© 1993 - 2023 North American Jules Verne Society, Inc. — a 501(c)(3) Corporation
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
A Trip to the Moon in Ninety-Seven Hours
From the Earth to the Moon; The Trip Direct in 97 Hours 20 Minutes
Baltimore Gun Club, The
A Journey to the Moon and Round About It
De la terre à la lune (1865)
This book is followed by a sequel
Around the Moon. It is sometimes published on its own, or with that book.
Member Andrew Nash’s website contains all the English title variations.
Plot Synopsis:
(courtesy of member Dennis Kytasaari’s - website)
Barbicane and members of the Baltimore Gun Club conceive of a plan to travel to the moon via a gigantic cannon.
For audio recommendations for this title, click here.
Review(s):
The Annotated Jules Verne: From the Earth to the Moon
Translator & Critical Material: Walter James Miller. New York City, NY: Gramercy,
1995. 172 pages.
Hardcover — ISBN-10: 0517148331, ISBN-13: 978-0517148334
In the 1960’s Walter James Miller discovered that the conventional translations
of Verne’s novels omitted at least 20% of the stories, and made in addition
many textual and factual blunders. To correct this in 1978 Crowell published his
new translation, an annotated version which contains many footnotes and illustrations
of the period relating to the science of the time. It also restores Verne’s
reputation as a scientific author as well as a fictional story teller. Out of print
for many years, it has been reprinted by Gramercy: 1995, which should enlarge the
pool of books available for purchase.
-- Norm Wolcott, “The best annotated translation 1978, reprinted 1995,”
posted on Amazon June 11, 2006.
review obtained 12 Jan 2009
Amazing Journeys: Five Visionary Classics
Contains: Journey to the Center of the Earth; From the Earth to
the Moon; Circling the Moon; 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas;
Around the World in 80 Days
Translator & Critical Material: Frederick Paul Walter. Albany, NY: SUNY Press,
2010. 668 pages. some illus.
Softcover — ISBN-10: 1438432380 , ISBN-13: 978-1438432380
See the review for this edition on this
page.
From the Earth to the Moon: All Around the Moon (His Space
Novels)
Translator: Edward Roth. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1960. 470 pages.
Hardcover
NOT RECOMMENDED (read why below).
This translation, published by Dover Books in 1960, is the 1874-1876 English translation
Verne’s two moon novels by Edward Roth, a Philadelphia school-teacher. In
no sense a translation, it is more a parody or retelling of the French original
with many embellishments and additions by the author. In spite of its textual delinquency
the Roth translations are of interest as they provide in appendices the first discussion
in English of the mathematics of Verne’s space flight and actually correct
one of the misprinted equations found in the second half entitled “All Round
the Moon”, and contain for the first time in English these equations as written
by Verne. This Dover edition is also of interest as it contains some of the best
reproductions of the original Hetzel illustrations on acid free paper, in fact the
book might be recommended for the illustrations alone. For a more accurate translation
one could read the Heritage Press version or the “Annotated Jules Verne: From
the Earth to the Moon” by Walter James Miller, Crowell: 1978, reprinted by
Gramercy: 1995 which however only covers the first of the two novels in this book.
-- Norm Wolcott, “An obsolete translation, but illustrated with original woodcuts,”
posted on Amazon June 11, 2006.
review obtained 12 Jan 2009
From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon
Translator: Rev. Lewis Page Mercier and Harald Salemson. Heritage Press, 1970. 425
pages.
Hardcover —
NOT RECOMMENDED (read why below)
The original 1872 English translation by Rev. Lewis Page Mercier omits about 20%
of the story, including all the science and mathematics which Verne included. This
restored translation, uncredited, but listed in bibliographies as by Harald Salemson,
is a restored version including the material which Mercier left out and correcting
many of his blunders. This edition converts all of Verne’s various units into
English units and Fahrenheit degrees, thus destroying part of the original flavor
of the book. Also the French expletives do not translate well into English equivalents.
Long out of print, this 1970 edition is the first in the 19th century
to do justice to the original French of Jules Verne. If you grew up with the original
Mercier version, you may want to read this to see what you missed.
-- Norm Wolcott, “A Restored Translation from the original of Lewis Mercier,”
posted on Amazon June 12, 2006.
review obtained 12 Jan 2009
From the Earth to the Moon
Translator: Edward Roth. New York City, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2005. 259 pages.
Hardcover — ISBN-10: 0760765197, ISBN-13: 978-0760765197
NOT RECOMMENDED (read why below).
This translation, one of the Barnes and Noble “Classics Editions”, is
the 1874 English translation by Edward Roth, a Philadelphia school-teacher. In no
sense a translation, it is more a parody or retelling of the French original with
many embellishments and additions by the author. The editor is Aaron Parett, an
English professor from Montana. In an appendix the editor mentions that for further
reading one might try the complete translation by Walter James Miller, “The
Annotated Jules Verne: From the Earth to the Moon” published by Crowell: 1978
and reprinted by Gramercy: 1995. (In reading reviews, make sure the review applies
to this ISBN: 07060765197)