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Re: Audio recording of interview with Jules Verne (1903)

From: norman wolcott <nwolcott2ster~at~gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 10:42:20 -0500
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

I would hope that these invaluable recordings could be preserved wiithout
further destructive playing. I am sure that the people at Phillips NV have
equipment which is capable of deciphering these cylinders without
destructive effects of the needle on the wax.
a;so that way the original audio or what is left of it can be preserved
intact


On 3/29/06, Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl> wrote:
>
> Dear fellow Vernians,
>
> This week I did an amzing discovery that I'd like to share with you: an
> audio recording of an interview with Jules Verne by a Dutch journalist!
>
> A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail from a Mrs Rina Appel from
> Amersfoort, a town not far from where I live. Among the inheritance left
> by her aunt, who passed away last year, she had found a small wooden crate
> containing five wax cilinders, each wrapped in a leather case. On the
> crate was a handwritten label that read "Jules Verne 1903".
>
> The crate had belonged to Rina Appel's grandfather, Ger Appel. He was a
> reporter who worked for the newspaper "Amersfoortsche courant" in the
> beginning of the 20th century. After that, he wrote for "De Gids", a
> literary magazine. Unfortunately, he got ill quite early in life. His
> daughter, Rina Appel's aunt, nursed him until his death, and after that
> she stayed in the house, where she lived alone. Many items belonging to
> Ger Appel were still lying in the attic when she died.
>
> When he worked for the "Amersfoortsche courant", Ger Appel interviewed
> many celebrities in the Netherlands and abroad, such as Edison, Berlage,
> Domela Nieuwenhuis, and, as it turns out, Jules Verne. Appel visited Verne
> on 18 March 1903; the interview was published two weeks later. A copy of
> the newspaper page containing the article, is in Rina Appel's possession.
>
> Ger Appel had a portable phonograph at his disposal, and he recorded his
> interviews on wax cilinders. Once the interviews had been written down, he
> would erase the cilinders so he could use them again. But in the case of
> Jules Verne, he apparently decided to keep the recordings. Phonograph
> cilinders weren't cheap, and it is quite remarkable that Appel didn't
> erase this interview. He seems to have been a great fan of Verne. Among
> his things, there was the complete series of the "blue covers", the first
> editions of Verne's works in Dutch, as well as a copy of "In een kist naar
> 't Hemelsche Rijk" (Dutch translation of Bombarnac, published 1902),
> signed by Verne. These books are now in Rina Appel's bookcase. When she
> was cleaning up the attic of her aunt's house, the crate with the
> recordings turned up, and she contacted me.
>
> Of course, I phoned her at once, and made an appointment. Today, I visited
> Rina Appel. She showed me the crate, the cilinders and the newspaper. The
> contents of the interview are hardly remarkable. It's about Verne's poor
> health, his way of working, and the lack of literary recognition from
> which he suffered. Appel mentions the phonograph, which he says Verne
> already mentioned in "Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine". To this,
> Verne modestly replies that these machines had existed for some time when
> he wrote that novel. One could suggest that Appel copied all this from
> other sources, but the fact that he possessed a signed copy of a book that
> was published in 1902 at least proves that he visited Verne between 1902
> and 1905. Another indication for the authenticity of the interview is a
> mention of Verne's latest novel, in which two Dutchmen play an important
> part. This of course refers to "Les fr�res Kip", which had appeared in
> France the year before, but hadn't appeared in Dutch translation yet at
> the time when Appel visited Verne.
>
> Having seen the crate and the newspaper, I was of course anxious to hear
> the recordings. I didn't really want to insist, but Rina Appel herself
> offered to listen to one of the cilinders. She owns a phonograph, also
> from her grandfather's inheritance, and she had, especially on this
> occasion, figured out how it worked. The sound was, as could be expected,
> of a moderate quality. The wax had been weathered over the years, and the
> recorded sound is hardly audible at times. Also, the spring that drives
> the phonograph is not so strong anymore. Add to that Verne's soft and
> inarticulate voice, and you see that it's difficult to make out what is
> said. However, we were able to understand a few sentences. We didn't want
> to move the needle over the wax too often, for fear of more damage, so we
> listened to this cilinder twice and then stopped.
>
> I will go to Rina Appel again this Friday evening. Her son will be there
> too, and he will bring a laptop and a microphone. We will then play all
> five cilinders, and record the sound on the computer. With some dedicated
> software, we will then try to enhance the quality of the sound. I have
> done that before with vinyl records, so I have some experience with the
> elimination of noice, scratches and other unwanted sounds. Of course, you
> can't attach the phonograph directly to the input of the computer, like
> you can do with a modern record player. We will hold the microphone in
> front of the speaker, and hope that the quality will be sufficient.
>
> If all goes well, I can make at least a portion of the interview available
> as mp3 this Saturday. I will put it online at
> http://www.phys.uu.nl/~gdevries/recording/. On this page, I already show a
> quick first scan of the newspaper. This Friday, I will scan the complete
> article and I will put it online along with the mp3. I will send a cd with
> the entire interview to those who are interested, but give me some time to
> copy everything.
>
> As far as I'm aware, no recordings of Verne.s voice are known. Now, over a
> century after his death, we will finally be able to hear what he sounded
> like. I'm very very pleased with this unique find, and of course I'm
> immensely grateful to Rina Appel for sharing her discovery with me!
>
>
> Cheers,
> Garmt.
>
Received on Wed 29 Mar 2006 - 17:42:28 IST

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