INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME FIVE
FTER the publication of "In Search of the Castaways," Jules Verne may be said to have entered on the second period of his fame. The tale was made the basis of a successful spectacular play, one of the first of those huge scenic panoramas built for the eye rather than for the ear.
While this could add nothing to the literary standing of its author, it placed his name in everybody's mouth. His next book, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," and indeed whatever following books lent themselves to the purpose, were staged with similar splendor. The name of Verne became a household word throughout the world, implying wonder and magnificence.
"Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" was published in 1870. It is the most widely known of all our author's works, perhaps deservedly so. To the mystery of its back-ground, the tremendously impressive appeal of the weird scenery of the ocean's deeps, it added a story, somber, terrifying, stern as some ancient tragedy of Euripides.
Of Verne's works in general it has been said, with some justice, that his stories overshadow his characters, that the latter are but automatons of little interest for themselves, unrealised as human beings, mere pegs existing only to hang adventures on. But surely from this criticism we must except, along with some few others, Captain Nemo. This tragic central figure of "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" is known to every boy among Verne's readers as a distinct personality, ingenious, inventive, strong and tender, dreaming softly over his organ, praying as a father over the graves of his men in their solemn cemetery under seas, yet grimly unrelenting in his oath of vengeance.
The construction of Captain Nemo's submarine, as has been often pointed out, follows strict mechanical facts. In 1870, when the book was published, such a structure was almost inconceivable except to a man of Verne's genius for imaginative construction. The building of a "Nautilus," still, after more than forty years, lies among the things unachieved, but it is no longer regarded as among things unachievable. Every year of experimentation with our own imperfect submarines brings us nearer to Verne's splendid ideal.
And the under-seas world through which Captain Nemo guides his astounded guests! What a wealth of knowledge our author pours out upon it! How fully, how widely did he know this terrestrial globe! Verne's own voluminous reading of books of travel became more manifest with each new book he published. Each work of his contained the assimilated and enlivened treasure of a mass of others. His favorite reading during these years, as he himself tells us, was the justly celebrated geographical magazine of France, "Le Tour du Monde." He familiarized himself with its every volume from cover to cover. He distilled its heart into his work.