William Butcher
Note: this Chronology first appeared in Backwards to
Britain (1992—edited by William Butcher; Chambers) and in Journey
to the Centre of the Earth (1992), Around the World in Eighty
Days (1995), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas (1998) and
The Adventures Of Captain Hatteras (2005) (all translated and
edited by William Butcher; Oxford University Press: Oxford World’s
Classics); this is an updated version, reproduced from Jules Verne,
Lighthouse at the End of the World , translated and edited by
William Butcher (Nebraska UP, Lincoln (NE), 2007). It appears here with
grateful acknowledgements to Dr. Butcher and the publishers. All the
bracketed references are to the Complete Jules Verne
Bibliogrphy.
-
1828
-
8 February: birth of Jules Verne on Île Feydeau in Nantes, to
lawyer Pierre and Sophie Verne, of distant Scottish descent. Both
parents have close links with reactionary milieus and the slave trade.
The family moves to Quai Jean‑Bart, with a magnificent view of the
Loire.
-
1829-30
-
Birth of brother, Paul, later a naval officer and stockbroker; followed
by sisters Anna (1837), Mathilde (1839), and Marie (1842). Jules hears
street battles in the July Revolution.
-
1834-36
-
Goes to boarding school: the teacher is the widow of a sea‑captain,
whose return she still awaits. The Vernes spend the summers with a
retired slave‑runner uncle in the bucolic countryside.
-
1836-40
-
École Saint‑Stanislas. Performs well in geography, singing, Greek, and
Latin. Henceforth the family lives half the year at Chantenay, on the
Loire.
-
1840-46
-
Petit séminaire de Saint‑Donatien, then Collège royal de Nantes. Easily
passes baccalauréat . Writes short prose pieces and four plays,
later to be followed by thirty more.
-
1847
-
Moves to Paris and studies law; marriage of his first cousin, Caroline
Tronson, with whom he has long been in love. Experiences a fruitless
passion for Herminie Arnault‑Grossetière and writes more than fifty
poems, many dedicated to her, as well as an unfinished novel, Un
Prêtre en 1839 [PT] (A Priest in 1839).
-
1848
-
Is present at the July disturbances. In the literary salons meets Dumas
père and fils .
-
1849
-
Passes law degree and stays on in Paris.
-
1850
-
One‑act comedy Les Pailles rompues [PA] (Broken Straws)
opens at Dumas's Théâtre historique and is published.
-
1851
-
Meets author Jacques Arago and frequents Adrien Talexy's musical salon.
Publishes two short stories. Has a first attack of facial paralysis.
-
1852-55
-
Becomes secretary of the Théâtre lyrique on little or no pay. Organizes
a dining club called The Eleven Bachelors, reciting his love poetry to
them. Refuses to take over his father's law practice: "literature above
all." Publishes three more stories and the play Les Châteaux en
Californie [CA]
(Castles in California - in collaboration). His co-authored
operetta Le Colin‑maillard [CV] (Blind Man's Bluff) is performed. Visits
brothels in the theater district.
-
1856
-
Goes to a wedding in Amiens, and meets Honorine de Viane, a young widow
with two daughters.
-
1857-58
-
Publishes his first book, Le Salon de 1857 (The 1857 Salon).
Marries Honorine, becomes a stockjobber, and moves several times.
-
1859-60
-
Visits Scotland and England, the first of about twenty visits to the
British Isles, and is decisively marked by the experience. Writes
Voyage en Angleterre et en Écosse [VH] (Backwards to
Britain).
-
1861
-
2 July–8 August: Norway and Denmark.
-
3 August: birth of only child, Michel.
-
1863
-
31 January: Cinq semaines en ballon [CS] (Five Weeks in a
Balloon) is published by Jules Hetzel, but sells poorly (all dates
are those of beginning of first publication, usually as a serial).
-
1864
-
New one‑book contract with Hetzel. Publication of “Edgar Poe et ses
oeuvres” [EP]
(“Edgar Allan Poe and his Works”), Voyages et aventures du capitaine
Hatteras [AH]
(Adventures of Captain Hatteras), and Voyage au centre de la
Terre [VC]
(Journey to the Center of the Earth). Paris au XX
e siècle [PV] (Paris in the Twentieth Century) is
brutally rejected by the publisher.
-
1865-66
-
De la Terre à la Lune [TL] (From the Earth to the Moon), Les
Enfants du capitaine Grant [EG (Captain Grant’s Children), and “Les
Forceurs de blocus” [FB] (“Blockade Runners”). A new contract specifies two
hundred thousand words a year. Acquires a boat, visits Italy with
Hetzel, and moves summer residence to the fishing village of Le Crotoy.
-
1867
-
Géographie de la France et de ses colonies. [GI] (Geography of
France and her Colonies). Goes with brother to Liverpool, thence on
the Great Eastern to America.
-
1868
-
Baptizes a new boat the Saint‑Michel . Visits London.
-
1869
-
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers [VL] (Twenty Thousand
Leagues under the Seas), Autour de la Lune [AL] (Round the
Moon). Rents a house in Amiens.
-
1870
-
Découverte de la Terre [PE] (Discovery of the Earth). Hetzel rejects
L’Oncle Robinson[OR] (Uncle Robinson), an early version of L’Île
mystérieuse [IM] (The Mysterious Island). During the
Franco‑Prussian War Verne is in the National Guard.
-
1871
-
Briefly goes back to the Stock Exchange. Father dies.
-
1872
-
Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours [TM] (Around the World
in Eighty Days) and Le Pays des fourrures [PF] (The Fur
Country). Becomes member of Académie d’Amiens.
-
1873-4
-
Le Docteur Ox [OX] (Dr Ox’s Experiment, and Other Stories) and
L’Île mystérieuse [IM] (The Mysterious Island). Begins collaboration
with Adolphe d’Ennery on highly successful stage adaptations of novels
(Le Tour du monde en 80 jours [TN] (1874), Les Enfants du capitaine Grant
[EH] (1878) ,
Michel Strogoff [VC] (1880)). Moves to 44 boulevard Longueville, Amiens.
-
1876-7
-
Le Chancellor [CR] (The “Chancellor”), Michel Strogoff
[MI], Hector
Servadac [HS], and Les Indes noires [IO] (The Black
Indies). Buys second, then third boat, the Saint-Michel II
and III. Gives huge fancy-dress ball, but wife critically ill.
Michel rebels, and is sent to a reformatory. Is sued for plagiarism.
-
1878
-
Un Capitaine de quinze ans [CQ] (The Boy Captain). Sails to Portugal and
Algeria.
-
1879-80
-
Les Tribulations d’un Chinois en Chine [TC] (The Tribulations
of a Chinese in China), and La Maison à vapeur [MV] (The Steam
House). Sails to Edinburgh, and then by train and ferry to the
Hebrides. Probably has an affair with Luise Teutsch.
-
1881
-
La Jangada [JA] (The Giant Raft). Sails to Holland and Denmark.
-
1882
-
Le Rayon vert [RV] (The Green Ray) and L'École des Robinsons
[EQ] (The
School for Robinsons). Rents a larger house at 2 Rue
Charles-Dubois, Amiens.
-
1883-4
-
Kéraban-le-têtu [KT] (Keraban the Inflexible). Michel marries, but
soon abducts a minor, and will have two children by her within eleven
months. Verne takes his wife on a grand tour of the Mediterranean,
including a private audience by Pope Leo XIII.
-
1885
-
Mathias Sandorf [MS]. Sells Saint Michel III.
-
1886
-
Robur-le-conquérant [RC] (The Clipper of the Clouds).
-
9 March: his favourite nephew Gaston, mentally ill,
premeditatedly attempts to murder Verne, laming him for life.
-
17 March: Hetzel dies.
-
1887
-
Mother dies. Nord contre sud [NS] (North against
South).
-
1888
-
Deux ans de vacances [DV] (Two Years Vacation). Elected local councillor
on a Republican list. For next fifteen years attends council meetings,
administers theatre and fairs, and gives public talks.
-
1889
-
Sans dessus dessous [SD] (The Purchase of the North Pole) and “In the
Year 2889” [JN]
(by Michel but signed Jules Verne).
-
1890
-
Stomach problems.
-
1892
-
Le Château des Carpathes [CC] (Carpathian Castle). Pays debts for
Michel.
-
1895
-
L’Île à hélice [IH] (Propeller Island), the first European novel in
the present tense and third person.
-
1896-7
-
Face au drapeau [FD] (For the Flag) and Le Sphinx des glaces
[SG] (An
Antarctic Mystery). Is sued for libel by chemist Turpin. Health
deteriorates. Brother dies.
-
1899
-
Dreyfus Affair: Verne is anti-Dreyfusard.
-
1901
-
Le Village aérien [VA] (The Village in the Treetops). Moves back into
44 boulevard Longueville.
-
1904
-
Maître du monde [MM] (The Master of the World).
-
1905
-
17 March: falls ill from diabetes.
-
24 March: dies. The French government shuns the funeral.
-
1905-14
-
On Verne’s death, L’Invasion de la mer [IR] (Invasion of the
Sea) is in the course of publication. Michel takes responsibility
for the manuscripts, publishing Le Phare du bout du monde
[PM] (The
Lighthouse at the End of the World), Le Volcan d’or
[VO] (The
Golden Volcano—1906), L’Agence Thompson and Co° [AG] (The Thompson
Travel Agency—1907), La Chasse au météore [CM] (The Hunt for
the Meteor—1908), Le Pilote du Danube [PD] (The Danube
Pilot—1908), Les Naufragés du ‘Jonathan’ [NJ] (The Survivors
of the Jonathan—1909), Le Secret de Wilhelm Storitz
[WS] (The
Secret of Wilhelm Storitz—1910), Hier et Demain [HD] (Yesterday and
Tomorrow—short stories, including “L’Éternel Adam” [EL] (“Edom”)—1910), and
L’Étonnante aventure de la mission Barsac [BC] (The Barsac
Mission—1914). Between 1985 and 1998 the original (i.e. Jules's)
versions are published, under the same titles except for En
Magellanie [EM] (Magallania), “Voyage d'études” [VS] (“Study Visit”), and
Le Beau Danube jaune [BD] (The Beautiful Yellow Danube).
-
1978
-
For the 150th anniversary of his birth, the novelist undergoes a major
re-evaluation in France, with hundreds of articles, Ph.D.s, and books.
On a cumulative basis, Verne is the most translated writer of all time.
-
1989–94
-
Voyage à reculons en Angleterre et en Ecosse (Backwards to
Britain), San Carlos et autres récits inédits (San Carlos
and Other Stories), and Paris au XX e
siècle (Paris in the Twentieth Century), setting a US
record for a French book.
JV.Gilead.org.il
Copyright © Zvi
Har’El
$Date: 2008/01/31 08:02:58 $