it, at the end of a submarine grotto in the Ocean. It is worth more than ten million. It is yours. (fo 145)
In the published version the pearl is replaced by a coffer of diamonds, an inappropriate gift from a libertarian disdaining material values and one that removes an elegant link with Twenty Thousand Leagues (II, 3).
Nemo’s death was originally different: “Finally, a little after midnight, he made a last movement and, not without difficulty, succeeded in crossing his arms on his breast, as if he wanted to die in this attitude.” The following paragraph is identical apart from the published “Then, murmuring these words: ‘God and country!’ he quietly expired.” (III, 17) being originally “Then, murmuring this word: ‘Independence!’ he quietly expired.” (fo 149)
In the manuscript we read “Cyrus Smith then leaned over and closed the eyes of Prince Dakkar, that great patriot who was Captain Nemo.” In other words, the inappropriate religious sentiments, including “May God receive his soul!” must be Hetzel’s rather than Verne’s. The moralistic and judgmental speech of Cyrus Smith and the idea of prayer are also absent from the manuscript:
“Do you think me a criminal?” / Cyrus Smith took the captain’s hand, and, on his request, he replied only in these words: / “God will judge you, Prince Dakkar. As for us, we are under an obligation to Captain Nemo, and those under an obligation do not judge their benefactor!” (fo 143)
The closing scene is also different:
A fortnight later, the settlers disembarked in America; Ayrton, their courageous and honest companion, wished to stay with them. And never would they forget that Lincoln Island, on which they had arrived poor and naked, which their knowledge and intelligence of all things had civilized, which, transformed by them, had satisfied their needs for four years, and of which there now remained only a piece of granite, the isolated resting-place of Captain Nemo, buried with it at the bottom of the seas! (fo 175)
This sober passage marks the end of the novel.
If there is a thread running though Hetzel’s ideas, it is that he keeps wishing to change Nemo’s behavior in strange ways—and thus shows that he has no comprehension of him at all. Verne’s view of the repeated attacks over several years on his most cherished character must, one imagines, have been comparable to Cyrus Smith’s flabbergasted reaction.
C. Publication of The Mysterious Island
The first page-proofs of Part I were ready on 26 September 1873. L’Ile mystérieuse was published in installments in the MER from no. 217 of Vol. 19 (1 January 1874) to no. 264 of Vol. 22 (15 December 1875). In no. 217, the subtitle “The Castaways from the Sky” was omitted and the text was preceded by Hetzel’s “A Few Words to the Readers of MI” (reproduced on pp. xlvii–xlviii). In volume form the first part was published on 10 or 12 September 1874, the second on 12 April 1875, and the third on 28 October 1875. As was usual, the single large in-octavo volume appeared later, on 22 November 1875, “illustrated with 154 drawings by Férat.”
The serial publication in the MER contains one rather ugly engraving that has never been reprinted, of a large waterfall descending to the sea from a rock above the level of the surrounding cliffs (I, 22, p. 134). It also includes a phrase missing from the book editions, “and you fought against the present,” after the word “past” in Smith’s (Hetzel-imposed) judgment of Nemo: “Captain, your error was in believing that you could bring back the past” (II, 16). The chapter headings are also sometimes shorter: for instance “The Torn Envelope—Nothing but the Sea in Sight” (I, 1) is omitted. All the captions to the illustrations are missing. Since the grouping of the chapters influences the structure of the novel, with each serial ending persuading the reader to purchase the next issue, it is interesting to note that most chapters appear singly, except for the following pairs: Part I chs 2 and 3, 9 and 10, 16 and 17, 18 and 19, 20 and 21, Part II chs 4 and 5, 9 and 10, 17 and 18, 19 and 20, and Part III chs 3 and 4. More generally, the list of contributors to the MER in 1874–75 is a regular Vernian roll-call, including P.-J. Stahl, of course, but also Ernest Legouvé, Margollé and Zurcher, Eugène Muller, E. Reclus, and H. Sainte-Claire Deville. It also contains a story by a M. Maréchal called “Le Secret d’Elie,” so close to the title of Verne’s Part III, “Le Secret de l’île” (“The Secret of the Island”) as to have to be its origin.
The word “rrhyomes” in the first grand-octavo edition of MI (II, 7, p. 270) is a misprint for “rhizomes.” The words “… was found to be 10°. Consequently, the total angular distance between the pole and the horizon …” (“était de dix degrés. Dès lors la distance angulaire totale entre le pôle et l’horizon”—I, 14) were absent from the serial and first editions, but appear in subsequent editions.
NOTES
1. The crewman Bob Gordon (a Scottish name) in “UR” was initially Bob Lander (Richard Lander (1804–34) was a famous explorer of Africa) or Bob Lanver: the name Bob is possibly drawn from Cooper’s Bob (see above) and may give rise to Bob in P.-J. Stahl (Hetzel), Histoire de la famille Chester et de deux petits orphelins (1873—Gallica) and Bob Harvey, the pirate in MI.
2. Jean Guermonprez, “Une Œuvre inconnue de Jules Verne,” Livres de France, 6.5 (1955): 9–10 (9); Christian Robin, ed., Un Editeur et son siècle (1988), 132–35, 331–60 (333); Jules-Verne, 201.
3. Australia. [JV]
4. Archipelagoes situated in the northwest of the Pacific. [JV]
5. Microscopic unicellular animals. [JV]
6. The manuscript contains similar information, but in different form (Charles-Noël Martin, “L’Oncle Robinson et L’Ile mystérieuse d’après leurs manuscrits,” BSJV 60: 145–51 (148)):
A little frequented portion of the Pacific Ocean is that which extends over the northern hemisphere between on the one hand America and Asia, and on the other Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands. Here there exists a vast stretch of sea frequented by few merchant vessels; no point for putting in is known; in addition it is not the route of the ocean-going ships that carry produce from New Holland to west America [sic], and commerce is rather infrequent between Japan and California.
7. Robin (“Postface,” 232) considers that there may be an influence from Rousseau’s Rêveries or Confessions, with references to natural philosophy (195), “fine views” of nature (71),
