Note: Translated by Lewis Mercier and Eleanor E. King, edited and abridged by I. O. Evans.. This translation begins: "(Preliminary Chapter) During the year 186—, the whole world was greatly excited by an unprecedented scientific experiment. The members of the Gun Club, a circle of artillerymen formed at Baltimore after the American war, conceived the idea of putting themselves in communication with the moon!—yes, with the moon—by a projectile."