THE PALIK SERIES (edited by Brian Taves)
Brian Taves talks about the series in this interview.
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The Marriage of a Marquis Contributors: Edward Baxter, Jean-Michel Margot, Walter James Miller, Kieran M. O’Driscoll, Brian Taves Now available at Amazon.com and reviewed there. |
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Jules Verne is the acclaimed author of such pioneering science fiction as 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Yet he also wrote much more, including stories never before translated into English,
which are presented for the first time in the Palik series, under the auspices of
the North American Jules Verne Society. Foreshadowing such classics as Around the
World in 80 Days, this inaugural volume focuses on two of Verne’s
earliest humorous stories, The Marriage of Mr. Anselme des Tilleuls and
Jédédias Jamet, or The Tale of an Inheritance. Translation
is provided by Edward Baxter and Kieran O’Driscoll, two of the leading Verne
experts; critical commentary examines both stories, and scholars explore why some
of the author’s stories were overlooked for so many years.
“I am a Jules Verne reader and collector. As such, I deeply appreciate the new editions of Verne being published by BearManor Fiction in its Palik Series. The most recent volume The Marriage of a Marquis features a wealth of extras, starting with essays by three of the leading Verne scholars of our time: Brian Taves, the late Walter James Miller, and Jean-Michel Margot, followed by commentary by translator Edward Baxter and an additional Verne fragment translated by Kieran M. O’Driscoll. The paperback’s gorgeous cover resembles one of the classic French Hetzel editions. Jules Verne was more than just a writer of boys’ adventures and his oeuvre extends way beyond the four or five classics that everyone knows about. He’s a writer well worth exploring and rediscovering.” “The story that gives this volume its title introduces English readers to a clever young writer’s portraits of two memorable twits living in France’s equivalent of ancient Abdera. Not the least of its attractions is Verne’s witty demonstration of the power of Latin over matters of the heart.” “I thought I knew Verne, but I had no idea how wonderful his sense of humor was until I read the first. Bravo! ” |
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Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson Translated by Sidney Kravitz; Introduction by Brian Taves Now available at Amazon.com and reviewed there. |
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Castaway by pirates on a deserted island … without tools or supplies to survive
… a mother and her children have only a kindly old sailor to help. But what
explains the strange flora and fauna they find? The second volume in the Palik series,
presented by the North American Jules Verne Society, offers another story never
before published in English. Shipwrecked Family was rejected by Verne’s
publisher, so rather than finish it, he began to rewrite it with new characters—and
that became the classic, The Mysterious Island, where Captain Nemo made
his last appearance. Here, then, is Verne’s first draft of that novel, one
which is very different from the book that it became. Expert translation is provided
by Sidney Kravitz, also translator of the definitive modern edition of The Mysterious
Island.
“Many thanks … I was very pleased you included a dedication to me as well as a still from our film. It is fascinating to read how some of his books actually got started.” |
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Mr. Chimp, and Other Plays Translated by Frank Morlock; Introduction by Jean-Michel Margot Now available at Amazon.com. |
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| Long before Jules Verne stories had formed the basis for such movies as Around the
World in 80 Days, many of his plays were theatrical blockbusters on the
19th century stage. Expert scholarly research introduces four of Verne’s
plays written in his youth, translated by Frank Morlock. Verne’s themes range
from romantic comedies to a scientist’s discovery that there may not be such
a difference between human and ape after all! Verne’s collaborators on the four plays in this volume include Michel Carré, Charles Wallut, and Victorien Sardou. Praise for the North American Jules Verne Society’s publication of the Verne play, Journey through the Impossible: |
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The Count of Chanteleine: A Tale of the French Revolution Translated by Edward Baxter; Introduction by Brian Taves; Notes by Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd, Volker Dehs Now available at Amazon.com and reviewed there. |
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| This is a novel for everyone who has thrilled to the adventures of A Tale of Two
Cities, The Scarlet Pimpernel, or Scaramouche. A nobleman,
the Count of Chanteleine, leads a rebellion against the revolutionary French government.
While he fights for the monarchy and the Catholic Church, his home is destroyed
and his wife murdered by the mob. Chanteleine must struggle to save his daughter
from the threat of the guillotine. This exciting swashbuckler is also a meticulous
historical recreation of a particularly bloody episode in the Reign of Terror. The Count of Chanteleine is the first English translation of this Jules Verne story, with expert translation by Edward Baxter, with critical commentary by an international team of Verne experts. “The Count of Chanteleine, Verne’s foray into historical fiction is a combination of The Scarlet Pimpernel, A Tale of Two Cities, or Scaramouche…. Verne was a master of plot twists and a thundering pace. It’s downright cinematic and you may polish it off in a single session. “The Count of Chanteleine belongs to the rich literary tradition inspired by the French Revolution both in France and in England. As the editor notes, it adds to the romantic view of the Revolution illustrated by Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, and Orczy’s immensely popular adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, which were to delight early twentieth-century readers. With its careful annotation and afterword by well-known Verne scholars, The Count of Chanteleine is an ideal text for readers of French fiction and particularly for those interested in nineteenth-century interpretations of the French Revolution. |
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Vice, Redemption and the Distant Colony (Fact-Finding Mission, Pierre-Jean and The Fate of Jean Morénas) Translated, with notes, by Kieran M. O’Driscoll Now available at Amazon.com. |
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Literary fraud or filial devotion? This is the question at the heart of a firestorm
that erupted two decades ago. Manuscripts and letters were discovered that proved
that Jules Verne’s son, Michel, significantly revised over a dozen of the
stories published under his father’s name, and even originated some of them
himself. It was a collaboration that had begun while both were still alive, and
continued as Michel saw to posthumous publication many of his father’s stories.
In this volume can be found one story as it was written by Jules (as Pierre-Jean),
revised by his son (into The Somber Fate of Jean Morénas)—and
subsequently brought to the silent movie screen in yet another version by Michel.
Also in these pages is the first English translation of a novel Jules began, Fact-Finding
Mission, but which his son finished, and has hitherto only been available
in the completed version by Michel. The English version and notes are by a leading
authority on Verne translations, Kieran O’Driscoll.
“Kieran O’Driscoll served as the translator for this fine volume and was also responsible for its critical notes which offer a refreshingly unbiased and nonjudgmental view on the ‘familial collaboration’ between Jules and Michel Verne and their often controversial literary (and cinematic) legacy.” |
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Around the World in 80 Days—The 1874 Play by Jules Verne and Adolphe D’Ennery; Introduction by Philippe Burgaud; with Jean-Michel Margot and Brian Taves; with Verne’s “The Meridians and the Calendar” translated and annotated by Jean-Louis Trudel; Appendix: The Play on Screen by Brian Taves Now available at Amazon.com. |
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| Verne’s most famous novel was originally conceived as a novel—and had its greatest 19th century success as a stage hit. Running for literally thousands of performances in many different countries, including the United States, here is the original playscript, translated directly from the French by the producers of the original Broadway presentation. Like filmmakers after him, Verne understood the need to adapt his novel for a new medium, and enhance the dramatic spectacle. In collaboration with Adolphe d’Ennery, Verne created a distinct variation on the novel, with many different characters and episodes. All of those who love the book will want to read Verne’s stage version. Included are an introduction by Verne scholar Philippe Burgaud and the first translation of Verne’s essay, “The Meridians and the Calendar,” explaining how Phileas Fogg accomplished his feat despite actually traveling 81 days. | |
| More volumes near completion ... | |
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Bandits & Rebels Translated by Edward Baxter; Introduction by Daniel Compère, Translated by Jean-Michel Margot and Brian Taves |
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| The Nautilus, the submarine of the outlaw Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea, was not to have been the first undersea craft imagined by
the prophetic author! A decade before that classic, Jules Verne wrote “San
Carlos,” telling of a Spanish smuggler who evades authorities with a vehicle
that can dive beneath the surface of the waves. Accompanying this story is The Siege of Rome, a historical adventure in the Alexandre Dumas tradition, recounting a romance of love and betrayal as French forces retake Rome from the Italian revolutionaries of Garibaldi in 1849. These two Verne stories are both published here in English for the first time, after acclaim from readers in France, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and even China. |
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Golden Danube Translated, with notes, by Kieran M. O’Driscoll |
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| Verne’s “Extraordinary Journeys” often used the travelogue mode, and here the author offers a voyage down the entire length of the Danube from Germany to the Black Sea. The hero is an angler in Verne’s tribute, but rather than the placid “blue” Danube of classical conception, the author offers one which is golden, in multiple ways. The humble sportsman is joined by another, more mysterious man, almost certainly not who he seems. Suspense is heightened as the police pursue smugglers operating along the Danube, who abduct the fisherman, forcing him to prove his courage. The only previous translation was from the revision by Verne’s son, Michel, entitled The Danube Pilot; Michel almost completely rewrote his father’s more elegant text, offered in this volume. | |
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A Priest in 1839 Translated, with notes, by Danièle Chatelain and George Slusser |
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Worlds Known and Unknown |
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| (Other volumes in preparation) | |
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