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What if you could fly backward through time, only to find history louder and stranger than you ever imagined?
In Enrique Gaspar’s The Anacronopete, inventor Don Sindulfo García builds a vessel that flies backward through time. With a crew aboard, the machine carries its travelers into earlier ages. But the past is no quiet place to visit. It is crowded, noisy and full of surprises that unsettle familiar ideas about history.
This Spanish novel from 1887 brings early science fiction together with humour and satire. Gaspar treats his invention as a vessel with a purpose, then lets the journey challenge the tidy past of school books. His wider view, shaped by his work as a diplomat and time in China, colors this quick, light adventure.
What you’ll discover
- A vessel against time Step aboard Don Sindulfo García’s invention and follow a crew into earlier ages.
- History beyond school books Encounter a past that feels crowded, strange and far from the orderly version you expect.
- Adventure with a smile Enjoy a comic journey that pairs its backward flight with a sharp look at history.
- A wider world Explore a story colored by Gaspar’s diplomatic life and his time in China.
- Early science fiction Discover how a Spanish novelist imagines time travel through a named machine and its crew.
Who will love it
For readers who like inventive adventure with a smile, early science fiction, comic chases through history, and narrators who talk straight to you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Progress takes a backward turn
- Time can supposedly be unwrapped
- Jealousy gives invention its purpose
- The rival comes aboard unseen
- Going backward can take people away
- China unsettles European scientific pride
- The search exposes a cruel obsession
- A talkative voice connects the adventures
- The past resists pride and control
Who’s who
- Don Sindulfo GarcíaA shabby, brilliant Spanish scholar who builds a time machine and uses it to pursue his young ward.
- BenjaminThe polyglot antiquarian and friend of Don Sindulfo, who longs to find the secret of immortality.
- ClaraDon Sindulfo's niece and ward, loyal to her late mother's wish and in love with her cousin Luis.
- JuanitaClara's quick-tongued maid and friend, who mocks the scholars and loves Pendencia.
- Captain LuisA Spanish hussar officer who wants to free his cousin Clara from her guardian and marry her.
- PendenciaLuis's resourceful orderly from Cordoba, who invents disguises, tunnels and schemes for love.
- Sun-chéA Chinese empress buried alive by her husband, who wants vengeance and remembers faces from the future.
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The Anacronopete
by Enrique Gaspar · 1887
A Spanish scholar leaves Paris in 1878 in a machine that flies backward through time, with rivals stowed aboard.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Time is motion; in stillness there is neither before nor after.”
In short
Paris, July 1878. Two million people pour toward the Trocadero to hear a shabby Spanish doctor say goodbye to his century.
The Anacronopete at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 45 min5 h 25 min fast, 8 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 96,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1887by Enrique Gaspar
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Paris waits for a step backward
The book opens with a crowd. All of Paris heads for the Trocadero in the summer of 1878. Shops are closed, omnibuses are packed, and people bid for rooftops and lightning rods to get a view.
The narrator explains why. Fulton, Stephenson and Morse only helped people reach tomorrow faster. Even the marvels of Jules Verne are new roads to the same place. A Spanish doctor will go toward yesterday, since nobody can trust history until someone has gone to look at it.
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Details
- First published
- 1887
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Gaspar, Enrique. The Anacronopete. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-anacronopete.
Gaspar, E. (2026). The Anacronopete. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-anacronopete (Original work published 1887)
Gaspar, Enrique. The Anacronopete. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-anacronopete.
@book{gaspar2026anacronopete,
author = {Gaspar, Enrique},
title = {The Anacronopete},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-anacronopete},
note = {First published 1887}
}
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What is The Anacronopete about?
It follows a Spanish scholar who builds a machine that flies backward through time. With his friend, his young ward, her maid and a hidden troop of soldiers, he visits Morocco, Han China, Pompeii and the age of Noah.
What does the word Anacronopete mean?
Don Sindulfo builds the name from three Greek words meaning backward, time and flier. It describes the machine's job, which is to fly backward through time instead of forward.
Is The Anacronopete the first time travel novel?
It is often named the first novel in which a machine carries travelers through time. Gaspar's story appeared in Spanish in the 1880s and is a comic adventure with parody of science lectures.
The author
Enrique Gaspar
1842–1902 · Spanish playwright and novelist
Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau was a Spanish writer and diplomat. He was born in Madrid in 1842 and died in Oloron, France, in 1902. He wrote plays and novels. His novel El anacronópete was published in 1887. His diplomatic work took him to China and France.
“Time is motion; in stillness there is neither before nor after.”
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