The Story of Cirrus Flux (26 page)

When I started this book I knew very little about the eighteenth century, a period of great exploration, scientific discovery and philosophical debate, commonly known in Britain as the Age of Enlightenment. Among the many books that have helped me to conjure up a picture of this fascinating world are: Richard D. Altick’s
The Shows of London
(1978), which features an illustration of Mr. Sidereal’s chair and a description of the Holophusikon, the model for Mr. Leechcraft’s Hall of Wonders; Emily Cockayne’s
Hubbub: Filth, Noise & Stench in England 1600–1770
(2007), which brings the sights, smells and sounds of Georgian society to life; Robert Darnton’s
Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France
(1968), which taught Madame Orrery everything she knows; Patricia Fara’s
An Entertainment for Angels
(2002), which sheds light on the truly shocking treatment of Hanging Boys; Francis Grose’s
A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
(1785), which taught me how to curse, eighteenth-century style; Richard Hamblyn’s
The Invention of Clouds
(2001), which opened my eyes to the strange weather of 1783 and the appearance of the first hot-air balloons; Samuel Johnson’s
Dictionary
(1755), which informed me that “Cirrus Flux” is not only an unlikely name for a boy in the
eighteenth century, but also a highly unflattering one (“flux” meant “diarrhoea” at the time); Ruth McClure’s
Coram’s Children: The London Foundling Hospital in the Eighteenth Century
(1981), which depicts life in the Foundling Hospital far more accurately than I do; and Liza Picard’s
Dr. Johnson’s London
(2001), which took me on a fabulous ramble through the streets of London.

My learning wasn’t confined to books. I’m also indebted to Jaco Groot and Elsbeth Louis of Uitgeverij De Harmonie, as well as the helpful staff of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, for showing me Martinus van Marum’s electrostatic machine (which Mr. Leechcraft stole and used for his own purposes in the Hall of Wonders); “The Proceedings of the Old Bailey” online, which is an amazingly rich source of information; and the Foundling Museum in London, where some of the original children’s tokens are on display. I should also like to thank my family and friends for their support—and the many readers who have written to me with words of encouragement. I couldn’t have finished this book without them.

MATTHEW SKELTON
was born in the United Kingdom but spent most of his childhood in Canada. He has a PhD in English literature from Oxford University. His previous novel is
Endymion Spring
.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2009 by Matthew Skelton
Map copyright © 2009 by Motco Enterprises Ltd.
Galleon and terrella illustrations copyright © 2009 by Rowan Clifford

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in Great Britain by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd, a division of the Penguin Group, London, in 2009.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Skelton, Matthew.
The story of Cirrus Flux / Matthew Skelton.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: In 1783 London, the destiny of an orphaned boy and girl becomes intertwined as the boy, Cirrus Flux, is pursued by a sinister woman mesmerist, a tiny man with an all-seeing eye, and a skull-collecting scoundrel, all of whom believe that he possesses an orb containing a divine power.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89532-6
[1. Orphans—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 4. London (England)—History—18th century—Fiction. 5. Great Britain—History—George III, 1760–1820—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.S626123 Sto 2010   [Fic]—dc22 2009018987

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