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From: <ithompson~at~geog.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:07:01 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc: Les~at~mailgw2.technion.ac.il, forceurs~at~mailgw2.technion.ac.il, du~at~mailgw2.technion.ac.il, blocus~at~mailgw2.technion.ac.il

In Les forceurs du blocus (1871) the plot to build a blockade-
busting vessel to take arms to the South was hatched by Vincent
Playfair and his nephew while having coffee "at the Tontine coffee
room under the arcades of the town hall" in Glasgow.The Tontine
system, named after a seventeenth century Neapolitan, involved a
number of subscribers in an investment fund, who drew an interest
but when one investor died his share was divided among the
others. The one that outlived the rest gained all the capital and
interest.The scheme spread to France, the USA and Britain and
the funds were often invested in public buildings and hotels. Verne
was partially accurate in that the original Town Hall in Glasgow was
a handsome three storey building with a fine arcade at street level.
However, it ceased to be the Town Hall in 1781 when it was taken
over by the Tontine Society and converted into the Tontine Hotel.
So whether we take the date when the novella was set (1862) or
when it was published (1871), the Town Hall had long since moved
to its new location on George Square. It would seem that Verne is
amalgamating the two successive functions of the building, but as
usual gets full marks for getting an authentic context.The Tontine
system disappeared...there was too much incentive for the
members to suffer early and mysterious deaths to consolidate the
fund in fewer hands!
Ian Thompson.
Received on Thu 18 Sep 2003 - 15:00:16 IDT

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