Jules-Descartes Férat is a French painter, painter, etcher and illustrator.

He has illustrated books by many renowned authors such as Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe and Victor Hugo. Some critics regard his illustrations for Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island as the pinnacle of his creative skills. He has also worked extensively for periodicals, including Magasin d'Education et de Recreation (Journal of Education and Entertainment), L'Illustration and L'Univers Illustré. Magasin d'Education et de Recreation was published from 1864 to 1906. It owed its popularity mainly to Jules Verne, who published thirty novels on its pages.

On December 15, 1875, in the Parisian Journal of Education and Entertainment, intended for young audiences, the publication of one of the best novels of the French writer Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island (French “L’Île mystérieuse”), ended.

Readers' interest in the magazine edition of this work has been invariably maintained for 2 years, since the beginning of the novel reached subscribers as early as January 1, 1874. Great place the novel was occupied with a description of chemical processes and technologies ("... it will be a novel about chemistry ..." - wrote Jules Verne in a letter to the publisher), and the author spent a lot of time at chemical factories, consulted with chemists.

The Mysterious Island was published by Etzel in three separate books. The first part is “The Mysterious Island. Crash in the Air "- released on September 10, 1874, the second -" Mysterious Island. Abandoned "- April 12, 1875, and" Mysterious Island. The Mystery of the Island "- October 28, 1875. On November 22, 1875, an illustrated (152 illustrations by Jules-Descartes Fer, engraved by Charles Barbant, which some critics regard as the pinnacle of the artist's creative skill) edition of the novel came out. This was the ninth "double" (or rather "built" if judging by the volume) volume of "Extraordinary Travels".

“The Robinsonades,” recalled Jules Verne in his declining years, “were the books of my childhood, and I have an indelible memory of them. I re-read them many times, and this contributed to the fact that they were imprinted in my memory. Never afterwards, when reading other works, did I experience more impressions of the first years. There is no doubt that my love for this kind of adventure instinctively led me to the road I followed later. This love made me write "The Robinson School", "The Mysterious Island", "Two Years of Vacation", the heroes of which are close relatives of Defoe and Vis. Therefore, no one will be surprised that I completely devoted myself to the composition of "Extraordinary Travels". The very word "Robinsonade" entered literature as early as the 18th century, when in many European countries dozens of books began to appear one after another, written under the influence of "Robinson Crusoe" (1719), the world famous novel, penned by the English writer Daniel Defoe. Robinsonades depict the vicissitudes of the work life of either one person or a small group of people who find themselves on a desert island. In the 19th century, new samples of "Robinsonade" were created mainly by the authors of adventure novels, who developed the adventurous side of the plot due to its ideological content. In contrast, Jules Verne's "Robinsonades" are full of deep social meaning, they are, one might say, philosophical novels, despite the fact that they are intended for young readers.

The Mysterious Island, the best of his novels, the Robinsonade, was conceived even before Jules Verne became Jules Verne.

An unfinished manuscript belongs to the early 60s - the first still very weak sketch later famous book... On the title page in large letters: "Uncle Robinson".

A certain Mrs. Clifton and her four children - Marie, Robert, Jean and Bella - are thrown by a storm on an uninhabited island in the North Pacific Ocean. Their fate is shared by the experienced French sailor Flip, who led a small colony. The kids call him "Uncle Robinson." A few days later, Mr. Clifton, who miraculously escaped on the same island with his faithful dog Fido, finds his family. Clifton is a skilled engineer He makes fire, makes gunpowder, methodically cultivates this wild corner of the earth, in every possible way improving the conditions for the existence of the colonists.

In the future, many characters and episodes will be transferred in a modified form to the pages of the "Mysterious Island" Engineer Clifton will turn into Cyrus Smith, the sailor Flip - into Pencroft, Robert Clifton - into Herbert Brown. Even the dog Fido will act there under a different nickname, and the island itself, with all its flora and fauna, up to the orangutan, will be transferred to the South Pacific.

Ten years later, shortly before moving to Amiens, Jules Verne was fired up with the idea of writing a novel about the amazing results of the labor activity of a small group of people who found themselves on a desert island. He decided to take the manuscript of "Uncle Robinson" as a basis, but Etzel, having familiarized himself with the "pale Robinson," rejected it without any condescension:

I advise you to drop all this and start over, otherwise it will be a complete failure.
- And yet there is the grain of the novel here! - Jules Verne answered confidently.

But the "grain" could not germinate for a long time. The plot stubbornly did not add up. In the meantime, “in between times,” he managed to write a brilliant novel Around the World in Eighty Days, but what he considered his main business - “Robinsonade” - was still not working.

While he pondered and rejected options, readers continued to send letters with requests to resurrect Captain Nemo and reveal his secret, not solved by Professor Aronax in the novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." And when one day the writer decided to return to the story of Nemo, and at the same time also to connect the plot lines of the new "Robinsonade", with "Children of Captain Grant", the plan finally matured, and he immediately set to work.

In February 1873, Jules Verne told the publisher: “I surrendered myself entirely to Robinson, or rather, to the Mysterious Island. Rolling as if on wheels. I meet chemistry professors, visit chemical factories, and every time I come back with stains on my clothes, which I will attribute to your account, because "The Mysterious Island" will be a novel about chemistry. I try in every possible way to increase interest in the mysterious stay of Captain Nemo on the island in order to gradually prepare a crescendo ... "" Natalia Nemchinova.

Unlike the classic book by Daniel Defoe, the unnamed, uninhabited island becomes the haven not for a lone hero, but for a whole group of Americans:

Neb (Nebuchadnezzar) is a former slave and now a devoted servant of Cyrus Smith. Knows a lot about blacksmithing. Was a cook in a granite palace;

Gideon Spilett is a military journalist and friend of Smith, a very energetic and decisive man with an ebullient mind. Besides, he is a passionate hunter;

Bonaventure Pencroft is a sailor, a good-natured man and an adventurous daredevil. As usual with sailors, a jack of all trades. Heavy smoker;.
Herbert (Harbert) Brown is the fifteen-year-old son of the captain of the ship on which Pencroff sailed, an orphan. The sailor treats him like his own son. The young man showed deep knowledge in natural sciences;

as well as Top - Cyrus Smith's faithful dog.
Later they were joined by:

Jupe (Jupiter) - an orangutan, tamed during the invasion of monkeys to the Granite Palace, who became a friend to people, a servant and an irreplaceable helper;

Ayrton is the sixth colonist brought by Spilett, Pencroff and Herbert from a trip to Tabor Island. At first, he was a wild creature that had lost his mind. Then, after the mind returned to him, he was constantly tormented by a guilt complex for what he had done earlier, which is why he settled in the corral.

Summary

Caught in the slave-owning South during the American Civil War, the daredevils fled to hot-air balloon from the besieged by the northerners of Richmond, hoping to join the fighters against slavery. This happened on March 23, 1865. However, caught by a hurricane, these people, along with their dog Top, find themselves very far from their goal. Courageous, skillful and hardworking, also sponsored by some mysterious and powerful assistant, they spend 4 years on the island named after President Lincoln and create their own world:
plow the land, build a pottery workshop,
breed cattle, smelt iron,
building a mill
hydraulic lift,
telegraph

and other "miracles" of technology,
Along the way, protecting your island from the pirates who have arrived.

Soon, thanks to their hard work and intelligence, the colonists no longer know the need for food, clothing, warmth and comfort. They have everything except news of their homeland, about the fate of which they are very worried about. As a reviewer of one of the old Russian newspapers correctly noted, "this novel is, so to speak, in the foreshortening - the history of European civilization in connection with the history of the development of science."

In the end, they find a mysterious patron who turns out to be Captain Nemo, who later dies aboard his miracle submarine "Nautilus".

One day, on June 22, 1867, these three people, who knew nothing about the past of Captain Nemo, managed to escape, taking possession of one of the boats of the Nautilus.
If you recall the beginning, then the heroes rushed from Richmond in 1865. It turns out that Smith and Spillett somehow telepathically got acquainted with the work of the valiant Aronax. And this with an acute addiction to the description of all kinds of curlicues, trinkets and other "magnificent decoration" ...

The volcanic eruption that has begun practically destroys the island, but our heroes leave for their homeland, meeting the yacht "Duncan", under the command of Captain Robert Grant, who read a note found in Ayrton's former hut on Tabor Island (Nemo left her there shortly before his death). Thus "The Mysterious Island" completed the famous trilogy of Jules Verne, begun by "Children of Captain Grant" (1867) and continued with the book "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1869).

The Mysterious Island (1875), one of the most famous novels by the founder of science fiction, French writer Jules Verne, describes the story of five people who escaped from captivity in a balloon and ended up on a desert island in Pacific... Thanks to their courage, intelligence, work and nobility, they manage not only to survive, but also to conquer themselves wildlife islands. Incredible adventures, sudden plot twists, mysterious phenomena and mysteries that the heroes are trying to penetrate, make this novel a masterpiece of action-packed literature.

Mysterious Island Jules Verne

During the civil war in the United States, five brave northerners escape from captivity in a balloon. A terrible storm throws them ashore uninhabited island... The courage and talents of the new settlers of the island help them to arrange their lives, not feeling the need for food, clothing, or warmth and comfort. The peaceful stay of the "Robinsons" on the island is disturbed by the threat of pirate attacks, but some mysterious force helps them in the most difficult situations. The book contains 129 illustrations.

A very mysterious island Vladimir Malov

In the fascinating and funny fantasy stories of the famous writer Vladimir Malov, the same schoolchildren heroes act. Two of them are our contemporaries, and two live ... three hundred years later, in the distant XXIII century. Nevertheless, the guys have a strong friendship, and from time to time they participate in the most incredible adventures together. The book includes the fourth and fifth stories of the cycle. The extraordinary adventures of the four friends will continue in the next book.

Thrill Island Maria Zhukova-Gladkova

Taking hostages in a bathhouse is something new, especially if a middle-aged lady demands the return of her husband Gennady, who left for his mistress. Journalist Yulia Smirnova neutralizes the "terrorist", but during the turmoil in the bathhouse, two businessmen are killed, and this was clearly done by someone else! It turns out that the brother of one of them once served under Gennady on a remote northern island. An old treasure was found there, only a small part of which was taken to The mainland... And the people who visited the island after the military unit was removed from it began to die ...

Demon Island John Bowman

In John Bowman's fascinating novel, the young nobleman Pierre and his bride Marguerite fall into a cycle of dangerous intrigues at the royal court of Francis I. Fate throws them on the mysterious island of Demons, about which incredible things are told ...

Abandoned island Wolfgang Holbein

Have you already read The Mysterious Island by J. Verne? Do not be sad, because the winds of wanderings are blowing into tight sails again, a salty wave boils overboard again, and your heart sighs sweetly in anticipation of amazing and dangerous travels, joyful discoveries and victories. This means that exciting adventures continue! The hero of the first book of the new cycle of the German writer V. Holbein "Children of Captain Nemo" Mike is the son of the fearless prince of Dakkar, the captain of the legendary "Nautilus". A sixteen-year-old pupil of a prestigious English school did not even suspect ...

Lake of Fire Lena Kaaberbol

It all started when Tarani got angry with her brother Peter and inadvertently declared that she did not want to see him again. And Peter really disappeared. The search of the young man led his sorceress friends to a mysterious island, in the rocks of which a passage to another world was hidden. Will the girls dare to open the doors to this world and challenge the powerful evil sorceress? ..

Uncle Robinson Jules Verne

"Uncle Robinson" is Jules Verne's first attempt to create an adventure novel in which the cognitive principle would be organically combined with a lively, intricate intrigue. Many motives of this unfinished work have been transferred to the famous "Mysterious Island".

The Long Way to Happiness Victoria Holt

The charming young Ellen Kelleway, being in the position of a poor relative in the rich house of her second cousin, could not help but rejoice in unexpected happiness - she was proposed by a charming aristocrat, Lord Carrington. It would seem a brilliant game! But everything collapsed, and did not have time to begin. The tragedy that played out almost on the eve of the wedding led the unfortunate girl to a remote, forgotten corner, to a mysterious island where her distant relatives lived. It was here that she was destined to learn through suffering, doubts and fears ...

Golden Morning Carol Marsh

Katie Wilcox and Fiske Spencer met not in the best period of their lives - both recently suffered a fiasco in love, and each vowed to himself that he would never again waste time on this "stupid feeling". In addition, they are separated by a huge social gap: Spencer is one of the wealthiest people in America, the owner of land on a protected island; Katie is an aspiring journalist aspiring with a dream to pursue a career as a photojournalist. There is nothing in common between them, but from the very first minute, contrary to logic, they experience a fierce attraction, and with their hearts ...

"If", 1995 No. 04 Douglas Adams

FANTASTIC AND FUTUROLOGY JOURNAL Contents: Thomas Disch. NICE LITTLE TOASTER GOES FOR MARS. The story. Robert Bloch. MYSTERIOUS ISLAND OF DOCTOR NORK. Julius Kim. IT'S GOOD THAT THE SONGS ARE SINGING AGAIN. L. Ron Hubbard. NEGATIVE DIMENSION. Alexander Glazunov. THE PHILADELPHE EXPERIMENT ... CONTINUING? Jack Williamson. PRESENT. Douglas Adams. GALAXY GUIDE FOR TRAVELERS BY AUTOSTOP. Novels. Yuri Borev. LAUGH PLEASE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

Aunt Caroline Island František Pilarz

What would you do if you found out that the island belongs to you? A whole island in the ocean! True, inhabited by aborigines, poor, unenlightened savages, who do not even know what socks are. You, of course, set off on a journey, on the first long journey across the oceans in your life, into the unknown, on adventure. So what if you, while awesome, are a fat old woman? So what if a horde of adventurers and secret agents rushes after you with a variety of goals? You have a task - to plant the flag of your ...

Island. Forgotten Alive Vyacheslav Denisov

Luxury transatlantic liner "Kassandra", chartered by a little-known travel company, commits sea cruise from Havana to Bermuda. There are more than 1000 passengers on board: Italians, French, Americans, Russian Germans ... they all enjoy the trip, bask in the sun, swim in the pools, play billiards, chat, drink in the bar ... And only a few of them find a lot of things strange here: no one I have never seen the captain of the guests of the ship, his assistant calls the inaccurate coordinates of their location mysteriously disappears ...

Island Rus 2, or Princess Leokada Julius Burkin

This book is a real gift for those who fell in love with the heroes of the cool trilogy of Yuli Burkin and Sergei Lukyanenko "The Island of Rus". These are the new adventures of Kostya and Stas, their friends Kubatay and Smolyanin, the Sphinx Shidla and others - in the past and the future, in reality and virtuality, on Earth and on Venus. And also on the mysterious and sinister planet Leokada. In "Princess Leokada" the hero of "Island of Rus" Stas acted as a co-author. Stanislav, the son of Yuli Burkin, is now a writer and laureate of the Debut national literary prize. Artist A. E. Dubovik Computer ...

Pirrow Island Alexander Sharov

Science fiction stories and novels by the famous prose writer Alexander Sharov have left a noticeable mark on Russian literature. There is always a paradox in his works - a collision of deep philosophical content with the external grotesqueness of form; satire and bitter irony; unexpected plot moves; actions, seemingly devoid of logic, and the destruction of social stereotypes. This collection will be a gift for all fans of science fiction and fans of Sharov's work, because, in addition to the most striking works of the author: "Pirrow Island", ...

Crimea Island Vasily Aksenov

History textbooks lie! Crimea during the Civil War was not taken by the Bolsheviks, but remained a free and independent territory, whose name is the Island of Crimea. This fantastic historical hypothesis formed the basis of what is probably the most famous Aksyonov novel, which was first published in 1981 in America and was then inaccessible to the Russian reader. Since then, twenty years have passed, Crimea has indeed become an island for us in many ways, and we are still reading this fascinating book with a fast-paced plot, exciting adventures and bright ...

Mysterious Island (Illustrations by P. Lugansky) Verne Jules

Table of contents

FOREWORD

In 1872, the world famous writer Jules Verne, who was at the very peak of his fame and in full creative bloom, had just been awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor, suddenly left the "city-beacon" of Paris and permanently moved to the quiet provincial Amiens.

His whole way of life changed dramatically. Until recently, his mansion in the Parisian suburb of Auteuil was a meeting place for scientists, inventors, engineers, geographers, travelers and even members of the International. Now in Amiens, his house, separated from the street by a large garden and surrounded by a high stone wall, became something like a fortress, where a rare visitor could enter only by ringing a large copper bell at the main entrance.

But even this seemed to be not enough for the writer. He even fenced himself off from his house, setting up his study in a secluded stone tower.

The very character of Jules Verne has also changed. He became morose, unsociable; " polar bear standing on his hind legs ”- this is how he characterized himself. He almost did not meet with people, spent the whole day in strenuous work and left the house only for a walk and at meetings of the Amiens Academy - the oldest scientific society of Picardy, of which he was a full member.

Moreover, this resettlement to the provinces left an imprint on all of his work: dark shadows fell on the pages of his still optimistic books. Science fiction receded into the background, and its place was taken by social and historical novels.

What made the merry fellow and joker Jules Verne almost a misanthrope? What event happened in 1871 and what kind of shadow fell on the entire second half of the writer's life?

... On the morning of March 28, 1871, Paris woke up in a bright sunshine. Banners fluttered in the streets and an ocean of people moved under arms. On the flagstaffs were red Phrygian caps, symbolizing freedom, and the soldiers' rifles were decorated with red ribbons.

The drums were beating dully, especially the beat of two large drums of Montmartre - those that sounded the alarm on the night of the Germans entering the capital and on the morning of March 18 - the day of the uprising of the proletariat - woke the Parisians.

Then, the elected representatives of the people, members of the Council of the Commune, came to the stands, erected on the Place de Grève in front of the building of the Paris City Duma, to take over the power transferred to them by the Commune of the City of Paris. Horns played when they took an oath of allegiance to the people. The heavy roar of the cannons welcomed the revolution. There were no speeches, only the cry: "Long live the Commune!", But the Marseillaise, like a bird, flew over Paris ...

It was a completely new Paris, where, it seemed, all the dreams of young Jules Verne were supposed to come true - the dreams that he had hidden in himself for twenty years of the Napoleonic empire. It was the first state of the proletarian dictatorship in the world - the realization of the hopes and the goal of the life of his friends: Pascal Grusset, Elise Reclus, Louise Michel.

This summer, Pascal Grusset assumed a leadership role in the new government. He was a delegate of foreign relations, that is, he was in charge of all foreign affairs of the Commune.

Elise Reclus, who denied all authority in general and was true to his convictions, refused to be a delegate to the Commune. But he was faithful to her to the end: first he helped organize an aeronautical park, and then fought like a simple soldier with the Versaillese.

Louise Michel from the very first day became an ordinary soldier of the Commune - in a soldier's uniform, with a gun in her hands.

But the Commune lasted only 72 days. The dark days of France came.

Ash flew over Paris, as if after an eruption. The building of the City Duma, where so recently the Commune of the City of Paris was solemnly proclaimed under the morning sun, was burning down.

The orgy of open murders committed by soldiers intoxicated with blood, who mowed down the people like grass, ended, but death continued its work, donning a judicial robe. Officially, the number of victims of the Versailles massacre was estimated at thirty-five thousand people, but one hundred thousand Parisian workers disappeared without a trace from their apartments these days.

The Paris Academy stopped working, but countless restaurants opened, where officers in gilded uniforms danced with beauties in lace.

Elise Reclus, taken prisoner with a weapon in his hands, was tied up and taken into custody. When they were leading him down the street, some smartly dressed gentleman ran up to him and struck the great geographer a terrible blow on the head, from which he lost consciousness. Reclus recognized him as one of the members geographic society- the same one whose secretary was the great humanist Paganel, the hero of the novel "Children of Captain Grant".

The court sentenced Recla to life in prison. In a prison cell, shackled, he worked on the second volume of his world famous book "Earth" ...

Pascal Grousset, as one of the leaders of the Commune, and Louise Michel were sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.

Jules Verne wandered through deserted Paris, and Parisian ashes fell on him. The skeleton of the City Duma looked at him with blind, broken windows. He did not want to be a writer anymore, he was ready to return to the Stock Exchange or even put on the mantle of a lawyer, but he was forty-three years old and did not have the strength to start new life…

There is no doubt that it was in those days that a plan to leave Paris for good was born and took shape in the writer's soul: it was an internal emigration from Thiers's "republic", which turned out to be even more reactionary than the empire of Napoleon III.

In 1872, immediately after moving to Amiens, Jules Verne began work on the huge novel The Mysterious Island, which, together with the novel The Children of Captain Grant and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, constituted a trilogy.

The most beautiful edition of the book The Mysterious Island of Jules Verne to date. Publisher: NIGMA. A gift for readers.

The book is ideal as a gift for both children and adults. The drawings can be viewed endlessly, they are real masterpieces of book illustration.

The edition is no less masterpiece than the illustrations.

Five brave northerners flee from the city of Richmond taken by the southerners in a balloon. After a terrible storm, they find themselves on the shore of an uninhabited island. Life on the island becomes a real test of their ingenuity and courage. They manage not only to survive, but also to create a small civilization: they raise livestock, grow wheat from a single grain, make objects of labor and household items in their own small factories, and even conduct a real telegraph.

However, the island turns out to be not so uninhabited - someone mysterious saves the heroes of the novel from certain death more than once.

The book contains an abridged version of the novel (which is good, since full version- this is such a volume that today hardly anyone can read).

Edition illustrated famous artist Anatoly Itkin, a master of the historical adventure genre, who created illustrations for more than two hundred works of Russian and foreign literature.

If you just need a full-text non-abridged edition, there are such good options:

www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/4633285/ - very expensive exclusive edition, illustrations - Gordeev.

www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/5417278/ - both illustrations and full text. Fera, the French respect this artist.

www.labirint.ru/books/375454/- one of the best editions, but it is difficult to get it, it has not been on sale for a long time

www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/23889436/ - budget and therefore inexpensive, but high-quality edition

www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/1342933/ - the golden fund of world classics, the AST series, there are also other works, all in one volume of almost a thousand pages

Mysterious island drawings are returned. Mysterious Island (Illustrations by P. Lugansky). Aunt Caroline Island František Pilarz