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collection) that he kept lined up in huge racks. Elsewhere, in a drawer, we find the Turpin trial files – the inventor of the
“mélinite” who believed that he had been defamed and ridiculed by Jules Verne in Facing the Flag...
Everyone had heard of this collection. But few have actually had the privilege of seeing it. This third collection equals
or surpasses the two previous ones, providing ample material for an exhibition and for use in illustrating the book its
creator wrote about it, indeed built almost entirely around it, using the treasures it contained: Jules Verne, un univers
fabuleux. As the tireless editor of the Collectors’ section of the review of the Jules Verne Society, many photographs of
his books went into illustrating the work by Philippe Jauzac – who also left us all too early –, Jules Verne, Hetzel et les
cartonnages illustratés, a true bible of connoisseurs.
Every temple derives its prestige from the relics it contains. Among other treasures, public museums and the National
Library are proud to house autographs. Éric Weissenberg worked to bring together anything that crossed his path that
might have escaped their diligence, eyes ever open and seemingly possessed of the gift of ubiquity, drawing on his
network of friends, faithful sentinels – booksellers, dealers in second-hand goods and antique dealers – and incidental
go-betweens, all devoted allies who were fond of him for his profound knowledge and his kindness.
For Éric Weissenberg was characterized by a rare discretion, simplicity and modesty, sharing his knowledge and
revealing his “tips” without ever deriving the slightest satisfaction from his erudition. Quite to the contrary, he was
always open to new information and attentive to contradiction. Everything took place entre nous. His visits to the rue
de l’Odéon were marked by warmth and simplicity, sometimes including, as preliminary, some thoughtful gesture such
as a box of Swiss chocolates as a peace offering! … That’s the sort of man he was… Then he would rapidly look over our
shelves, his sharp eye missing nothing, and then once again remove from his bag and examine a voluminous corpus of
thick notebooks, crammed with small secrets, swarming with notes and nearly worn-out from use.
His periodic visits led to vibrant yet peaceful discussions – always tempered by his soft voice and charming Geneva
accent, musical and with the slightest drawl – of infinitesimal details such a typesetting error in a modest paperback
edition (which he searched for because he had found it!) or the solution of a problem regarding a difference of opinion
on a first duodecimo edition. And it was not often that he took leave of us without having found, if not a major disco-
very – when such a search had prompted his visit –, one or two unknown and unappreciated items of whose importance
only he had been aware…
And once included in its logical place in his overall edifice, even the most modest item that fell into his hands took on
nobility and found its place in the Hetzel lineage.
In designating us to his children to conduct an inventory of his collections and serve as experts, Éric Weissenberg paid
us the most magnificent compliment possible, one which is also and more than anything a moving testimony of his
esteem and friendship. Even though, unbeknownst to us, he had been ill for a long time, his departure was sudden and
he never apprised us of the secret trust he had in us. Did we deserve it? His decision came as a surprise and that question
will always torment us, however hard we work to justify that trust and show that we are worthy of it.
Methodical and meticulous in his role as curator, Éric Weissenberg left us a complete file (he trusted paper more than
virtual formats!) in which not a single detail (regarding provenance and rare or unsuspected details) is lacking and
many of which – we admit with frankness – would surely have escaped us. We will see to it that these thousands of cards
covered with precious information (carefully written out, one for each object!) remain together and classified and sur-
vive the numerous sales that will disperse its many treasures.
The liquidation of any succession is difficult, and complicated by family, legal and financial issues of all types, resul-
ting, by turns, in setbacks and precipitation. After our surprise at the last call from his son Daniel – two years after
an initial exchange with his brother Luc – we were caught up in deadlines and there was suddenly no time to explore
other paths.
As a result we painfully regret, as do his children, that this exceptional Verne collection, the only one of its size ever to
be offered at auction, will be dispersed. The work has been done. And what remarkable work! The work of an entire
life. All that was lacking was a place in which to house it. It would have been an opportunity for an enterprising spon-
sor – whether a public entity or an individual – to create a museum worthy of Paris (near the Stock Exchange where
Jules Verne once worked) devoted to the most universal of writers of young people’s books, and whose learned, but also
varied, colourful, and often spectacular contents would have drawn eager visits from families and rivalled the ones in
Nantes and Amiens in its richness and attractiveness.