Uri Lloyd John. Etidorhpa or The End of Earth

Illustrations by J.A. Knapp. — Second Edition. — Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896. — 418 p.Very good quality scan of the original book!Etidorhpa, or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey as communicated in manuscript to Llewyllyn Drury who promised to print the same, but finally evaded the responsibility which was assured by John Uri Lloyd, with many illustrations by John Augustus Knapp, is the title of a scientific allegory or science fiction novel by John Uri Lloyd, a pharmacognocist and pharmaceutical manufacturer of Cincinnati, Ohio. Etidorhpa was published in 1895.The word "Etidorhpa" is the backward spelling of the name "Aphrodite." The first editions of Etidorhpa were distributed privately; later editions of the book feature numerous fanciful illustrations by John Augustus Knapp. Eventually a popular success, the book had eighteen editions and was translated into seven languages. Etidorhpa literary clubs were founded in the United States, and some parents named their infant daughters Etidorhpa.The book purports to be a manuscript dictated by a strange being named I-Am-The-Man to a man named Llewyllyn Drury. Drury's adventure culminates in a trek through a cave in Kentucky into the core of the earth. Ideas presented in Etidorhpa include practical alchemy, secret Masonic orders, the Hollow Earth theory and the concept of transcending the physical realm.