Tales of a Hollow Earth Tracing the Legacy of John Cleves Symmes in Antarctic Exploration and Fiction. a Thesis Submitted In
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Tales of a Hollow Earth Tracing the Legacy of John Cleves Symmes in Antarctic Exploration and Fiction. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Antarctic Studies in the University of Canterbury by L. I. Chaplow University of Canterbury 2011 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ ii Abstract ......................................................................................................... iv Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Symmes’ Theories – A Historical Setting of the Scene ...... 14 Symmes’ Theory – A System of Theories ................................................ 15 Possible Sources for the Theory – Symmes’ Uncle’s Library ................... 19 Probable Sources for the Theory ............................................................... 22 Contemporary Responses to the Theory ................................................... 29 Later Nineteenth-Century Responses ........................................................ 34 Modern Recognition of Symmes’ Theory................................................. 36 Chapter Two: Symmes’ Legacy In Exploration ......................................... 39 Jeremiah N. Reynolds – North Pole: South Pole ....................................... 41 The 1829 Voyage of the Seraph and the Annawan ................................... 44 The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 ................................ 47 Other Nations’ Southern Interests ............................................................. 52 Americus Symmes’ Re-Statement of His Father’s Theory ....................... 55 Chapter Three: Symzonia ............................................................................. 57 Reception of Symzonia ............................................................................. 60 Questions of Genre: Defining Symzonia ................................................... 65 Questions of Authorship ........................................................................... 71 Chapter Four: Symmes’ Legacy In Fiction ................................................ 79 Symmes’ Hollow Earth Defined ............................................................... 82 Literary Precedents of Symzonia ............................................................... 84 Symmes and Poe ...................................................................................... 89 Symmes’s Literary Legacy Beyond Poe ................................................... 94 Conclusion: Symmes’ Lasting Legacy ....................................................... 106 Works Cited ................................................................................................ 111 i Acknowledgements My interest in Symmes commenced some years ago as I began building an Antarctic reference library. His name and theory kept re-occurring, in both self-published and mainstream literature. This thesis is the result. Along the way I have met and corresponded with many helpful people including academics and rare book dealers. My thanks to them all, but special thanks to my supervisors; to Professor Bryan Storey for allowing me to undertake this work, and to Dr Elizabeth Leane for guiding me through the process. I am grateful and appreciative of the support given by many libraries, including Scott Polar Research Institute, The British Library, The New York Public Library and the U. S. Library of Congress. As well, several academics and rare book dealers have willingly supplied information, and exchanged e-mails in pursuit of some of the rare books and journal articles included in the references used here, many of which rare books are still available. Thanks also to a student at Yale University who obtained film copies and scans of editions held by the library, but not otherwise obtainable from a distance. No undertaking of this nature can be embarked upon without considerable emotional support, and in this instance I wish to acknowledge my wife ii Frances, and our family who critiqued various portions of text, and endured many esoteric discussions about Symmesian and hollow-earth literature throughout the preceding year. Throughout, they have offered unwavering support and encouragement. Lester Chaplow Thames, New Zealand [email protected] February 2011 iii Abstract This thesis examines the hollow-earth theories of John Cleves Symmes and seeks to recognise and restore both his memory and his legacy. I outline Symmes’ theory that the Earth is hollow and habitable within, and accessible via holes at the North and South Poles, consider the impact of this theory on the commencement of the United States Antarctic Exploration program, and demonstrate its lasting legacy within the genre of Symmesian hollow-earth fiction. Previous scholarship has been intermittent, disparate and oddly contextualised, often assigning both Symmes and his theory to the world of the “weird and wonderful.” In order to study Symmes’ legacy, I synthesise previous scholarship and show the continuing presence of his theory – at times unrecognised and unacknowledged – in fiction. Commencing with a description of the series of publications in which Symmes publicized his idea, this thesis looks at his theory’s reception, with a discussion of several books and letters published in response to the theory – from contemporary times through to the current day. In determining the legacy of his theory, rather than the theory itself, I look at possible and probable sources for Symmes’ idea, and place it on the iv continuum of natural philosophy and science from the thirteenth century so as to set Symmes’ announcement in the perspective of its time. I then address Symmes’ influence on the United States Congress, which culminated in the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Finally, I examine Symmes’ legacy in fiction, commencing with an extensive discussion of Symzonia , which some posit was authored by Symmes, and continuing through to the present. I find that while Symmes’ theory, and the ensuing debate about a hollow earth, may have advanced the speed with which the United States commenced Antarctic exploration, with time this exploration would probably have happened anyway. His greatest legacy is through the establishment of a body of hollow-earth fiction based around the fictional hole which now bears his name; “Symmes’ Hole” lives on in literature to the current day. *** Key words: John Cleves Symmes, Hollow earth, United States Exploring Expedition, Symzonia , legacy, early American fiction. v Introduction Recurring themes in Antarctic fiction include – separately or in combination – lost races, post war Nazi survival bases, flying discs, and a hollow earth. The weird and wacky theories that inspire these themes are found both in print, and on the Internet. In print, there has been hollow- earth fiction since the 1700s, with other novelists in the 1800s (most significantly, Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne) adding to that number, and the theme of a hollow earth in fiction has continued to the present day. Key in the words “hollow earth” to a Google search, and the response is about 284,000 items, 1 with suggested related searches of “hollow earth expedition,” “hollow earth ufo,” “hollow earth civilisation,” “voyage hollow earth,” “Richard E Byrd hollow earth,” and several others. The relatively modern notion of a hollow earth came about when John Cleves Symmes (5 Nov. 1780-29 May 1829) issued the first of a series of circulars/broadsheets on 10 April 1818, proclaiming his theory that the Earth was hollow and habitable within. 2 Simply put, he believed that the Earth was hollow and accessible by holes at both the North and South Poles. His later publications elaborate on this basic thesis. Symmes’ hollow 1 Search conducted 22 April 2010. 2 In addition to his multiple broadsheets explaining and expanding his hollow earth theory, he also wrote on other topics including Geological Principles, the original formation of the Allegheny Mountains, and the discovery of open seas at the Poles. 1 earth is variously described as being comprised of five, and at another time three, hollow concentric spheres, each accessible from the next, and with an inner light and heat source (an internal sun) which made life possible. Following on from this, Symmes suggested that the two auroras, Aurora Borealis to the north, and Aurora Australis to the south, were merely reflections of that inner light. He also claimed that animals which disappeared from the Arctic in winter had actually gone inside the Earth to escape the intemperate weather, and that when they re-appeared; their good condition was testament to the hospitable climate within the hollow earth. Despite his ardent promotion of it, Symmes’ theory might have sunk into oblivion were it not for the publication, shortly after the release of his broadsheets, of a novel called Symzonia (1820), written by “Captain Adam Seaborn.” The identity of the person behind this presumed pseudonym remains unknown. Many later commentators believe it to be Symmes while others argue strongly against this. The debate itself is a point of interest, and will be discussed in some detail later, but the novel’s authorship and intent are irrelevant to its influence and effect; coming as it did so soon after the initial release of Symmes’ first broadsheet, it was obviously based on Symmes’