A kidnapped lady is carried to the pole, crosses into another world through it, is made empress by its bear-men and fish-men, and organises its philosophy and its war. Margaret Cavendish published it in 1666, bound with her "Observations upon Experimental Philosophy", and it is the first work of science fiction written by a woman. The empress summons the Duchess of Newcastle herself as her scribe. Fifty-five plates of sea and shore by painters including Turner and Friedrich run through the book, matching its voyage to another world.