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Re:Who have read "Neptunia No.237?"

From: Jan Rychlík <jan.rychlik~at~seznam.cz>
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 22:03:21 +0200 (CEST)
Cc:
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

> The article is presenting "Les frères Kip" in his first part and then descibing
> a real happening from the years 1891/1893 (the brothers Léonce and Eugène
> Degrave), which is in some way very close to the Kip - story, so that I can
> imagine that Jules Verne wrote his novel based on that events.
> Anybody who know about that article or the historical true story from the
> Degrave - brothers in this Forum? And if so, what is your opinion?

Dear Bernhard,

the Degreave (aka Rorique) affair as an ispiration of Les frčres Kip is confirmed by Volker Dehs in his recent Verne biography (pp. 415-6). According to its footnotes, it was already Marcel Moré who pointed to this fact in his 1960 book Le trčs curieux Jules Verne. And I remember that later also Herbert Lottman mentioned it.

Christian Porcq in BSJV (No. 109, 1994, "Catyclysme dans la cathédrale ou le secret des Frčres Kip"), on the contrary, believes Verne's novel was inspired by the Dreyfus affair. He supports his thesis with many cryptograms (unconvincing to me), but Volker Dehs demonstrates that the book had been written before Verne changed his mind in favor of Dreyfuss.

Sincerely

Jan Rychlik
Received on Mon 18 Jul 2005 - 23:03:39 IDT

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