Title Page of Radlof's Book

This is the title page of Johann Gottlieb Radlof's book. In English the title reads:

The destruction of the great planets Hesperus and Phaethon, and the subsequent destruction and floods on the earth; along with new information about the mythology of ancient peoples.

Radlof suggested that a planet between Mars and Jupiter exploded after being struck by a comet. One fragment collided with the Earth, giving rise to the legends of Phaeton, deluges, and combat myths with cosmic monsters like Typhon. Another fragment, taking on a cometary orbit and appearance, encountered the planet Mars and later settled down into its current orbit as the planet Venus. Radlof tried to support his contentions with mythological evidence -- including some of the very same material that later catastrophists like Donnelly, Braghine, and Velikovsky later used.

Last modified by pib on January 25, 1997.