The Second Life of Doctor Albin
Page 41
20 Goguettes were groups of amateur singers who met up in cafés, organized as formal societies, approximately equivalent (as the name implies) to American “glee clubs.”
21 The reference is not to the contagious disease to which the name “anthrax” remains attached today but to what would nowadays be recognized as a staphyloccocal infection.
22 The annotation is mistaken; given the time measurably elapsed since Dr. Albin declared himself to be forty-six at the time of making his fatal decision, “Charles Balin” must be forty-eight, perhaps even forty-nine.
23 La Périchole (1829) is an opéra bouffe by Jacques Offenbach, the story of which features two Peruvian street-singers too poor to afford a marriage licence; it includes the “tipsy aria” of which Rose Gontran here makes opportune use
24 The École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, established in 1765, was, and still is, France’s principal college of veterinary medicine.
25 Then, and still, the leading auctioneers of high quality artefacts in Paris.
26 The statue of the pioneering anatomist and histologist Xavier Bichat (1771-1802) by David d’Angers was erected in the courtyard of the École de Médecine in 1857.
27 Arnaud de Villeneuve (1238-c1311) was a physician and alchemist, one of the first founders of modern chemistry, in which capacity he is reputed to have discovered the distillation process that produces brandy from wine, and called the product eau-de-vie. The Church failed to suppress his activities, and condemned his writings in vain; the secret got out.
28 Auguste Vestris (1760-1842) was a famous French dancer at the Opéra whose name became legendary, although its application to the “elastic rubber man” is surely an insult to his memory.
29 I have left this name as it appears in the original, as the error might be deliberate, but the reference is certainly to Józef-Maria Hoëne-Wronski (1776-1853), a Polish mathematician and mystic philosopher whose aspiration was to revolutionize human knowledge with a theory of absolute (or ultimate) matter. Like the previous theorist encountered in Bicêtre by Dr. Iblan he was a great enthusiast for Pythagorean number theory. He worked in France for the last thirty years of his life attempting, among other projects, to build a perpetual motion machine and a machine for predicting the future. Most people thought he was a crackpot, the principal exception being the occultist who called himself Éliphas Lévi.
30 i.e., hydrogen peroxide.
31 The year in question must be 1836, counting back from the spring of 1883, when Dr. Albin was forty-six.
32 Anatole Deibler was the public executioner from 1885-1939, having inherited the job from his father at the age of twenty-one.
33 Given the date recorded on his birth certificate and the previous deduction that the year must have been 1836, Jacques Bilan was still a fortnight short of his fifteenth birthday in early December 1851, when Louis Napoléon carried out his coup, but the public prosecutor can surely be forgiven the slight inaccuracy.
34 The case in question was a murder committed in August 1882, when an old man named Ducros du Sixte was stabbed to death in his home. The murderer, arrested at the scene, who initially gave his name as Michel Campi but subsequently admitted it to be false, was extremely selective in answering the examining magistrate’s questions and refused to disclose his true identity. His trial, long delayed while the police attempted to discover who he was and why he had committed the murder, eventually went ahead without that information, and he was convicted and sentenced to death anyway. His defending advocate claimed that the accused had confessed his true identity to him, on condition that he had sworn not to reveal it, and it remained a mystery forever. The sensation caused by the case might well have played a part in suggesting the present plot, or at least its climax, to the author.
35 The author of the present text would, of course, have been aware of numerous previous literary dramas that conclude with the guillotining of the protagonist, often after harrowing tribulations and frequently with flagrant injustice, in the interests of making philosophical condemnations similar to his own. In adding this coda, he was doubtless aware of the fact that one of the most striking of those previous mordant dramas, Jules Janin’s L’ne mort et la Femme guillotinée (1829; tr. as The Dead Donkey and the Guillotined Woman) had prompted the author’s friend, Honoré de Balzac, to add an extra chapter following the poor woman’s body into the dissecting room.
36 “General paralysis of the insane” was a label invented to describe the neuropsychological effects of tertiary syphilis.
37 Literally, “the ass rubs the ass”—referring metaphorically to mutual flattery.
FRENCH SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY COLLECTION
105 Adolphe Ahaiza. Cybele
102 Alphonse Allais. The Adventures of Captain Cap
02 Henri Allorge. The Great Cataclysm
14 G.-J. Arnaud. The Ice Company
152 André Arnyvelde. The Ark
153 André Arnyvelde. The Mutilated Bacchus
61 Charles Asselineau. The Double Life
118 Henri Austruy. The Eupantophone
119 Henri Austry. The Petitpaon Era
120 Henri Austry. The Olotelepan
130 Barillet-Lagargousse. The Final War
103 S. Henry Berthoud. Martyrs of Science
23 Richard Bessière. The Gardens of the Apocalypse
121 Richard Bessière. The Masters of Silence
148 Béthune (Chevalier de). The World of Mercury
26 Albert Bleunard. Ever Smaller
06 Félix Bodin. The Novel of the Future
92 Louis Boussenard. Monsieur Synthesis
39 Alphonse Brown. City of Glass
89 Alphonse Brown. The Conquest of the Air
98 Emile Calvet. In A Thousand Years
40 Félicien Champsaur. The Human Arrow
81 Félicien Champsaur. Ouha, King of the Apes
91. Félicien Champsaur. The Pharaoh’s Wife
133 Félicien Champsaur. Homo-Deus
143 Félicien Champsaur. Nora, The Ape-Woman
03 Didier de Chousy. Ignis
166 Jacques Collin de Plancy. Voyage to the Center of the Earth
97 Michel Corday. The Eternal Flame
113 André Couvreur. The Necessary Evil
114 André Couvreur. Caresco, Superman
115 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 1)
116 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 2)
117 André Couvreur. The Exploits of Professor Tornada (Vol. 3)
67 Captain Danrit. Undersea Odyssey
149 Camille Debans. The Misfortunes of John Bull
17 C. I. Defontenay. Star (Psi Cassiopeia)
05 Charles Derennes. The People of the Pole
68 Georges T. Dodds. The Missing Link and Other Tales of Ape-Men
125 Charles Dodeman. The Silent Bomb
49 Alfred Driou. The Adventures of a Parisian Aeronaut
144 Odette Dulac. The War of the Sexes
145 Renée Dunan. The Ultimate Pleasure
10 Henri Duvernois. The Man Who Found Himself
08 Achille Eyraud. Voyage to Venus
01 Henri Falk. The Age of Lead
51 Charles de Fieux. Lamékis
108 Louis Forest. Someone Is Stealing Children In Paris
31 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega
70 Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega & The Shadowmen
112 H. Gayar. The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars
88 Judith Gautier. Isoline and the Serpent-Flower
163 Raoul Gineste. The Second Life of Dr. Albin
136 Delphine de Girardin. Balzac’s Cane
146 Jules Gros. The Fossil Man
57 Edmond Haraucourt. Illusions of Immortality
134 Edmond Haraucourt. Daah, the First Human
24 Nathalie Henneberg. The Green Gods
131 Eugene Hennebert. The Enchanted City
137 P.-J. Hérault. The Clone Rebellion
150 Jules
Hoche. The Maker of Men and his Formula
140 P. d’Ivoi & H. Chabrillat. Around the World on Five Sous
107 Jules Janin. The Magnetized Corpse
29 Michel Jeury. Chronolysis [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
55 Gustave Kahn. The Tale of Gold and Silence
30 Gérard Klein. The Mote in Time’s Eye
90 Fernand Kolney. Love in 5000 Years
87 Louis-Guillaume de La Follie. The Unpretentious Philosopher
101 Jean de La Hire. The Fiery Wheel
50 André Laurie. Spiridon
52 Gabriel de Lautrec. The Vengeance of the Oval Portrait
82 Alain Le Drimeur. The Future City
27-28 Georges Le Faure & Henri de Graffigny. The Extraordinary Adventures of a Russian Scientist Across the Solar System (2 vols.)
07 Jules Lermina. Mysteryville
25 Jules Lermina. Panic in Paris
32 Jules Lermina. The Secret of Zippelius
66 Jules Lermina. To-Ho and the Gold Destroyers
127 Jules Lermina. The Battle of Strasbourg
15 Gustave Le Rouge. The Vampires of Mars
73 Gustave Le Rouge. The Plutocratic Plot
74 Gustave Le Rouge. The Transatlantic Threat
75 Gustave Le Rouge. The Psychic Spies
76 Gustave Le Rouge. The Victims Victorious
109-110-111 Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius
96 André Lichtenberger. The Centaurs
99 André Lichtenberger. The Children of the Crab
135 Listonai. The Philosophical Voyager
157 Ch. Lomon & P.-B. Gheusi. The Last Days of Atlantis
167 Camille Mauclair. The Virgin Orient
72 Xavier Mauméjean. The League of Heroes
78 Joseph Méry. The Tower of Destiny
77 Hippolyte Mettais. The Year 5865
128 Hyppolite Mettais. Paris Before the Deluge
83 Louise Michel. The Human Microbes
84 Louise Michel. The New World
93 Tony Moilin. Paris in the Year 2000
11 José Moselli. Illa’s End
38 John-Antoine Nau. Enemy Force
156 Charles Nodier. Trilby * The Crumb Fairy
04 Henri de Parville. An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars
21 Gaston de Pawlowski. Journey to the Land of the Fourth Dimension
56 Georges Pellerin. The World in 2000 Years
79 Pierre Pelot. The Child Who Walked On The Sky
85 Ernest Perochon. The Frenetic People
161 Jean Petithuguenin. An International Mission to the Moon
141. Georges Price. The Missing Men of the Sirius
165 René Pujol. The Chimerical Quest
100 Edgar Quinet. Ahasuerus
123 Edgar Quinet. The Enchanter Merlin
60 Henri de Régnier. A Surfeit of Mirrors
33 Maurice Renard. The Blue Peril
34 Maurice Renard. Doctor Lerne
35 Maurice Renard. The Doctored Man
36 Maurice Renard. A Man Among the Microbes
37 Maurice Renard. The Master of Light
41 Jean Richepin. The Wing
12 Albert Robida. The Clock of the Centuries
62 Albert Robida. Chalet in the Sky
69 Albert Robida. The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul
95 Albert Robida. The Electric Life
151 Albert Robida. Engineer Von Satanas
46 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Givreuse Enigma
45 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Mysterious Force
43 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Navigators of Space
48 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Vamireh
44 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The World of the Variants
47 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. The Young Vampire
71 J.-H. Rosny Aîné. Helgvor of the Blue River
24 Marcel Rouff. Journey to the Inverted World
158 Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert. The Voyages of Lord Seaton to the Seven Planets
132 Léonie Rouzade. The World Turned Upside Down
09 Han Ryner. The Superhumans
124 Han Ryner. The Human Ant
122 Pierre de Selenes. An Unknown World
19 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 1. News from the Moon
20 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 2. The Germans on Venus
63 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 3. The Supreme Progress
64 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 4. The World Above the World
65 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 5. Nemoville
80 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 6. Investigations of the Future
106 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 7. The Conqueror of Death
129 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 8. The Revolt of the Machines
142 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 9. The Man with the Blue Face
155 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 10. The Aerial Valley
159 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 11. The New Moon
160 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 12. The Nickel Man
162 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 13. On the Brink of the World’s End
164 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 14. The Mirror of Present Events
168 Brian Stableford (Ed.). 15. The Humanisphere
42 Jacques Spitz. The Eye of Purgatory
13 Kurt Steiner. Ortog
18 Eugène Thébault. Radio-Terror
58 C.-F. Tiphaigne de La Roche. Amilec
138 Simon Tyssot de Patot. Voyages and Adventures of Jacques de Massé
104 Louis Ulbach. Prince Bonifacio
53 Théo Varlet. The Xenobiotic Invasion (w/Octave Joncquel)
16 Théo Varlet. The Martian Epic; (w/André Blandin)
59 Théo Varlet. Timeslip Troopers
86 Théo Varlet. The Golden Rock
94 Théo Varlet. The Castaways of Eros
139 Pierre Véron. The Merchants of Health
54 Paul Vibert. The Mysterious Fluid
147 Gaston de Wailly. The Murderer of the World
English adaptation and introduction Copyright © 2016 by Brian Stableford.
Cover illustration Copyright © 2016 Daniele Serra.
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ISBN 978-1-61227-467-6. First Printing. February 2016. Published by Black Coat Press, an imprint of Hollywood Comics.com, LLC, P.O. Box 17270, Encino, CA 91416. All rights reserved. Except for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The stories and characters depicted in this novel are entirely fictional. Printed in the United States of America.