E-text prepared by Norm Wolcott
Redactor’s Note
From Sartain’s UnionMagazine of Literature and Art (Philadelphia:1849-1852): May1852: VOL. X. No. 5: p. 389-395.
John Sartain (1808-1897) was anEnglish artist and engraver skilled in the art of mezzo-tint whoemigrated to the United States; in 1848 he purchased a one-halfinterest in the “Union Magazine”, a New York periodical, which hetransferred to Philadelphia. The name was changed to “Sartain’sUnion Magazine,” and during the four years of its existence thejournal became widely known, publishing works of Poe and otherliterati. The article here is a translation of “La science enfamille / Un voyage en ballon. / (Réponse à l’énigme de juillet.)”,In: Musée des Familles. Lectures du soir, Paris, secondesérie. vol. 8, no. 11 (August 1851), pp. 329-336 (5 illustrationsby A. de Bar, two chapters). This is a different version from theone published by Hetzel; “Un drame dans les airs”, in: LeDocteur Ox, 19 October 1874, (ed. C & D) (6 illustrationsby Emile Bayard, only one chapter!).
In this early work we see the ingredients ofVerne’s later Voyages Extraordinaires; characters brought orthrown together on a journey to afar; introduction of newcharacters part way through the story; careful scientificexplanation of critical events (the ascension, filling the balloon,rising and falling, ballast); use of dialogue to convey scientificinformation (the history of ballooning); use of scientificinstruments (barometer, compass); chapter heads to presage thestory; escapes from perilous events caused by scientific or naturalcatastrophes.
One may also wonder why Hetzel removed thedescription of the inflation of the balloon with hydrogen gas. Infact hydrogen is barely mentioned in the revised story. Could it bethat while Hetzel approved of Verne’s scientific descriptions ofimpossible undertakings, when it came to real exploits such asballooning he did not want his juvenile readers experimenting withthe “hogsheads of sulphuric acid and nails” to produce explosivehydrogen? In fact in the Hetzel version the lifting gas hydrogen isreplaced with “illuminating gas”, an inferior, though lighter thanair material, but one which his readers would find difficult to usefor deadly experimentation.
It may also be that Verne had little to do withthis volume; Hetzel may have edited the collection so that it wouldcount as one of the required volumes Verne was to produce annually.The correspondence archives may shed some light.
Ms. Wilbur also translated other articles onballooning from the French. It is also interesting that sheretained in her translation the original units which Verne used(metre, feet, leagues), a practice forgotten until recently. Thismay be the first appearance of a work by Jules Verne in the Englishlanguage.
My Ascension at Frankfort—The Balloon, the Gas,the Apparatus, the Ballast—An Unexpected TravellingCompanion—Conversation in the Air—Anecdotes—At 800 Metres [A] —The Portfolio of the Pale YoungMan—Pictures and Caricatures—Des Rosiers and d’Arlandes—At 1200Metres—Atmospheric Phenomena—The PhilosopherCharles—Systems—Blanchard—Guyton-Morveaux—M. Julien—M. Petin—At1500 Metres—The Storm—Great Personages in Ba