The Begum's Millions

Jules Gabriel Verne: A Biography

฀  Jules Gabriel Verne A Biography Jules฀Gabriel฀Verne฀was฀born฀on฀February฀,฀,฀to฀a฀ middle-class฀family฀in฀the฀port฀city฀of฀Nantes,฀France.฀His฀ mother,฀Sophie,฀née฀Allotte฀de฀la฀Fuÿe,฀was฀the฀daughter ฀of฀a฀prominent฀family฀of฀shipowners,฀and฀his฀father,฀ Pierre฀Verne,฀was฀an฀attorney฀and฀the฀son฀of฀a฀Provins฀ magistrate.฀Jules฀was฀the฀eldest฀of฀five฀children.฀In฀addition ฀to฀his฀three฀sisters฀—฀Anna,฀Mathilde,฀and฀Marie฀฀ —฀he฀also฀had฀a฀younger฀brother,฀Paul,฀to฀whom฀he฀was฀ very฀close.฀Paul฀eventually฀became฀a฀naval฀engineer. ฀ As฀a฀child฀and฀young฀man,฀Jules฀was฀a฀relatively฀conscientious฀student.฀ Although฀far฀from฀the฀top฀of฀his฀class,฀he฀apparently฀did฀win฀awards฀for฀ meritorious฀performance฀in฀geography,฀music,฀and฀Greek฀and฀Latin,฀and฀ he฀easily฀passed฀his฀baccalauréat฀in฀.฀But฀his฀true฀passion฀was฀the฀sea.฀ The฀shipyard฀docks฀of฀nearby฀Île฀Feydeau฀and฀the฀bustling฀commerce฀of฀ the฀Nantes฀harbor฀never฀failed฀to฀spark฀Jules’s฀youthful฀imagination฀with฀ visions฀of฀far-off฀lands฀and฀exotic฀peoples.฀Legend฀has฀it฀that฀he฀once฀ran฀ off฀to฀sea฀as฀a฀cabin฀boy฀aboard฀a฀schooner฀bound฀for฀the฀Indies,฀but฀his฀ father฀managed฀to฀intercept฀the฀ship฀before฀it฀reached฀the฀open฀sea฀and฀to฀ retrieve฀his฀wayward฀son.฀According฀to฀this฀story,฀Jules฀(probably฀after฀ a฀good฀thrashing)฀promised฀his฀parents฀that฀he฀would฀travel฀henceforth฀ only฀in฀his฀dreams.฀Although฀this฀charming฀tale฀was฀most฀likely฀invented฀ by฀Verne’s฀familial฀biographer,฀Marguerite฀Allotte฀de฀la฀Fuÿe,฀it฀nevertheless ฀exemplifies฀the฀author’s฀lifelong฀love฀for฀the฀sea฀and฀his฀yearnings฀for฀ adventure-filled฀journeys฀to฀distant฀ports฀of฀call. ฀ Young฀Jules฀also฀loved฀machines.฀During฀an฀interview฀toward฀the฀end฀ of฀his฀life,฀he฀reminisced฀about฀his฀early฀formative฀years:฀“While฀I฀was฀ quite฀a฀lad,฀I฀used฀to฀adore฀watching฀machines฀at฀work.฀My฀father฀had฀a฀ country-house฀at฀Chantenay,฀at฀the฀mouth฀of฀the฀Loire,฀and฀near฀the฀government ฀factory฀at฀Indret.฀I฀never฀went฀to฀Chantenay฀without฀entering฀the฀ factory฀and฀standing฀for฀hours฀watching฀the฀machines.฀.฀.฀.฀This฀penchant฀ has฀remained฀with฀me฀all฀my฀life,฀and฀today฀I฀have฀still฀as฀much฀pleasure฀ in฀watching฀a฀steam-engine฀or฀a฀fine฀locomotive฀at฀work฀as฀I฀have฀in฀contemplating ฀a฀picture฀by฀Raphael฀or฀Corregio”฀(qtd.฀in฀Robert฀H.฀Sherard,฀ “Jules฀Verne฀at฀Home,”฀McClure’s฀Magazine฀[Jan.฀]:฀). Anonymous฀engraving,฀c.฀ ฀ :฀ Jules฀Gabriel฀Verne:฀A฀Biography ฀ Intending฀that฀Jules฀follow฀in฀his฀footsteps฀as฀a฀lawyer,฀Pierre฀Verne฀ sent฀him฀to฀Paris฀in฀฀to฀study฀law.฀The฀correspondence฀between฀father ฀and฀son฀during฀the฀ensuing฀ten฀years฀shows฀that฀Jules฀took฀his฀studies ฀seriously,฀completing฀his฀law฀degree฀in฀just฀two฀years.฀But฀his฀letters฀ home฀also฀make฀quite฀it฀clear฀that฀Jules฀had฀discovered฀a฀new฀passion฀—฀฀ literature.฀Inspired฀by฀authors฀such฀as฀Victor฀Hugo,฀Alfred฀de฀Vigny,฀and฀ Théophile฀Gautier฀and฀introduced฀(via฀family฀contacts฀on฀his฀mother’s฀ side)฀into฀several฀high-society฀Parisian฀literary฀circles,฀the฀young฀Romantic ฀Verne฀began฀to฀write.฀From฀฀to฀,฀he฀composed฀poetry,฀wrote฀ several฀plays฀and฀a฀novel฀entitled฀Un฀Prêtre฀en฀฀(A฀Priest฀in฀,฀unpublished ฀during฀his฀lifetime),฀and฀penned฀a฀variety฀of฀short฀stories฀that฀ he฀published฀in฀the฀popular฀French฀journal฀Musée฀des฀familles฀to฀supplement ฀his฀meager฀income:฀“Les฀Premiers฀navires฀de฀la฀marine฀mexicaine”฀ (,฀The฀First฀Ships฀of฀the฀Mexican฀Navy),฀“Un฀Voyage฀en฀ballon”฀(,฀ A฀Balloon฀Journey),฀“Martin฀Paz”฀(,฀Martin฀Paz),฀“Maître฀Zacharius”฀ (,฀Master฀Zacharius),฀and฀“Un฀Hivernage฀dans฀les฀glaces”฀(,฀Wintering ฀in฀the฀Ice).฀Some฀of฀his฀plays฀were฀performed฀in฀local฀Parisian฀theaters :฀Les฀Pailles฀rompues฀(,฀Broken฀Straws),฀Le฀Colin-Maillard฀(,฀ Blind฀Man’s฀Bluff),฀Les฀Compagnons฀de฀la฀Marjolaine฀(,฀The฀Companions ฀of฀the฀Marjoram),฀Monsieur฀de฀Chimpanzé฀(,฀Mister฀Chimpanzee ),฀L’Auberge฀des฀Ardennes฀(,฀The฀Inn฀of฀the฀Ardennes),฀and฀Onze฀ jours฀de฀siège฀(,฀Eleven฀Days฀of฀Siege).฀During฀this฀period,฀Verne฀also฀ became฀close฀friends฀with฀Alexandre฀Dumas฀père฀and฀Dumas฀fils฀and,฀ through฀the฀former’s฀intervention,฀eventually฀became฀the฀secretary฀of฀the฀ Théâtre฀Lyrique฀in฀. ฀ In฀฀Verne฀married฀Honorine฀Morel,฀née฀de฀Viane,฀a฀twenty-six-฀ year-old฀widow฀with฀two฀daughters.฀Taking฀advantage฀of฀his฀new฀fatherin -law’s฀contacts฀in฀Paris฀and฀a฀monetary฀wedding฀gift฀from฀Pierre฀Verne,฀ Jules฀decided฀to฀discontinue฀his฀work฀at฀the฀Théâtre฀Lyrique฀and฀to฀take฀ a฀full-time฀job฀as฀agent฀de฀change฀at...