Mellonta Tauta

This is Edgar Allen Poe’s 1849 short story, “Mellonta Tauta”. It is presented as a collection of letters written by a woman during a balloon flight in 2848. Within the letters—directed to a personal friend—she compares contemporary science, philosophy, and customs to those of a thousand years previous, but frequently misinterprets and misunderstands the historic ideas and traditions to the point of absurdity. Hilarious and thought-provoking, “Mellonta Tauta” would make for a worthy addition to any bookshelf, and is not to be missed by fans of Poe’s seminal work. Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American author, editor, poet, and critic. Most famous for his stories of mystery and horror, he was one of the first American short story writers, and is widely considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Many antiquarian books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing "Mellonta Tauta” now in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.