Before the science fiction novel, The Time Machine, was published, H. G. Wells wrote what short story?

H. G. Wells is regarded as one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time. First published in 1888, 'The Chronic Argonauts' features the first properly developed time machine in all of science fiction. This work is one of the first and finest stories to talk about magic and fantasy, particularly dating back to the period before the 1900s.

Published by the Royal College of Science in 1888, 'The Chronic Argonauts' is a short story by Wells that predates his more famous time travelling novel, The Time Machine, by seven years. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel. He used a vehicle that allowed an operator to travel through time purposefully and selectively.

In 'The Chronic Argonauts,' a third person narrator describes the arrival of a clever and mysterious inventor to the peaceful Welsh town of Llyddwdd. The inventor, Dr. Moses Nebogipfel, takes up residence in a neglected house where former inhabitants died. Some simple rural people from the local town become apprehensive about Nebogipfel's activities in the house. They suspect him of witchcraft. Ultimately, they attack the inventor's "devilish" workshop. In what is later revealed to be a time machine, Nebogipfel escapes the hostile town with the sympathetic Reverend Elijah Ulysses Cook.