Balloon Hoax, The

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 700+ words | Copyright

Balloon Hoax, The, story by Poe, published in the New York Sun (April 13, 1844) in the guise of an actual article of news. According to the author, the “jeu d'esprit …subserved the purpose of creating indigestible aliment for the quidnuncs during the few hours intervening between a couple of the Charleston mails.” It is an account of a fictitious crossing of the Atlantic in 75 hours (April 6–9) by eight men in “Mr. Monck Mason's Flying Machine …the Steering Balloon ‘Victoria’.” The balloon, inflated with coal gas, is supposed to have started from a place in north Wales, headed out over the ocean, and then been caught in a powerful gale that lasted two days, driving the craft at great speed until it was landed on Sullivan's Island, S.C.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Balloon Hoax, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Balloon Hoax, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BalloonHoaxThe.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Balloon Hoax, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BalloonHoaxThe.html

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