MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
Author:
Jules Verne
First edition:
L'île mystérieuse, Paris, Hetzel, 1874
Main illustrators:
Fabbi Férat Weissmuller Wyeth
In short:
Five Americans are marooned in a desert island after flying away with a balloon during the War of Secession. They organise their lives using the resources of the island assisted by Cyrus Smith, a scientific. But a sixth mn appears: Captain Nemo (see 20.000 Legues Under the Sea) was hiding himself in his submarine in a grotto of the island.
Selection of edition:
L'île mystérieuse, illustrated by Jules Férat, Hetzel, 1874.
Mysterious island, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, Scribner, 1918, 10 illustrations.
L'isola misteriosa, illustrated by Fabbi, Florence, Bemporad, 1921.
L'Ile mystérieuse, illustrated by Jules Férat, Hachette, collection "Idéal-Bibliothèque", 1973, 188 p.
L'Ile mystérieuse, illustrated by Luc Weissmuller, Hachette Jeunnes, collection "Aventure", 1992, 286 p.
More about it:
The topic of people stranded alone in a desert island is not at all original. Verne surely took his source of inspiration from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. But wheres Crusoe represents a man thinking and discovering how to survive, Verne's five Americans stand for wise men, who already know how to survive because they are part of a civilization based on science and morals.
Critical analysis:
Marie-Hélène Weber, Robinson et robinsonnades : étude comparée de "Robinson Crusoe" de Defoe, "Le Robinson suisse" de J.R. Wyss, "L'Ile mystérieuse" de J. Verne, "Sa majesté des mouches" de W. Golding, "Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique" de M. Tournier, Ed. universitaires du Sud, 1993.