Jules Verne, Voyages Extraordinaires

In the display cabinets on the first floor of the Central Library we currently have a display of some of the library’s rarer books.

This case shows a selection from the Voyages Extraordinaires collection of the works of Jules Verne (1828-1905). Created by Verne’s publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel from 1866 onwards these deluxe editions are masterpieces of illustration and binding which helped make Verne’s work successful. Verne is one of the most successful authors of all time and is best known for his pioneering science fiction works like Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers [Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea] seen here in a first edition of 1871. Verne wrote more than 60 popular novels full of science, adventure, and exotic locations. You can also see a fine French edition of Le Robinson Suisse [The Swiss Family Robinson] by Johann Wyss.

This poster advertising Verne’s works illustrates the type of publicity that Hetzel used to promote the books.

Verne was born and brought up in Nantes in Brittany, an area closely tied to Wales by language and trade, and he said: “I have a mixture of Breton and Parisian blood in my veins.” Verne’s love of travel and the sea began at an early age with boating with his brother. Later in life he had his own yacht and went on various travels round Europe and beyond which inevitably ended up providing an idea for another story.

You can see below some examples of the types of illustrations and maps within the books.

Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers

[Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea]

Verne’s stories have been dramatized many times. Here is a newspaper account from 1919 of the arrival of the first film adaption of Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in Swansea. It had spectacular special effects for the time and was the first motion picture to film underwater.