Aerial battleship,1893, by Fred T. Jane. Photomechanical reproduction of a pen and ink drawing. This is another piece of apocalyptic fiction in which a warship is used by the anarchist ‘Brotherhood of Freedom’ and wreaks havoc from the skies. The plot and characters prefigure the effects of pulp fiction, but the illustrations by Jane are highly dramatic and effective. His deployment of grisaille adds a weird beauty to the image shown here as the airship menaces a ghostly landscape, weirdly illuminated in strafing beams projected by flying craft that resemble helicopters. The story was first serialized in 39 instalments in Pearson’s Weekly and then in an abridged volume form.
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Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.
Bibliography
Griffiths, George. The Angel of the Revolution, with illustrations by Fred Jane. London: Tower Publishing, 1893.
Created 26 March 2026