Futuristic Fiction from Hungary (but NOT from hunger!)
This kind of takes up where Paul Alkon leaves off.
I have Istvan Aggott, a Canadian of Hungarian extraction, taking notes for me on JOVO SZAZAD REGENYE (A NOVEL OF THE COMING CENTURY), which was published in two volumes in 1872 and 1874. There was a German translation in 1879 but, to the best of my knowledge, it has never appeared in any other language.
The first thing Istvan did, before I found out about him, was to post a translation of Jokai's foreword on a blog. It shows that Jokai was apparently NOT aware of previous futuristic novels like Julius von Voss' INI, Jane Webb's THE MUMMY or Felix Bodin's THE NOVEL OF THE FUTURE. If he was aware of Verne at the time, he wouldn't have considered that relevant: after all, how could he have known about PARIS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY?
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There's an account of the novel in Jess Nevins' FANTASTIC VICTORIANA, but very sketchy. The main plot does indeed center on Arpad, a Habsburg emperor of the future, establishing a benevolent dictatorship over the world with super aircraft made from a new element called Ichor (actually, from a material called hyalinchor, refined from that). But the inventor is a man named David Tatrangi, whose father was thrown in an insane asylum for talking about airships all the time. Financing comes from Severus, a "Negro Rothschild" from America. And David's fiancée is also his co test-pilot -- she's smart and she's brave (The other men involved in the project chicken out!). There are also such background details as a newspaper published in stenotype, art forgeries so good they can't be told from the originals, and everyday comforts like air conditioning.
According to Istvan, A NOVEL OF THE COMING CENTURY got mosty bad reviews when it first came out, although Jokai was already a revered novelist with a patriotic aura (the 1848 Revolution). Critics thought the whole idea of the novel was silly. But 20 years later, they were comparing it to Bellamy's LOOKING BACKWARD -- or to Verne, which was totally off the mark.
I've suggested to Istvan that he query Wesleryan University Press about this. Any other suggestions?
--J. J. Pierce
