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The autograph map
The title, above the geographical indications: Lincoln Island (and not, in French,
île Lincoln
), done in black ink with fine round vertical characters
which Jules Verne thickened with a fine blue border to create a slight relief effect.
The island, whose tortured shape and tentacle-like appendages suggest some fantastic cephalopod or bizarre crustacean, complete with claws – surely
a sea-monster! Although some, accurately enough, see the shape of an elephant’s head. The author drew the contours in red ink and, in the heat of
inspiration, detailed the topography, suggested relief using conventional hatchings, indicated areas of vegetation in light pencil (without inking),
sketching the light undergrowth the engraver’s burin would make legible.
Verne drew with care, but without excessive preciseness, leaving no important details out. The pen-work is like Verne himself – showing much appli-
cation, meticulous, almost the work of a miniaturist. Notice how tiny the lettering becomes – the careful calligraphy of an accountant accustomed
to writing in small, cramped columns, reminding us that the author was once a stock-exchange employee. This is no mere summary sketch, but an
already-detailed, clear drawing of the final map, one Verne intended for the engraver to reproduce in its essential lines, giving it cartographic cre-
dibility, specifying the contours of the coastlines (merely suggested by the author), enriching it with relief hatchings and the depth curves found in
navigational charts.
An amusing detail: a paper patch applied by Jules Verne, doubtless to mask an inkblot or a too-vigorous erasure. On it, he wrote “
Harbour Road
,” and,
legibly, “
Ducks Fens
.”
Only the place names were to change. And that is where things become interesting.
The map he imagined and drew is in English
From his earliest novels, Jules Verne had a soft spot for the Anglo-Saxons, and especially the English, who were highly enterprising travellers in the 19
th
century – Dr. Fergusson, Captain Hatteras, Phileas Fogg –, but whom he found to be stiff and cold despite their picturesqueness and quickly abandoned
in favour of Americans – callow, warm-hearted adventurers in love with freedom.
The author himself admitted he had no mastery of English, but he loved the words and expressions that dot the atlases. They were an endless source
of inspiration, and we find them here:
Serpentine Peninsula, Little Cove, Claw Cap, Reptile End, Heart Lake, Franklin Mount, Union Bay, Shark Gulf,
Mandible Cape
, and so on.
Jules Verne wanted his map to be authentically Anglo-Saxon, but between his drawing and the final proofs, he gave up on that idea, doubtless at Het-
zel’s request. The text of the novel was corrected. This is a discovery. What we are seeing here is the spontaneity of a first draft, none of which was to
remain in the final version. All the names would change (
Heart Lake
became
Lac Grant
;
Shark Gulf
was changed to
Marais des Tadornes
) or be literally
translated (
Falls River
became
Rivière de la Chute
) to make them more mnemonic for his French readers.
Newly discovered working notes
All the place names are still part of the drawing. None of them are written in the margin. The legends provide information and reference points on
locations and distances not found on the final map. They served to avoid inconsistencies. With them, Verne was able to estimate the time necessary for
his heroes’ many comings and goings and follow Cyrus Smith, Gedeon Spilett, Pencrofft, and Harbert in their travels through their kingdom, stopwatch
in hand.
For example, we learn that the circumference of the island by sea is 90 miles, that the coastline covers 110 miles, and that the length of
Mercy River
is 7 miles.
The same details are given for
Heart Lake
(circumference: 6 miles; area: 100 hectares),
East Land
(200 hectares) and
Shark Gulf
(2,500 hectares). And
for the
îlot (?)
(illegible), which must be
Safety Islet
(length: 2 miles).
Next are twelve distance lines from one point to another, meant to serve as a route guide, supported by a scale in leagues and in miles (Verne specifies
the nautical mile, or 1,852 m).
The author’s conversion of acres to hectares, exact for
Heart Lake
, appears very doubtful in subsequent cases.
Longitude (150° 30’) and latitude (34° 57’) are already set down in degrees and minutes, but not in seconds. They were to remain unchanged.
But this extraordinary document is not isolated. It is accompanied by a second one, forming the complete dossier of the illustrations for the text publi-
shed in the
Magasin d’Education et de Récréation
, then in the octavo edition of the novel:
– A proof, which we describe as “before the fact,” on which Jules Verne modifies and complements the legends in red ink, enabling us to track the evo-
lution of his creative work.
– The final print added by Éric Weissenberg, from the
Magasin d’Education et de Récréation
.
We should point out that the hand-drawn map and the corrected proof were discovered
together
.
The corrected, complemented proof
We note that on the proof, the essential work has already been done. Seven legends, either translated or converted to French form, are found on it. All
indications of size or distance have disappeared. All that remained for Verne was to add the final modifications, in red ink:
– Correction of an error: We can see that he crossed out
Lac Grand
and substituted
Lac Grant
.
– Graphical enrichments:
Indiquer des arbres autour du lac sur les rives (“Show trees around the lake, on the shores”)
. He suggests them with small
pen strokes.
– Elsewhere, he specifies a mineralogical characteristic:
Basaltes
(“
basalt
”) for the shoreline adjacent to Mount Franklin. Since it might have led to
confusion, since the map otherwise had only topographical markings, that detail is not found on the final plate.
– Finally, Verne added seven legends, numbered 8 to 14:
Crypte Dakkar
(Dakkar Grotto),
Pont de la Mercy
(Mercy Bridge),
Grotte des Dunes
(Dunes
Grotto),
Huîtrière
(Oyster-bed),
Creek Glycerine
(Glycerine Creek – “Glycerine” spelled in English, without the accent; the French acute accent was
added to the final plate),
Caverne des Jaguars
(Jaguar Cavern),
Gisements de houille et de fer
(Coal and iron beds).
The longitude reading was set too high on the meridian. He scratched it out and rewrote it at the bottom of the engraving.
He requested a second proof,
in duplicate
, and signed
J Verne
.
It its authenticity, its universality, and its evocative power, this beautiful map of the Island – the most famous of all imaginary lands, along with that of
Robinson Crusoe – cannot fail to move us. A pure product of its author’s mind, it possesses all the poetry of a childhood dream and is the sole illustration
the creator felt the need to set down in his own hand to accompany his finest novel.
Éric Weissenberg showed it only to such rare connoisseurs as he felt were worthy to see it. He defended it and kept it under close guard, as the jealous
husband of a much-coveted wife refuses even to allow her to appear in public, choosing not to reveal its existence in the publications of the Jules Verne
Society or in his book on the author. As a result, it had never been heard of outside a small circle of initiates. It was his collector’s secret.
Considering the universal renown of its author, this unique remembrance is a document of worldwide interest, which needs no translation. The for-
tunate acquirer who takes possession of this Mysterious Island will show that he or she has understood, better than others have, its importance for the
author himself as well as its value as symbol, which it will always have for readers around the globe.
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MARS 2017 | DROUOT