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Re: Master of the World

From: Craig Weatherhill <craig~at~agantavas.org>
Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 12:38:25 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

People in North Carolina beieive the "Great Eyrie" to have been based
upon the 4,100ft Table Rock, within sight of Morganton. If you Google
'Table Rock Morganton', you'll find some impressive photos.

Craig




On 8 Me 2012, at 01:14, aevans2 tds.net wrote:

> 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
>
>>
>>
>
Received on Tue 08 May 2012 - 14:38:37 IDT

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