Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic
adventure novelThe adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme. Adventure has been a common theme since the earliest days of written fiction....
by the
French writerFrench literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak other traditional non-French languages. Literature written by citizens of other nations such as...
Jules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Center of the Earth , From the Earth to the Moon , Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea , Around the World in Eighty Days and The Mysterious Island...
, first published in
1873The year 1873 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*3 March - The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail....
. In the story,
Phileas FoggPhileas Fogg is the main fictional character in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days. In some adaptations of the Jules Verne novel, he is known as Phineas Fogg, not Phileas Fogg.-Around the World in Eighty Days:...
of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and his newly employed
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
valetValet and Varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer. In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
PassepartoutJean Passepartout is a character in Jules Verne's novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. He is the French valet to the novel's English protagonist, Phileas Fogg. His name translates to "Goes-Everywhere" in French....
attempt to
circumnavigateTo circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. More recently, the term has also been used to cover aerial round-the-world flights.- World circumnavigation :...
the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the
Reform ClubThe Reform Club is a gentlemen's club on the south side of Pall Mall , in central London. Originally for men only, it has admitted women since 1981...
.
Plot summary
The story starts in London on October 2, 1872. Phileas Fogg is a wealthy
EnglishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
gentlemanThe term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus...
who lives unmarried in solitude at Number 7
Savile RowSavile Row is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's bespoke tailoring. The term "bespoke" is understood to have originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers...
, Burlington Gardens. Despite his wealth, which is of unknown origin, Mr. Fogg, whose countenance is described as "repose in action", lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. As is noted in the first chapter, very little can be said about Mr. Fogg's social life other than that he is a member of the
Reform ClubThe Reform Club is a gentlemen's club on the south side of Pall Mall , in central London. Originally for men only, it has admitted women since 1981...
. Having dismissed his former valet, James Foster, for bringing him shaving water at 84°
FahrenheitFahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries; it is still in use for non-scientific purposes in the United States and a few other nations, such as...
instead of 86°, Mr. Fogg hires the
FrenchmanFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
Passepartout, who is about 30 years old, as a replacement.
Later, on that day, in the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh in June 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier...
, stating that with the opening of a new
railway section in IndiaRail transport is a commonly used mode of long-distance transportation in India. Almost all rail operations in India are handled by a state-owned organisation, Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways. The rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of...
, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days.
The proposed schedule
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
to SuezSuez is a seaport town in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has two harbors, Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
|
rail and steamerA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
|
7 days |
| Suez to Bombay |
steamer |
13 days |
| Bombay to Calcutta |
rail |
3 days |
Calcutta to Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
|
steamer |
13 days |
Hong Kong to Yokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshū. It is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area....
|
steamer |
6 days |
| Yokohama to San Francisco |
steamer |
22 days |
San Francisco to New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
|
rail |
7 days |
| New York to London |
steamer and rail |
9 days |
| Total |
80 days |
Fogg and Passepartout reach Suez in time. While disembarking in Egypt, they are watched by a
Scotland YardNew Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for law enforcement within Greater London, excluding the City district, which is covered by the City of London Police....
detective named Fix, who has been dispatched from London in search of a bank robber. Because Fogg matches the description of the bank robber, Fix mistakes Fogg for the criminal. Since he cannot secure a warrant in time, Fix goes on board the steamer conveying the travellers to Bombay. During the voyage, Fix becomes acquainted with Passepartout, without revealing his purpose. On the voyage, Fogg promises the engineer a large reward if he gets them to Bombay early. They dock two days ahead of schedule.
During the ride, they come across a suttee procession, in which a young Parsi woman,
AoudaAouda, a fictional character in Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, is a Parsi princess rescued by Phileas Fogg and Passepartout when she is about to be sacrificed by Hindu monks at her former Hindu husband's funeral as a suttee. At first, Fogg attempts simply to deliver her to...
, is led to a sanctuary to be sacrificed by the process of
satiSatī is a funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a recently widowed woman would either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
the next day by Brahmins. Since the young woman is drugged with the smoke of
opiumOpium is a narcotic formed from the latex released by lacerating the immature seed pods of opium poppies . It contains up to 12% morphine, an opiate alkaloid, which is most frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade...
and
hempCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
and obviously not going voluntarily, the travellers decide to rescue her. They follow the procession to the site, where Passepartout secretly takes the place of Aouda's deceased husband on the
funeralA funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and...
pyreA pyre is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon the pyre which is then set on fire. Pyre is wood used for burning.Traditionally, pyres are used for the cremation of the deceased in Hinduism & Sikhism...
, on which she is to be burned the next morning. During the ceremony, he then rises from the pyre, scaring off the priests, and carries the young woman away. Due to this incident, the two days gained earlier are lost but Fogg shows no sign of regret.
The travellers then hasten on to catch the train at the next railway station, taking Aouda with them. At Calcutta, they can finally board a steamer going to Hong Kong. Fix, who had secretly been following them, has Fogg and Passepartout arrested in Calcutta. However, they jump bail and Fix is forced to follow them to Hong Kong. On board, he shows himself to Passepartout, who is delighted to meet again his travelling companion from the earlier voyage.
In Hong Kong, it turns out that Aouda's distant relative, in whose care they had been planning to leave her, has moved, likely to
HollandRotterdam
The Hague
Haarlem
Dordrecht |} Holland is a name in common usage given to a region in the western part of the Netherlands. The name 'Holland' is also often informally used to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands...
, so they decide to take her with them to Europe. Meanwhile, still without a warrant, Fix sees Hong Kong as his last chance to arrest Fogg on British soil. He therefore confides in Passepartout, who does not believe a word and remains convinced that his master is not a bank robber. To prevent Passepartout from informing his master about the premature departure of
their next vesselThe SS Carnatic was a British steamship built by Samuda Brothers at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs, London in 1862 for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company....
, Fix gets Passepartout drunk and drugs him in an opium den. In his dizziness, Passepartout still manages to catch the steamer to Yokohama, but neglects to inform Fogg.
Fogg, on the next day, discovers that he has missed his connection. He goes in search of a vessel that will take him to Yokohama. He finds a pilot boat that takes him and Aouda to
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city in China, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the city is administered as a municipality of the People's Republic of China with province-level...
, where they catch a steamer to Yokohama. In Yokohama, they go on a search for Passepartout, believing that he may have arrived there on the original boat. They find him in a circus, trying to earn the fare for his homeward journey. Reunited, the four board a steamer taking them across the Pacific to San Francisco. Fix promises Passepartout that now, having left British soil, he will no longer try to delay Fogg's journey, but rather support him in getting back to Britain as fast as possible (to have him arrested there).
In San Francisco they get on a trans-American train to New York, encountering a number of obstacles along the way: a massive herd of bison crossing the tracks, a failing suspension bridge, and most disastrously, the train is attacked and overcome by Sioux Iindians. After heroically uncoupling the locomotive from the carriages, Passepartout is kidnapped by the Indians, but Fogg rescues him after some soldiers volunteer to help. They continue by a wind-powered sledge over the snowy prairie to Omaha, where they get a train to New York.
Once in New York, and having missed departure of their ship (the China) by 35 minutes, Fogg starts looking for an alternative for the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. He finds a small steamboat, destined for Bordeaux. However, the captain of the boat refuses to take the company to Liverpool, whereupon Fogg consents to be taken to Bordeaux for the price of $2000 per passenger. On the voyage, he bribes the crew to
mutinyMutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority...
and take course for Liverpool. Against hurricane winds and going on full steam all the time, the boat runs out of fuel after a few days. Fogg buys the boat at a very high price from the captain, soothing him thereby, and has the crew burn all the wooden parts to keep up the steam.
The companions arrive at
QueenstownCobh is a sheltered seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland with a population of around 13,000 inhabitants....
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, in time to reach London via
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
and Liverpool before the deadline. However, once on British soil again, Fix produces a warrant and arrests Fogg. A short time later, the misunderstanding is cleared up—the actual bank robber had been caught three days earlier in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
. In response to this, Fogg, in a rare moment of impulse, punches Fix, who immediately falls to the ground. However, Fogg has missed the train and returns to London five minutes late, assured that he has lost the wager.
In his London house the next day, he apologises to Aouda for bringing her with him, since he now has to live in poverty and cannot financially support her. Aouda suddenly confesses that she loves him and asks him to marry her, which he gladly accepts. He calls for Passepartout to notify the reverend. At the reverend's, Passepartout learns that he is mistaken in the date, which he takes to be Sunday but which actually is Saturday due to the fact that the party travelled east, thereby gaining a full day on their journey around the globe, by crossing the
International Date LineThe International Date Line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian where the date changes as one travels east or west across it...
. He did not notice this after landing in North America because the only phase of the trip that depended on vehicles departing less often than daily was the Atlantic crossing, and he had hired his own ship for that.
Passepartout hurries back to Fogg, who immediately sets off for the Reform Club, where he arrives just in time to win the wager. Fogg marries Aouda and the journey around the world is complete.
Background and analysis
Around the World in Eighty Days was written during difficult times both for France and for Verne. It was during the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between France and Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria...
(1870-1871) in which Verne was conscripted as a coastguard, he was having money difficulties (his previous works were not paid royalties), his father had died recently, and he had witnessed a public execution which had disturbed him. However despite all this, Verne was excited about his work on the new book, the idea of which came to him one afternoon in a Paris café while reading a newspaper (see "Origins" below).
The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation and the prospect fascinated Verne and his readership. In particular three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869-70 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time: the completion of the
First Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad is the popular name of the U.S. railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and Union Pacific Railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska to Alameda, California...
in America (1869), the
linking of the Indian railways- Under British rule :A rail system in India was first proposed in 1832 in Madras but it never materialised. In the 1840s, other proposals were forwarded to the British East India Company who governed India. The Governor-General of India at that time, Lord Hardinge deliberated on the proposal from...
across the sub-continent (1870), and the opening of the
Suez CanalThe Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa...
(1869). It was another notable mark in the end of an age of exploration and the start of an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for only the most heroic and hardy of adventurers.
Verne is often characterised as a futurist or science fiction author, but there is not a glimmer of science-fiction in this, his most popular work (at least in English speaking countries). Rather than any futurism, it remains a memorable portrait of the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
"on which the sun never sets" shortly before its very peak, drawn by an outsider. It is also interesting to note that, as of 2006, there has never been a critical edition of
Around the World in Eighty Days. This is in part due to the poor translations available of his works, the stereotype of "science fiction” or "boys' literature.” However, Verne's works were being looked at more seriously in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with new translations and scholarship appearing. It is also rather interesting to note that the book is a source of common notable English and extended British attitudes in quotes such as, "Phileas Fogg a Sir Francis Cromarty... endured the discomfort with true British phlegm, talking little, and scarcely able to catch a glimpse of each other" as seen in Chapter Twelve when the group is being jostled around on the elephant ride across the jungle. Also seen in chapter Twenty-Five, when Phileas Fogg is insulted and San Francisco, and Detective Fix acknowledges that "It was clear that Mr. Fogg was one of those Englishmen who, while they do not tolerate dueling at home, fight abroad when their honor is attacked."
It is interesting to note that
The Chinas departure from New York on the day of Fogg's arrival there constitutes a minor flaw in Verne's logic, because Fogg had already crossed the Pacific without accounting for the International Date Line so his entire journey across North America was apparently conducted with an erroneous belief about the date and day of the week. Had The China sailed in agreement with the published steamer schedule used by Fogg, it would have departed a day later than Fogg expected, and he would have been able to catch it in spite of arriving what he thought was a few minutes late.
The closing date of the novel, 22 December 1872, was also the same date as the serial publication. As it was being published serially for the first time, some readers believed that the journey was actually taking place — bets were placed, and some railway companies and ship liner companies actually lobbied Verne to appear in the book. It is unknown if Verne actually submitted to their requests, but the descriptions of some rail and shipping lines leave some suspicion he was influenced.
Although a journey by
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the...
has become one of the images most strongly associated with the story, this iconic symbol was never deployed in the book by Verne himself – the idea is briefly brought up in chapter 32, but dismissed, it "would have been highly risky and, in any case, impossible." However the popular 1956 movie adaptation
Around the World in Eighty DaysAround the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. John Farrow, the original director, was replaced by Anderson after a few days of shooting. Produced by Michael Todd with Kevin McClory and...
floated the balloon idea, and it has now become a part of the mythology of the story, even appearing on book covers.This plot element is reminiscent of Verne's earlier Five Weeks in a BalloonFive Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne.It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with...
which first made him a well-known author.
Following Towle and d'Anver's 1873 English translation, there have been many people who have tried to follow in the footsteps of Fogg's fictional circumnavigation, often within self-imposed constraints:
- 1889 – Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly was an American journalist, author, industrialist, and charity worker. She is most famous for an undercover exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within...
undertook to travel around the world in 80 days for her newspaper, the
New York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York from 1860 until 1931. It played a major role in the history of American newspapers.-Early years:...
. She managed to do the journey within 72 days. Her book about the trip, Around the World in Seventy-Two DaysAround the World in Seventy-Two Days is a book written by Nellie Bly. It discusses her travels around the world starting in 1889 for her newspaper, the New York World.- Background :...
, became a best seller.
1903 – James Willis SayreJ. Willis Sayre was an American theatre critic, journalist, arts promoter, and historian. A longtime resident of Seattle, Washington, Sayre was an influential figure in writing and conserving the history of theatre in Seattle.-Personal life:He was born James Willis Sayre in Washington, D.C...
, a Seattle theatre critic and arts promoter, set the world record for circling the earth using public transportation exclusively, completing his trip in 54 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes.
1908 – Harry BensleyHarry Bensley was an English rake and adventurer, best remembered as the subject of an extraordinary wager between John Pierpont Morgan and Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale. How much of his story is based on fact is unclear.Harry Bensley was from Thetford in Norfolk, England...
, on a wager, set out to circumnavigate the world on foot wearing an iron mask.
1988 – Monty PythonMonty Python were a British comedy group that created the influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
alumnus Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
took a similar challenge without using aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported...
as a part of a television travelogueTravel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, called Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 DaysAround the World in 80 Days is a BBC television travel series first broadcast in 1989. It was presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. The show was inspired by Jules Verne's classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days, in which a character named Phileas Fogg accepts a wager to...
. He completed the journey in 79 days and 7 hours.
1993–present – The Jules Verne TrophyThe Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organisation and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding the Jules Verne trophy will not necessarily hold the...
is held by the boat that sails around the world without stopping, and with no outside assistance in the shortest time.
2009 - in Around the World in 80 DaysAround the World in 80 Days is a BBC One television series made for the 2009 edition of the annual BBC Children in Need charity appeal. Twelve celebrities attempt to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days without using air transport....
twelve celebrities performed a relay version of the journey for the BBC Children In NeedBBC Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million.-Overview:Each year since 1980, the BBC has set aside one evening of programming on its flagship television channel, BBC One, to show events aimed at raising money exclusively...
charity appeal
Origins
The idea of a trip around the world within a set period had clear external origins and was popular before Verne published his book in 1872. Even the title Around the World in Eighty Days
is not original to Verne. About six sources have been suggested as the origins of the story:
Greek traveller PausaniasPausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between...
(c. 100 AD) wrote a work that was translated into French in 1797 as Voyage autour du monde
("Around the World"). Verne's friend, Jacques AragoJacques Etienne Victor Arago was a French littérateur, artist and explorer, author of a "Voyage Round the World"....
, had written a very popular Voyage autour du monde
in 1853. However in 1869/70 the idea of travelling around the world reached critical popular attention when three geographical breakthroughs occurred: the completion of the First Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad is the popular name of the U.S. railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and Union Pacific Railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska to Alameda, California...
in America (1869), the linking of the Indian railways- Under British rule :A rail system in India was first proposed in 1832 in Madras but it never materialised. In the 1840s, other proposals were forwarded to the British East India Company who governed India. The Governor-General of India at that time, Lord Hardinge deliberated on the proposal from...
across the sub-continent (1870), and the opening of the Suez CanalThe Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa...
(1869). In 1871 appeared Around the World by Steam, via Pacific Railway
, published by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and an Around the World in A Hundred and Twenty Days
by Edmond Planchut. Between 1869 and 1871, an American William Perry Fogg went around the world describing his tour in a series of letters to the Cleveland Leader
, titled Round the World: Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (1872). Additionally, in early 1870, the Erie Railway Company published a statement of routes, times, and distances detailing a trip around the globe of 23,739 miles in seventy-seven days and twenty-one hours.
In 1872
Thomas CookThomas Cook of Melbourne, Derbyshire, founded the travel agency that is now Thomas Cook Group.- Early days :...
organised the first around the world tourist trip, leaving on 20 September, 1872 and returning seven months later. The journey was described in a series of letters that were later published in 1873 as Letter from the Sea and from Foreign Lands, Descriptive of a tour Round the World. Scholars have pointed out similarities between Verne's account and Cook's letters, although some argue that Cook's trip happened too late to influence Verne. Verne, according to a second-hand 1898 account, refers to a Thomas Cook advertisement as a source for the idea of his book. In interviews in 1894 and 1904, Verne says the source was "through reading one day in a Paris cafe" and "due merely to a tourist advertisement seen by chance in the columns of a newspaper.” Around the World
itself says the origins were a newspaper article. All of these point to Cook's advert as being a probable spark for the idea of the book.
Further, the periodical Le Tour du monde
(3 October, 1869) contained a short piece entitled "Around the World in Eighty Days", which refers to "140 miles" of railway not yet completed between Allahabad and Bombay, a central point in Verne's work. But even the Le Tour de monde
article was not entirely original, it cites in its bibliography the Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, de la Géographie, de l'Histoire et de l'Archéologie
(August, 1869), which also contains the title Around the World in Eighty Days
in its contents page. The Nouvelles Annales
were written by Conrad Malte-BrunConrad Malte-Brun, born Malthe Conrad Bruun , was a Danish-French geographer and journalist. His second son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, was also a geographer.-Biography:...
(1775—1826) and his son Victor Adolphe Malte-BrunVictor Adolphe Malte-Brun was a French geographer and cartographer.He was born in Paris, France. The son of Conrad Malte-Brun, another geographer, of Danish origin, and founder of the Société de Géographie....
(1816—1889). Scholars believe Verne was aware of either the Le Tour de monde
article, or the Nouvelles Annales
(or both), and consulted it — the Le Tour du monde even included a trip schedule very similar to Verne's final version.
A possible inspiration was the traveller
George Francis TrainGeorge Francis Train was a businessman, author, and an eccentric figure in American and Australian history.-Biography:...
, who made four trips around the world, including one in 80 days in 1870. Similarities include the hiring of a private train and his being imprisoned. Train later claimed "Verne stole my thunder. I'm Phileas Fogg."
Regarding the idea of gaining a day, Verne said of its origin: "I have a great number of scientific odds and ends in my head. It was thus that, when, one day in a Paris café, I read in the
Siècle that a man could travel around the world in eighty days, it immediately struck me that I could profit by a difference of meridian and make my traveller gain or lose a day in his journey. There was a
dénouementIn literature, a dénouement consists of a series of events that follow the climax of a drama or narrative, and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader...
ready found. The story was not written until long after. I carry ideas about in my head for years – ten, or fifteen years, sometimes – before giving them form." In his lecture of April 1873 "The Meridians and the Calendar", Verne responded to a question about where the change of day actually occurred, since the
international date lineThe International Date Line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian where the date changes as one travels east or west across it...
had only become current in 1880 and the Greenwich prime meridian was not adopted internationally until 1884. Verne cited an 1872 article in
NatureNature is a prominent British scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. Most scientific journals are now highly specialized, and Nature is among the few journals that still publish original research articles across a wide range of scientific...
, and
Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the...
's short story "Three Sundays in a Week" (1841), which was also based on going around the world and the difference in a day linked to a marriage at the end. Verne even analysed Poe's story in his
Edgar Poe and His Works (1864).
In summary either the periodical Le Tour du monde
or the Nouvelles Annales
, W. P. Fogg, probably Thomas Cook's advert (and maybe his letters) would be the main likely source for the book. In addition, Poe's short story "Three Sundays in a Week" was clearly the inspiration for the lost day plot device.
Literary significance and criticism
Select quotes:
- "We will only remind readers en passant of
Around the World in Eighty Days
, that tour de force
of Mr Verne's—and not the first he has produced. Here, however, he has summarised and concentrated himself, so to speak ... No praise of his collected works is strong enough .. they are truly useful, entertaining, poignant, and moral; and Europe and America have merely produced rivals that are remarkably similar to them, but in any case inferior." (Henry Trianon, Le Constitutionnel
, December 20, 1873).
"His first books, the shortest, Around the World
or From the Earth to the Moon
, are still the best in my view. However, the works should be judged as a whole rather than in detail, and on their results rather than their intrinsic quality. Over the last forty years, they have had an influence unequalled by any other books on the children of this and every country in Europe. And the influence has been good, in so far as can be judged today." (Léon BlumAndré Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-Childhood and education:...
, L'Humanité
, April 3, 1905).
"Jules Verne's masterpiece .. stimulated our childhood and taught us more than all the atlases: the taste of adventure and the love of travel. 'Thirty thousand banknotes for you, Captain, if we reach Liverpool within the hour.' This cry of Phileas Fogg's remains for me the call of the sea." (Jean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker...
, Mon premier voyage (Tour du monde en 80 jours)
, Gallimard, 1936).
"Leo Tolstoy loved his works. 'Jules Verne's novels are matchless', he would say. 'I read them as an adult, and yet I remember they excited me. Jules Verne is an astonishing past master at the art of constructing a story that fascinates and impassions the reader. (Cyril Andreyev, "Preface to the Complete Works", trans. François Hirsch, Europe
, 33: 112-113, 22-48).
"Jules Verne's work is nothing but a long meditation, a reverie on the straight line—which represents the predication of nature on industry and industry on nature, and which is recounted as a tale of exploration. Title: the adventures of a straight line ... The train.. cleaves through nature, jumps obstacles .. and continues both the actual journey—whose form is a furrow—and the perfect embodiment of human industry. The machine has the additional advantage here of not being isolated in a purpose-built, artificial place, like the factory or all similar structures, but of remaining in permanent and direct contact with the variety of nature."
Pierre MachereyPierre Macherey is a French Marxist literary critic at Université Lille Nord de France. A former student of Louis Althusser and collaborator on the influential volume Reading "Capital", Macherey is a central figure in the development of French post-structuralism and Marxism...
(1966).
Theatre
- A 1874 play written by Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who helped pioneer the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his novels A Journey to the Center of the Earth , From the Earth to the Moon , Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea , Around the World in Eighty Days and The Mysterious Island...
and Adolphe d'EnneryAdolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery was a French dramatist and novelist.Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe...
at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where it was shown 415 times.
- A stage musical adaptation premiered at the Fulton Opera House
The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class C regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.-Building:...
, Lancaster, PA in March 2007
- Orson Welles
George Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
produced and starred in a stage version of the show that was only loosely faithful to Verne's original and had music and lyrics by Cole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. His works include the musical comedies Kiss Me, Kate, Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes, as well as songs like "Night and Day", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Well, Did You Evah!" and "I've Got You Under My Skin"...
. Numerous rewrites on tour did not improve what was a patchy effort not up to either Welles or Porter's other work, and the production was forgotten by all except the most devoted students of musical theatre.
- In 2001, the story was adapted for the stage by American playwright Mark Brown. In what has been described as "a wildly wacky, unbelievably creative, 90-miles-an-hour, hilarious journey" this award winning stage adaptation is written for five actors who portray thirty-nine characters.
- A musical version, 80 Days, with songs by Ray Davies
Ray Davies CBE is an English rock musician, best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks - one of the most prolific and long-lived British Invasion bands - which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
of The KinksThe Kinks are an English rock group categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of the British Invasion era....
and a book by playwright Snoo Wilson, directed by Des McAnuffDesmond McAnuff is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys...
, ran at the Mandell Weiss Theatre in San Diego from August 23 to October 9, 1988. The musical received mixed responses from the critics. Ray Davies's multi-faceted music, McAnuff's directing, and the acting, however, were well received, with the show winning the "Best Musical" award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.
- A musical version by Nicholas McCaig, see Around the World in 80 Days - A Musical Abstraction
Around the World in 80 Days is a concept album created by Nicholas McCaig. Its story is a sequel to the novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne...
.
Films
- A 1919 silent black and white parody by director Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald was an Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter.Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began his career as an actor on the Viennese stage. He made his film directorial debut at age 24 with Das Eiserne Kreuz...
didn't disguise its use of locations in Germany as placeholders for the international voyage; part of the movie's joke is that Fogg's trip is obviously going to places in and around BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. There are no remaining copies of the film available today.
- The best known version was released in 1956, with David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther.-Early life:David Niven was born in London, England...
and CantinflasFortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes was a Mexican comedian and actor.He earned wide popularity with his stage and film persona Cantinflas, usually portrayed as an impoverished campesino slumdweller of pelado origin...
heading a huge cast. Many famous performers play bit parts, and part of the pleasure in this movie is playing "spot the star". The movie earned five OscarsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
, out of eight nominations. This film was also responsible for the popular misconception that Fogg and company travel by balloon for part of the trip in the novel, which has prompted later adaptations to include similar sequences. See Around the World in Eighty Days (1956 film)Around the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. John Farrow, the original director, was replaced by Anderson after a few days of shooting. Produced by Michael Todd with Kevin McClory and...
for details.
- 1963 saw the release of The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze
The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze was the fifth feature film made by the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita...
. In this parodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, the Three Stooges (Moe HowardMoe Howard was an American comedian best known as the leader of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades...
, Larry FineLarry Fine may be:* Larry Fine , American actor best known for being one of the Three Stooges* Larry Fine , American technician, consultant, and author...
, and Joe DeRita) are cast as the menservants of Phileas Fogg III (Jay Sheffield), great-grandson of the original around-the-world voyager. When Phileas Fogg III is tricked into replicating his ancestor's feat of circumnavigation, Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe dutifully accompany their master. Along the way, the boys get into and out of trouble in typical Stooge fashion.
- In 1983 the basic idea was expanded to a galactic scope in Japan's Ginga Shippu Sasuraiger, where a team of adventurers travel through the galaxy in a train-like ship that can transform into a giant robot. The characters are travelling to different planets in order to return within a certain period and win a bet.
- The story was again adapted for the screen in the 2004 film Around the World in 80 Days
Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 comedy/adventure film based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It stars Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. The film is set in 19th-century Britain and centers on Phileas Fogg , here reimagined as an eccentric inventor and his efforts to...
, starring Jackie ChanJackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, filmmaker, comedian, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer....
as Passepartout and Steve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is an English comedian, actor, writer and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The...
as Fogg. This version makes Passepartout the hero and the thief of the treasure of the Bank; Fogg's character is an eccentric inventor who bets a rival scientist that he can travel the world with (then) modern means of transportation.
TV
- An episode of the American
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series, Have Gun - Will Travel, entitled "Fogg Bound", had the series' hero, Palladin (Richard BooneRichard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns. He was best known as the star of the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...
), escorting Phileas Fogg (Patric KnowlesReginald Lawrence Knowles was an English film actor who renamed himself Patric Knowles, a name which reflects his Irish descent. He appeared in films of the 1930s through the 1970s...
) through part of his journey. This episode was broadcasted by CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
on December 3, 1960.
- A 1989 three-part TV mini-series starred Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist, who holds both Irish and American citizenship. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
as Fogg, Eric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and composer of comic songs. He wrote and performed as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python.-Early life:...
as Passepartout, Peter UstinovSir Peter Alexander Ustinov, CBE , was a British actor, writer and dramatist.He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, director, stage designer, screenwriter, comedian, humorist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter.A noted wit and...
as Fix and several TV stars in cameo roles. The heroes travel a slightly different route than in the book and the script makes several contemporary celebrities part of the story who were not mentioned in the book. See Around the World in 80 Days (TV miniseries)Around the World in 80 Days is a 1989 three-part television miniseries. The teleplay by John Gay is based on the Jules Verne novel of the same title. It stars Pierce Brosnan as Phileas Fogg, Eric Idle as Passpartout, Julia Nickson-Soul as Princess Aouda, and Peter Ustinov as Detective Fix...
for details.
- The BBC along with Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
(of Monty PythonMonty Python were a British comedy group that created the influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
fame) created a 1989 television travel seriesAround the World in 80 Days is a BBC television travel series first broadcast in 1989. It was presented by comedian and actor Michael Palin. The show was inspired by Jules Verne's classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days, in which a character named Phileas Fogg accepts a wager to...
following the book's path. It was one of many travelogues Michael Palin has done with the BBC and was a commercially successful transition from his comedic career. The latest series in a similar format was Michael Palin's New EuropeMichael Palin's New Europe is a travel documentary presented by Michael Palin and first aired in the UK on the BBC in 2007 and in the US on the Travel Channel on Monday January 28 2008. Palin visits 20 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The filming was done in 2006 and early 2007 using HD ...
in 2007.
- Around the World in 80 Days
Around the World in 80 Days is a BBC One television series made for the 2009 edition of the annual BBC Children in Need charity appeal. Twelve celebrities attempt to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days without using air transport....
, a six part 2009 BBC One
show in which twelve celebrities attempt to travel the world in aid of the Children in NeedBBC Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million.-Overview:Each year since 1980, the BBC has set aside one evening of programming on its flagship television channel, BBC One, to show events aimed at raising money exclusively...
appeal.
Animation
- An Indian Fantasy Story is an unfinished French/English co-production from 1938, featuring the wager at the Reform Club and the rescue of the Indian Princess. It was never completed as a full feature film.
- Around the World in 79 Days, a serial segment on the Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. , was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
show The Cattanooga Cats from 1969 to 1971.
- Around the World in 80 days from 1972 by American studio Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American stop-motion production company, known for its seasonal television specials. With few exceptions, their library is currently owned by Classic Media and Warner Bros...
with Japanese MushiMushi is the third album by Japanese hardcore punk group The Stalin. It was released in 1983.The front side of the LP's jacket featured a picture of Suehiro Maruo...
productions as part of the Festival of Family ClassicsThe Festival Of Family Classics re-aired 1 November 2005 on the Boomerang network.Festival Of Family Classics is a series of 30 minute television versions of famous folk tales. It originally aired between 1972 and 1976. Videos of them have been distributed by several companies, most notably Anchor...
series.
- A one-season cartoon series Around the World in Eighty Days from 1972 by Australian Air Programs International. NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
aired the series in the USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 1972-73 season on Saturday mornings.
- Puss 'N Boots Travels Around the World, a 1976 anime from Toei Animation
is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
- A Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
adaptation was produced in 1986. It featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy as the main characters.
- Around the World with Willy Fog
Around the World with Willy Fog is a cartoon adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, produced by Spanish studio BRB Internacional, with animation by Japanese studio Nippon Animation...
by Spanish studio BRB InternacionalBRB Internacional is a Spanish animation studio which is best known for producing 1980s cartoon hits such as Around the World with Willy Fog, Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds and The World of David the Gnome....
from 1981 with a second season produced in 1993. This series depicts the characters as talking animals, and, despite adding some new characters and making some superficial modifications to the original story, it remains one of the most accurate adaptations of the book made for film or television. The show has gained a cult following in Finland, Britain, Germany and Spain. The first season is "Around the World in 80 Days", and the second season is "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
"; all three books are by Jules Verne.
- Tweety's High-Flying Adventure is a direct-to-video
A film that is released direct-to-video is one which has been released to the public on home video formats before or without being released in movie theaters or broadcast on television...
cartoon by Warner Brothers from 2000 starring the Looney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theaters from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. The regular Warner Bros...
characters. It takes a great many liberties with the original story, but the central idea is still there - indeed, one of the songs in this film is entitled Around the World in Eighty Days. Tweety not only had to travel the world, he had to also collect 80 cat pawprints, all while evading the constant pursuits of Slyvester. This movie frequently appears on various US-based cable TV networks.
- "Around the World in 80 Narfs" is a Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain are cartoon characters who have starred in the American animated television series Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain....
episode where the Brain claims to be able to make the travel in less than 80 days and the Pompous Explorers club agrees to make him their new president. With this, the Brain expects to be UK's new Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
, what he considers back at that time, the fastest way to take over the world.
- A Mickey Mouse episode shows the effort of Mickey to get around the world in 80 days with the help of Goofy. The cartoon made reference to the ending of the novel. They realise they have a day extra by hearing church bells on what they believe to be a Monday. This referenced the ending with the vicar in the church.
Exhibitions
- "Around the World in 80 Days", group show curated by Jens Hoffman at the ICA London 2006
Cultural references
- "Around the Universe in 80 Days" is a song by the Canadian band Klaatu
Klaatu was a Canadian progressive rock group formed in 1973 by the duo of John Woloschuk and Dee Long. They named themselves after the extraterrestrial by the same name portrayed by Michael Rennie in the film The Day the Earth Stood Still. The band released the singles Anus Of Uranus/Sub-Rosa...
, and makes reference to a spaceship travelling around the galaxy, coming home to find the EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
second from the SunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 99.86% of the Solar System's mass....
. It was originally included on the 1977 album "Hope", but also appears on at least two compilations.
- There are at least four board games by this name.
External links
Sources
- William Butcher, ed. and trans. Around the World in Eighty Days, Oxford University Press, translated, with an introduction, endnotes and other critical material. Most modern translation available on-line. Unknown translation.
- The Tour of the World in Eighty Days American edition, Butler Bros., 1887. From Google Books.
- Around the World in 80 Days, HTML version with additional content. Unknown translation.
- Around the World in Eighty Days, scanned illustrated early editions from Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive of the World Wide Web....
.
- Around the World in Eighty Days - translation by George Makepeace Towle
George Makepeace Towle was an American lawyer, politician, and author...
(1873). HTML format and pictures.
- Around the World in 80 Days,
- Around the World in 80 Days - Audibook from LibriVox
LibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers. In October 2009, it had a catalog of 2,700 unabridged books and shorter works available to download...
- Around the World in 80 Days, English translation with audio. (PDF) Around the World in Eighty Days, audio version
Misc