddess of Atvatabar: Large Print

It is proper that some explanation be made as to the position occupied by the following story in the realm of fiction, and that a brief estimate should be made of its literary value.Literature may be roughly classified under two heads—the creative and the critical. The former is characteristic of the imaginative temperament, while the latter is analytical in its nature, and does not rise above the level of the actual. Rightly pursued, these two ways of searching out truth should supplement each other. The poet finds in God the source of matter; the man of science traces matter up to God. Science is poetry inverted: the latter sees in the former confirmation of its airiest flight; it is synthetic and creative, whereas science dissects and analyzes. Obviously, the most spiritual conceptions should always maintain a basis in the world of fact, and the greatest works of literary art, while taking their stand upon the solid earth, have not feared to lift their heads to heaven. The highest art is the union of both methods, but in recent times realism in an extreme form, led by Zola and Tolstoi, and followed with willing though infirm footsteps by certain American writers, has attained a marked prominence in literature, while romantic writers have suffered a corresponding obscuration. It must be admitted that the influence of the realists is not entirely detrimental; on the contrary, they have imported into literature a nicety of observation, a heedfulness of workmanship, a mastery of technique, which have been greatly to its advantage. Nevertheless, the novel of hard facts has failed to prove its claim to infallibility. Facts in themselves are impotent to account for life. Every material fact is but the representative on the plane of sense of a corresponding truth on the spiritual plane. Spirit is the substance; fact the shadow only, and its whole claim to existence lies in its relation to spirit. Bulwer declares in one of his early productions that the Ideal is the only true Real.In the nature of things a reaction from the depression of the realistic school must take place. Indeed, it has already set in, even at the moment of the realists' apogee. A dozen years ago the author of "John Inglesant," in a work of the finest art and most delicate spirituality, showed that the spell of the ideal had not lost its efficacy, and the books that he has written since then have confirmed and emphasized the impression produced by it. Meanwhile, Robert Louis Stevenson and Rider Haggard have cultivated with striking success the romantic vein of fiction, and the[10] former, at least, has acquired a mastery of technical detail which the realists themselves may envy. It is a little more than a year, too, since Rudyard Kipling startled the reading public with a series of tales of wonderful force and vividness; and whatever criticism may be applied to his work, it incontestably shows the dominance of a spiritual and romantic motive. The realists, on the other hand, have added no notable recruits to their standard, and the leaders of the movement are losing rather than gaining in popularity. The spirit of the new age seems to be with the other party, and we may expect to see them enjoy a constantly widening vogue and influence.The first practical problem which confronts the intending historian of an ideal, social, or political community is to determine the locality in which it shall be placed. It may have no geographical limitations, like Plato's "Republic," or Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia." Swift, in his "Gulliver's Travels," appropriated the islands of the then unknown seas, and the late Mr. Percy Greg boldly steered into space and located a brilliant romance on the planet Mars. Mr. Haggard has placed the scene of his romance "She" in the unexplored interior of Africa. After all, if imagination be our fellow-traveller, we might well discover El Dorados within easy reach of our own townships.

A great work of fantastical adventure-of a world within our worldAt the end of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century fantastical tales of other worlds and times began to grip the imaginations of the reading public, and the prolific output of authors such as Verne, Rice Burroughs, Haggard and Howard propelled the authors to public recognition and their works to abiding popularity. These were among the best known authors of this genre at the time but they were by no means alone in their endeavours or in their choice of subject matter. Off world destinations-whether real or imagined-were popular as were adventures set in fictional pasts and the exotic legendary cultures of the Atlantean age. Having considered the potentials of time and space it was perhaps inevitable that authors would turn their imaginations to the possibilities of a world within our own-a vast landscape hidden from view, alien in flora, fauna and cultures, peopled by strange beings and races often at war with each other. Fortunately, they also usually included the capacity to produce human women of incomparable grace, beauty and an aversion to full body covering. The many enthusiasts of this type of fiction will be pleased to discover that this substantial novel is one of the above and a roller coaster adventure to the last turn of the page. Join this resourceful band of adventurers as they brave the ice to enter a lush and verdant world, altogether primitive and yet able to muster technology in advance of that yet known upon the surface. Often recognised as one of the finest examples of its kind, the enticing and other-worldly land of 'The Goddess of Atvatabar' lies waiting for you to discover for yourself. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket for collectors.

Written in 1891, The Goddess of Atvatabar is a hollow Earth novel in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar novels. Or rather, Pellucidar is in the tradition of The Goddess of Atvatabar, since the latter was written twenty years earlier! Lexington White, upon inheriting the wealth of his rich father, wants to use his newfound fortune to become the first explorer to reach the North Pole. He sets forth with his hired crew in the Polar King, a massive steam ship. But instead of reaching their destination, they sail through an opening in the polar region, and discover a vast new world inside the hollow Earth. There, in the utopian country of Atvatabar, where the people strive to perfect both body and spirit, Lexington falls in love with a celibate living goddess, and in doing so, ignites a religious revolution that sparks an all-out civil war, putting the interior world in danger. Filled with adventure, philosophical reflection, romance, and sprawling sea and aerial battles, The Goddess of Atvatabar is a classic of 19th-century Utopian fantasy literature.

American millionaire Lexington White sails, on a ship of his own design, to find the North Pole. Instead he finds an opening to the Earth's interior which is populated by an advanced civilization. He and his crew are received as honored guests by the King of Atvatabar and take a tour of the country marveling at its technological, natural and spiritual wonders. White falls in love with Lyone, a young woman who is the incarnation of the supreme goddess of Atvatabar. Their sacrilegious relationship produces a crisis that leads to civil war. This is William R. Bradshaw's only novel and its story has strong influences of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and Rider Haggard's "She". However, Bradshaw has a wilder imagination that leads him to describe a fusion of technology and spiritualism in machines such as the "Sacred Locomotive", various ecstatic rituals, buildings and clothes of exquisite design and unusual fusions of plant and animal life, in a prose that becomes a kind of Victorian Hypnerotomachia. Richly illustrated by various artists, The Goddess of Atvatabar is a unique specimen of 19th century science fiction offering a rare glimpse to the techno-spiritual Victorian imaginary.

A great work of fantastical adventure-of a world within our worldAt the end of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century fantastical tales of other worlds and times began to grip the imaginations of the reading public, and the prolific output of authors such as Verne, Rice Burroughs, Haggard and Howard propelled the authors to public recognition and their works to abiding popularity. These were among the best known authors of this genre at the time but they were by no means alone in their endeavours or in their choice of subject matter. Off world destinations-whether real or imagined-were popular as were adventures set in fictional pasts and the exotic legendary cultures of the Atlantean age. Having considered the potentials of time and space it was perhaps inevitable that authors would turn their imaginations to the possibilities of a world within our own-a vast landscape hidden from view, alien in flora, fauna and cultures, peopled by strange beings and races often at war with each other. Fortunately, they also usually included the capacity to produce human women of incomparable grace, beauty and an aversion to full body covering. The many enthusiasts of this type of fiction will be pleased to discover that this substantial novel is one of the above and a roller coaster adventure to the last turn of the page. Join this resourceful band of adventurers as they brave the ice to enter a lush and verdant world, altogether primitive and yet able to muster technology in advance of that yet known upon the surface. Often recognised as one of the finest examples of its kind, the enticing and other-worldly land of 'The Goddess of Atvatabar' lies waiting for you to discover for yourself. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket for collectors.

We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive classic literature collection. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts, We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. Also in books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy. We use state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.William Richard Bradshaw (1851–1927) was an Irish-born American author, editor and lecturer who served as president of the New York Anti-Vivisection Society. He is known best for his science fiction-type novel The Goddess of Atvatabar.