The effects of Cavorite

Claude Shepperson

Photomechanical reproduction of a watercolour

H.G. Wells, ‘The First Men in the Moon,’ The Strand 20 (July–Dec 1900): 537.

Though visionary illustration is generally short on humour, Shepperson captures the levity of some of Wells’s writing in ‘The First Men in the Moon.’ This scene depicts the characters as they are lifted into the air by the effects of the anti-gravity Cavorite, but seem as if they were being carried away by the wind on a blustery day. Shepperson’s dynamic treatment of space and line contribute to the event’s explosive effect. Most of the later illustrations are much darker in tone as the half-baked explorers land on the Moon and engage with the Selenites. [Click on the image to enlarge it,and muse over the text for links.]