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Re: Master of the World

From: Jean-Michel Margot <jmmargot~at~mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 07 May 2012 20:23:16 -0400
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

On 5/7/2012 6:46 PM, David McCallister 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

Thanks for your thoughts, David. All these ideas are interesting. But
the question still remains: what is the source (and I mean a
bibliographic reference of one or several documents, in French...) for
locating the beginning of his novel in the mountains of North Carolina?

Jean-Michel Margot
Received on Tue 08 May 2012 - 03:23:24 IDT

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