joshua barnes frs (10 january 1654 â 3 august 1712), was an english scholar. his work gerania; a new discovery of a little sort of people, anciently discoursed of, called pygmies (1675) was an utopian romance. letellier (1997), p. 186 ==life and work== he was born in london, the son of edward barnes, a merchant taylor. educated at christ's hospital and at emmanuel college, cambridge, he was in 1695 chosen regius professor of greek, a language which he wrote and spoke with the utmost facility. one of his first publications was entitled gerania; a new discovery of a little sort of people, anciently discoursed of, called pygmies (1675), a whimsical sketch to which swift's voyage to lilliput possibly owes something. among his other works are a history of that most victorious monarch edward iii (1688), an epic work numbering 900+ pages, in which he introduces long and elaborate speeches into the narrative; editions of euripides (1694) and of homer (1711), also one of anacreon (1705) which contains titles of greek verses of his own which he hoped to publish. he was elected a fellow of the royal society in november, 1710. he died on 3 august 1712, at hemingford, near st ives, huntingdonshire. he had married mrs mason, a widow, of hemingford ==fiction writer== robert ignatius letellier considers gerania, a work of prose fiction, to have been part of an emerging type of adventure novels. a type featuring "the imaginary voyage into alien or fictional regions". they combined first-person adventure narratives with either "satirical social observation", or perceptions of ideal human behaviour in remote lands. a tradition routed in the utopia (1516) of thomas more, which found prominent manifestations in the blazing world (1666) of margaret cavendish, duchess of newcastle-upon-tyne and the isle of pines of henry neville. this tradition would lead to later works, such as the robinson crusoe (1719) of daniel defoe. letellier (1997), introduction p. xxxiii (33) ==references==  * == sources == * {{citation | last=letellier | first=robert ignatius | title=the english novel, 1660-1700: an annotated bibliography | year=1997 | publisher=greenwood publishing group | isbn=978-0313303685| url = http://books.google.gr/books?id=b9vln1irj-qc&printsec=frontcover&hl=el&sourc
1654_births 1712_deaths 17th-century_novelists Alumni_of_Emmanuel_College,_Cambridge Classical_scholars_of_the_University_of_Cambridge English_classical_scholars English_historians Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society People_educated_at_Christ\'s_Hospital Scholars_of_ancient_Greek_literature