Baltimore Gun Club Series by Jules Verne

Verne's 1865 tale of a trip to the moon is (as you'd expect from Verne) great fun, even if bits of it now seem, in retrospect, a little strange. Our rocket ship gets shot out of a cannon? To the moon? Goodness! But in other ways it's full of eerie bits of business that turned out to be very near reality: he had the cost, when you adjust for inflation, almost exactly right. There are other similarities, too. Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia... moreVerne's 1865 tale of a trip to the moon is (as you'd expect from Verne) great fun, even if bits of it now seem, in retrospect, a little strange. Our rocket ship gets shot out of a cannon? To the moon? Goodness! But in other ways it's full of eerie bits of business that turned out to be very near reality: he had the cost, when you adjust for inflation, almost exactly right. There are other similarities, too. Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia. Apollo 11 had a three-person crew, just as Verne's did; and both blasted off from the American state of Florida. Even the return to earth happened in more-or-less the same place. Coincidence -- or fact!? We say you'll have to read this story yourself to judge. less

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience... moreThis is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. less

Originally published as two separate books, Jules Verne's eerily prescient tale of mankind's first visit to the Moon is properly presented here in one complete volume."From the Earth to the Moon" (first published in 1865) opens just after the close of the Civil War, the Baltimore Gun Club embarks on a massive project: to build a cannon and with it, launch a projectile to the Moon... moreOriginally published as two separate books, Jules Verne's eerily prescient tale of mankind's first visit to the Moon is properly presented here in one complete volume."From the Earth to the Moon" (first published in 1865) opens just after the close of the Civil War, the Baltimore Gun Club embarks on a massive project: to build a cannon and with it, launch a projectile to the Moon. Club President Impey Barbicane and armorer Captain Nicholl of Philadelphia feud over the feasibility of the project, and nearly duel each other to death, until French poet Michel Ardan intervenes. The three then wind up as shipmates on the adventure of a lifetime, a voyage to the Moon!"Around the Moon" (published in 1870) picks up our intrepid trio just after their launch. After leaving the atmosphere, they have a close encounter with a near-Earth asteroid, then suffer intoxication from an atmospheric problem (not unlike that which would later befall the crew of Apollo 13), explore the Moon, and eventually make their way back to Earth.Verne's remarkable vision--from setting the launch site in Florida to calculating the length of the journey to a post-mission splash-down--is only slightly tempered by his use of private funding for the voyage, rather than a government project. But as we've seen in the decades since the Apollo voyages, private/corporate funding does indeed look to be the way of the future into space, so once again, Verne shows his predictive abilities were running full steam ahead.Author Jules Verne (1828-1905) started life as a lawyer, but soon quit the profession to devote himself to writing, to the world's greater benefit. His first produced play, "Les Pailles rompues" ("The Broken Straws"), debuted in Paris in 1850, the year before he received his law license. His first published short story, "L'Amerique du Sud. Etudes historiques. Les Premiers Navires de la Marine Mexicaine" ("The First Ships of the Mexican Navy"), was published in "Musee des families" in 1851. His first published novel, "Cinq semaines en ballon" ("Five Weeks in a Balloon")--the first of his Voyages Extraordinaires, and the first of more than 50 novels--finally appeared in 1863. Today, Verne is remembered as one of the founders of science fiction, and is one of the most translated authors in the world." less

This is the fully illustrated and extended annotated edition including a rare and extensive biographical essay on the author, his life and works plus a wealth of illustrations.Jules Verne! Among boys a name to conjure with. What memories of half-forgotten books does it bring back! Journeys into the Interior of the Earth, Voyages on Comets, Journeys to the Moon, Submarine Boats—all are creations of his marvellously inventive brain... moreThis is the fully illustrated and extended annotated edition including a rare and extensive biographical essay on the author, his life and works plus a wealth of illustrations.Jules Verne! Among boys a name to conjure with. What memories of half-forgotten books does it bring back! Journeys into the Interior of the Earth, Voyages on Comets, Journeys to the Moon, Submarine Boats—all are creations of his marvellously inventive brain. The Purchase Of the North Pole is a sequel to " From the Earth to the Moon." J. T. Maston, the secretary of the Gun Club of Baltimore, evolves the plan of changing, by the discharge and subsequent recoil of a huge cannon, the world's axis, so as to lay bare the North Pole and the wealth of minerals which it is supposed to contain. The plan is kept secret, but alimited liability company is formed for the purchase of the Folar cap, all the shares being taken up by members of the Gun Club. When, however, the plan is made known the world becomes alarmed the surface of the earth will be changed, whole countries and peoples will be buried under some thousand feet of water, while Britain and Southern Australia will have only the most rarefied air, and measures are taken for the arrest of the directors of the scheme. They have fled, however, and when their whereabouts become known it is to late, they cannot be stopped, and the world resigns itself to its fate. Let the boys, and their elders, see the result for themselves. less