First published in 1981 by editors Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G Waugh, this Genre Anthology contains fifteen Science Fiction stories, ranging in length from Short Story to Novelette. The introduction describes the Industrial Revolution as the first occasion in which technology would change scientific knowledge within a person's lifetime. Because of the rapid pace of technology and social change, this century saw the birth of Science Fiction.
Works in this anthology:
- "Introduction: The First Century of Science Fiction", by Isaac Asimov
- "The Sandman (1816)", by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816)
- "The Mortal Immortal", by Mary Shelley (1833)
- "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", by Edgar Allan Poe (1841)
- "Rappaccini's Daughter", by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844)
- "The Clock That Went Backwards", by Edward Page Mitchell (1881)
- "Into The Sun", by Robert Duncan Milne (1882)
- "A Tale Of Negative Gravity", by Frank R Stockton (1884)
- "The Horla Or Modern Ghosts", by Guy de Maupassant (1887)
- "The Shapes", by JH Rosny Aine (1887)
- "To Whom This May Come", by Edward Bellamy (1889)
- "The Great Keinplatz Experiment", by Arthur Conan Doyle (1885)
- "In The Abyss", by H. G. Wells (1896)
- "The Thames Valley Catastrophe", by Grant Allen (1897)
- "The Lizard", by CJ Cutcliffe Hyne (1898)
- "A Thousand Deaths", by Jack London (1899)
Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Science Fiction of the 19th Century provides examples of:
- Character Narrator:
- "A Thousand Deaths", by Jack London, has an unnamed person narrating the events of the story.
- "The Lizard", by CJ Cutcliffe Hyne, features a Gentleman Adventurer by the name of Chesney who tells the story as if it were printed in a newspaper and was an accounting of events that occured two years ago.
- "The Mortal Immortal", by Mary Shelley, has Winzy telling the story about how he became immortal and what happened to his long-dead love.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: "A Thousand Deaths", by Jack London, has the Character Narrator going through hundreds of deaths at the hands of their father and his two slaves. They experienced death by electrocution, asphyxiation, poison (only three categories, avoiding mineral irritants and corrosives, but including curare), being stored as dead for anywhere between four hours and three months between deaths.
- Disintegrator Ray: "A Thousand Deaths", by Jack London, has the protagonist create a disintegration field based on electrolysis and the hypothetical "apergy" (reverse of the gravitational force). By concealing the batteries which powered the device, the protagonist is able to eliminate the people who had imprisoned him for hundreds of different deaths. The device dissolved organic forms into a small pile of their constituent elements, turning most of the mass into ozone gas.
- Epigraph: "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", by Edgar Allan Poe, is prefaced by a short quote from Joseph Glanville, describing how ineffable God and Nature are."The ways of God in Nature, as in Providence, are not as our ways; nor are the models that we frame any way commensurate to the vastness, profundity, and unsearchableness of His works, which have a depth in them greater than the well of Democritus." Joseph Glanville
- Genre Anthology: Science Fiction stories only, restricted to options available from "the first century of science fiction"; the 1800s. Each story is prefaced with a short Biography of the author, and presented in chronological order of publication.
- Gentleman Adventurer: "The Lizard", by CJ Cutcliffe Hyne, features Chesney, who enjoys hunting most of all, but is also a spelunker who decided to explore a new cave system he found in August two years ago. He would've taken along his gameskeeper, but the man was too superstitious to go along, so Chesney went out to explore himself, discovering a dinosaur!
- Immortality Inducer: "The Mortal Immortal", by Mary Shelley, has an Elixir of Immortality created by the alchemist Cornelius Agrippa. It grants eternal youth and immunity to old age, but not against violent death.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: This anthology has Isaac Asimov's name preface the title, because his name would sell more books than Charles G Waugh or Martin H. Greenberg.
- Mayfly–December Romance: "The Mortal Immortal", by Mary Shelley, has a romantic relationship between Bertha, a normal human woman, and Winzy, a human who drank an Elixir of Immortality. The story continues past Bertha's death, and Winzy's decision to never fall in love again.
- Mega Maelstrom: In "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, the title refers to the Moskoe-ström, named by the local Norwegians. It sits still for perhaps fifteen minutes, when the tide changes. The rest of the time, it's a dangerous whirlpool which can be heard from leagues away, and local storms make the maelstrom worse.
- Minimalistic Cover Art: The original cover background is a bright red, with "the Best Science Fiction of the 19th Century" in white, and the rest of the text in yellow. The only text is the title and credit to the editors.
- Nameless Narrative: In "A Descent Into The Maelstrom", a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe, the characters are never given names. Islands, mountains, cities, and the Moskoe-ström are named, but only adjectives are used for human characters. This effect draws the reader to focus on the Man versus Nature Conflict in the story.
- No Name Given: "A Thousand Deaths", by Jack London, names none of the characters involved, not even the narrator of the events. With only one line of dialogue, there wasn't much opportunity to name the characters, either. The main antagonist is the protagonist's father, and is referred to only in that manner.
- Poisonous Person: In "Rappaccini's Daughter", an 1844 Short Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the title girl has been given a poisonous touch and breath by her father in a misguided effort to protect her from the evils of the world:Rappaccini: What mean you, foolish girl? Dost thou deem it misery to be endowed with marvellous gifts, against which no power nor strength could avail an enemy? Misery, to be able to quell the mightiest with a breath? Misery, to be as terrible as thou art beautiful? Wouldst thou, then, have preferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none?
- Shout-Out: In the introduction, Isaac Asimov mentions several works:
- The Odyssey, by Homer is the "first" Science Fiction story, assuming you defined it as formal literature that deals with the imaginative and unfamiliar because it has one-eyed giants, witches, and monsters.
- True History, by Lucian Of Samosata, is the "first" Science Fiction story, assuming you defined it as literature that was "science-fictionish". This travelogue features a protagonist who travels to the moon in a waterspout.
- Somnium, by Johann Kepler, is the "first" Science Fiction story, assuming you defined it as literature that used unusual scientific facts as part of the plot, such as a two-week long day and two-week long night on the moon.
- Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is the "first" Science Fiction story, assuming you defined it as showing the rapid change of society due to technological advancement.
- Five Weeks in a Balloon is notable because it was Jules Verne's first "great" success, making him the first author to rely exclusively on his Science Fiction stories for income.
- Stable Time Loop: The Ur-Example in fiction is "The Clock That Went Backwards", an 1881 Short Story by Edward Page Mitchell. Two students at the University of Leyden learn about a pivotal battle that occurred there 300 years earlier, then find themselves hurtled back to the battle and becoming key players in the outcome.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: "The Mortal Immortal", by Mary Shelley, has Winzy, who drank an Elixir of Immortality created by Cornelius Agrippa. Winzy drank the elixir due to a misunderstanding of its nature (he thought it would cure his love), and discovers that the major problem with immortality is that everyone he knows will die.
