Francis Godwin (1562-1633) was an English historian, bishop and writer. He is mostly known for his Seventeenth century science-fiction picaresque novel, The man in the Moone.
Short biography
Born in Northamptonshire, Francis Godwin was the son of Thomas Godwin, bishop of Bath. He went to Christ Church (Oxford) and was elected junior student in 1578, then became Bachelor of Arts in 1581 and got his Master of Arts in 1584. He became Subdean of Exeter in 1587. He then became Bachelor in 1594 and Doctor of Divinity. In 1590 he accompanies William Camden in a tour of antiquities into Wales. He then started working on the history of bishops in England, finally publishing in 1601 his “Catalogue of the bishops of England since the first planting of the Christian religion in this island”, which got him the diocese of Llandaff. In 1616 he publishes “Rerum Anglicarum…Annales” which tells the history of the reigns of Henry VIII, Mary I, Edward VI. Godwin remained bishop of Hereford until his death in 1633. According to Fuller, he was “a good man, grave divine, skilful mathematician, pure Latinist and incomparable historian.”
Godwin’s legacy
Francis Godwin will remain known for two major works. First, “Nuncius Inanimatus, published in Utopia” in 1629. And then, published in 1638 (after his death in 1637), the most famous The Man in the Moone. The latter, quickly translated into numerous languages, has influenced countless writers, including Cyrano de Bergerac or H.G. Wells, to name just the most famous. The Man in the Moone is considered by many to be the first science-fiction book. We all owe much to this dilettante bishop.
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The speedy Messenger
Galileo's sketches of the moon from Sidereus Nuncius, published in March 1610.