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Re: Master of the World

From: aevans2 tds.net <aevans2~at~tds.net>
Date: Mon, 7 May 2012 20:14:03 -0400
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Hi David,

Some very interesting ideas...

I have not studied this question of Verne's sources for *Maître du
monde*(Master of the World), but it might also be possible--as
Jean-Michel has
pointed out, among others--that Verne patterned Great Eyry on Pilot
Mountain which is near Mount Airy (famous today as the birthplace of Andy
Griffith and the model for TV's town of Mayberry). In French "une aire" is
an eyrie. Mount Airy = Mount Eyrie = Great Eyry?

Of course Mt. Airy is a bit over 100 miles away from Morganton--it's
located up near the NC/Virginia border. Perhaps Verne made a mistake; or
perhaps he was simply using "artistic license"? Hard to know for sure....

As for what initially attracted his attention to western North Carolina, it
might well have been the War Between the States, as you suggest. It may
have also been the geography-geology of the Appalachian Mountains. It
seems significant that at the beginning of the novel Great Eyry is
described as the inaccessible crater of an extinct volcano (and we all know
how much Verne loves volcanoes!).

Just some random thoughts....

I cannot attend the NAJVS meeting this year (I'll be in France during that
time). But it should be a very interesting one for anyone interested in
this Verne novel!

Best,
Art


On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 6:46 PM, David McCallister
<drmmystery1881~at~gmail.com>wrote:

> Y'all have probably thought of it already, but my first guess would
> be that Verne may have read about the area in press coverage of the War
> Between the States. He's got a lot of material that's Southern and WBTS
> related - for characters and place settings. North Against South,Blockade
> Runners, Earth to the Moon, Mysterious Island, etc. So it's reasonable to
> think that he might have read of the topography of North Carolina in French
> reports of the time. I think the famous Stoneman Raid, late in the War,
> went right through the mountainous area of west NC. I bet if we looked into
> French newspapers of the period, we might find out what Verne might have
> read.
>
> Also, on another angle, it is pretty well agreed that Count Ferdinand von
> Zeppelin got seminal ideas for his later airship from an ascent during the
> WBTS. Perhaps Verne learned of the Count's ideas (although the timimg may
> be way off since the Count didn't get around to the Zeppelin until after
> 1880's ) and extended the WBTS balloon technology as he was wont to do, and
> especially composed the fore/aft propellor debate at the Weldon Institute
> because of this. The Count was very famous at the time of the
> Franco-Prussian War for having a daring ride completely around the French
> army as a cavalry officer (I think in the service of the King of
> Wurtemburg- not the Prussians).
> Anyway, even without the Count, balloon technology was cutting-edge in the
> WBTS and would have been reported back to France. The Goahead, if not the
> Albatross, just seems as natural an extension as the Baltimore Gun Club's
> big cannon. Moving HQ from X Island to North Carolina takes a little more
> explanation.
> While the Gun Club's choice of Tampa is part of the plot (and presages
> NASA's ), from Philadelphia to North Carolina seems a short distance. I
> don't know, but perhaps it was close to the highest point, Mt. Mitchell,
> which Verne could have gotten from an almanac if he was just looking for
> the nearest, high mountains.
>
> Perhaps Verne picked North Carolina just in a mystical premonition of
> Kitty Hawk's contribution to the history of aviation?
> David McCallister
>
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Received on Tue 08 May 2012 - 03:14:11 IDT

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