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Re: Jules Verne

From: Ron Miller <rmiller~at~crosslink.net>
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 10:50:07 -0500
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

>On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Blm1119 wrote:
>
>> I am interested in a novel or short story that Mr. Verne may have written
>> regarding an ill fated ship called the "Titan". A colleague was telling
me of
>> how it was remarkably similar to the events surrounding the sinking of the
>> Titanic...but the peice was written several years before the actual event
>> occured. The individual I was speaking with was not sure if it was Mr. Verne
>> or HG Wells. If you can recall any information that might help me locate
>> this work, I would greatly appreciate it. If not, I am sorry that I have
>> waisted your time.
>>
>> Please respond to BLM1119~at~aol.com
>>
>> thank you again for your assistance.


You're probably thinking of the short novel "Wreck of the Titan" (also known
as "Futility"), written by Morgan Robertson around 1898. I have a copy here
(and I'd get the correct publication date if I weren't too lazy to go into
the next room and look) and the description of the title ship and the
circumstances of its sinking do indeed make an uncanny parallel with the
Titanic. Martin Gardner, however, has fairly convincingly shown that the
parallels are all well within what might reasonably be expected by a
combination of chance and educated speculation (for example, the White Star
Line was considering a super-ship to be called Titanic before Robertson
wrote his book).

Ron MILLER
Received on Mon 30 Mar 1998 - 18:59:52 IDT

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